The marque lights up the busy New York City avenue saying, “Come inside there’s more to be

seen.”
As you enter the heavy golden doors, you are transported back in time. The lobby is adorned
with golden fixtures, floor to ceiling mirrors, a grand staircase, and a 40-by-60-foot mural by
Ezra Winters, depicting the journey to the Fountain of Youth.
On December 27, 1932, Radio City Music Hall opened its doors. It would become a stage
matched by no other.
The world was right in the middle of the Great Depression. It needed a place to inspire, spark
joy, and give hope to a hopeless world.
The theater seats 6,000 and boasts there is not a bad seat in the house. Many celebrities such as
Frank Sinatra, Ginger Rogers, Peter Allan, Liberace, Stevie Wonder, and Lady Gaga have
performed in this auditorium.
Most notably the Radio City Rockettes call the Great Stage their home. They have been
performing here since 1932. You could say they know this place best of all.
Ginny Hounsell, a Rockette from 1971 to 1999 and a lifelong New Yorker, has been coming to
Radio City since she was little. This is not just a place to her but a home.
“The grand lobby takes my breath away to this day,” Hounsell said. “I started going to Radio
City when I was five years old, as a native New Yorker. Every single time I enter the auditorium
and take a seat, I actually tear up.”
Hounsell said she loves the Art Deco architectural design of the Music Hall. She also loves that it
was created to be an affordable and entertaining place for families to escape their struggles.
“I love the majesty of the design and the fact that it was built to lift the burdens of the Depression
Era from the patrons,” Hounsell said. “Everything about the place impresses me.”
Some of the design aspects of the theater reflect life on the seas.
“The proscenium arch mimics a sunset at sea, and the carpeting even reflects an ocean voyage
with its wave and fish pattern,” Hounsell said. “The musical instruments and Art Deco designs
throughout the entire theater make you feel a sense of history and hope from bygone days.”
Not only does the architecture and interior design aspects reflect the craftmanship of the era, but
also the structure and mechanics of the stage.
The stage consists of three sections that are three elevators powered by a hydraulic system,
which was the same as that used in World War II battleships. A fourth elevator, called a band
car, allows the whole orchestra to move up, down, front, and back. There is also a turntable that
is within the perimeter of the elevators.
An organ with 4,000 pipes that is housed in 11 different rooms fills the theater with amazing
music. The golden stage curtain that mesmerizes the eye, as it glitters under the 25,000 lights, is
the largest in the world.
Hounsell said she has lots of great memories during the 28 years she was at Radio City. Her
favorite memories always took place in the fourth-floor dressing room at Christmas time.
“The stagehands who worked on the fly rail would pick up letters to Santa from the post office,
and we would all buy and wrap gifts,” Hounsell said. “We’d then take them to the Rock Center
Post Office on frame dollies. We also decorated the room with a homemade fireplace with
stockings, a tree, etc.”
Hounsell said Radio City was so much more than a place but a piece of history she is forever
grateful she got to be a part of.
“It was a thrill and great honor and blessing in my life to have been able to participate in a small
part of the history of Radio City Music Hall,” Hounsell said. “It was not only the Showplace of
the Nation but has had countless visitors from all over the world. I’ll forever be humbly grateful
for it.”
Hounsell along with many others may not have been able to work and enjoy the Music Hall had
it not been for the efforts of one woman.
In 1978, the stock market was crashing, and the Music Hall was not bringing in the kind of
money the Rockefellers wanted. They wanted to tear it down to build something more profitable.
New Yorkers rallied to save their beloved stage. At the heart of that effort was Rosie Novellino-
Mearns.
Novellino-Mearns was very passionate about saving the building from demolition. It was
personal to her.
“I loved that theater,” Novellino-Mearns said. “I had worked there for 12 years in the Ballet
Company, and I knew every inch of that place.”
She said she would often take time to explore the building on her own where she would discover
unique and mesmerizing things.
