Art Deco Temple

When JoAnne and Mia were visiting, we beat the 100 degree heat one afternoon with a tour of Radio City Music Hall, something I'd never done before.  It's New York City's biggest theater.

JoAnne asked me who I'd seen perform on this stage.  I had to think for a moment, because I'm generally not a big concert goer.  "Only Prince and k.d. lang in the last millennium and Avicii in this one," I replied.  Turns out my now digitized datebook recorded a couple of other nights, too.  How could I have forgotten Bette Midler and Roxy Music with Modern English?

I don't think I sat in the orchestra until 2012.

I once stood on Carnegie Hall's much smaller stage.  Radio City seats twice as many people. 

This has got to be the grandest staircase in New York City.  Each of the glass and steel chandeliers--nearly 30 feet long-- weights two tons.

Believe it or not, the gigantic mural by Ezra A. Winter depicts indigenous people seeking "The Fountain of Youth."

There's plenty to see on the lower level, too.  

When Radio City opened in 1932, bluenoses prevented the installation of "Spirit of the Dance (Rhythm)," an aluminum statue by William Zorach.  A public outcry resulted in its restoration.

The carpet depicts musical instruments

. . . and the bathrooms are definitely gendered.

The "Gentlemen's Lounge" mural by Stuart Davis is called "Men Without Women." It features only masculine activities such as sailing, smoking, speeding, gambling and . . . hair cutting.

Is there anything more "masc" than a long row of gleaming urinals?

The hydraulic system below the stage still works exactly as it did a century ago.

Neither the water fountains nor elevator lighting have changed much.  They were designed for a more sophisticated time, when audiences dressed for the occasion.

The tour also included a tightly controlled photo op with a "special guest" whose childhood dream had been to dance at Radio City.  She could not have been lovelier.  Let me tell you, it took all my self-control not to attempt a high kick!  

I've seen the Rockettes perform only once, when I took my father and stepmother to the Christmas Spectacular in 1985.

We may have been seated in the rear mezzanine but the sight lines were good, and the carpet and wallpaper were just as elegant as they are elsewhere in this Art Deco temple.