“I would wander around, all over the place, and discovered so many fascinating treasures,”
Novellino-Mearns said. “One time, I was up on the ninth floor, all by myself, and I opened a
door. It was the top of the ceiling of the theater. I could see the braces that held the ceiling up.”
She said there is no other place on earth like Radio City. A place that cannot be matched by other
theaters. It is a work of art.
“The theater is such an Art Deco palace,” Novellino-Mearns said. “The design and the artwork
that is in Radio City Music Hall is priceless. The wonders of the stage itself cannot be
duplicated. That is the main reason that I wanted to save the building.”
Novellino-Mearns said it was not about job security or money that led her to rally everyone
together to save the Music Hall. It was the building itself.
“I truly was not looking to save my job,” Novellino-Mearns said. “I did not want anything to
happen to the building.”
The only way they could save the building from being demolished by the Rockefellers was to
designate the interior as a landmark. Novellino-Mearns faced a lot of opposition from the
management of both Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center.
“They did not want the theater to be designated a landmark because they would have their hands
tied, and they could not tear it down,” Novellino-Mearns said. “They were only interested in the
amount of money they would make if they built something else on that spot.”
She said Rockefeller Center had its own construction and real estate company and was all about
money.
“They were very opposed,” Novellino-Mearns said. “That took us a little while to find out. Once
we did, it got very ugly.”
She said the mayor at the time, Ed Koch, was in opposition to their efforts. It became a political
game to save The Music Hall, so they had to find a politician to help them.
“Maryann Krupsak, who was the lieutenant governor at the time under Gov. Hugh Carey,
contacted us and became our political champion in helping us to save the building,” Novellino-
Mearns said. “Unfortunately, we needed a politician in our corner because we were fighting
politicians.”
Along with the political support, New Yorkers rallied together and signed a petition, which
received 100,000 signatures. After months of struggle, New York City's Landmarks Preservation
Commission ruled that the interior of the building was a landmark.
Novellino-Mearns had won.
The people of New York had won.
Radio City Music Hall was saved.
Over 300 million people have come to the Music Hall to be entertained and transported to a
world without worry or care. Radio City has been many things over the past 88 years; a
basketball court, an ice-skating rink, and a movie theater to name a few.
It has been home to many concerts, musicals, plays, television shows, award ceremonies, and the
Rockettes’ Christmas, Easter, and summer spectaculars. It has been a place of inspiration.
The Show Place of the Nation has brought many people together from all over the world. Every
individual who takes a seat in this theater leaves with a memory; a memory they will never
forget.
It is not just the performance that transports the audience, but the place itself. From the first
moment the audience enters Radio City Music Hall, to the final bow, they are reminded of a
time, where instead of struggling, New Yorkers chose to thrive.
Every detail, every fixture, every room tells a story. A story one will not soon forget.
1. What or who is the story about?
This story is about Radio City Music Hall.
2. What is the main theme or thrust of the story?
Radio City is a place unmatched by any other because the building is as much a part of the
experience as the performance on the stage.
3. What supporting points can you tie into the main
theme?
It was almost demolished in 1978. It is home to the Radio City Rockettes. The Art Deco design
is unique and is one of the main reasons it was designated a landmark.
4. Why is the story worth doing—what value, unique
aspects?
It is an interesting place with over eight decades of performers and shows. My mom was a Radio
City Rockette for ten years, and I have been there myself twice.
5. Who would want to read this story—why?
Anybody would want to read this story because the building and stage are unique. Almost
everybody has heard of Radio City or the Rockettes. It is a part of America’s history. I suppose it
would be more interesting for dancers, performers, or New Yorkers to read this.
6. What are the sources for information—human, other
sources?
Kim Schwab (former Rockette and mother to me), Ginny Hounsell (former Rockette and family
friend), Rosie Novellino-Mearns (former ballet dancer and author of Saving Radio City Music
Hall: A Dancer’s True Story).
NY Times articles
Madison Square Garden’s official website for Radio City Music Hall