Manhattan Center

The Manhattan Center building, built in 1906 and located in the heart of Midtown Manhattan, houses Manhattan Center Studios (home to two recording studios), its Grand Ballroom, and the Hammerstein Ballroom, one of New York City's most renowned performance venues.

History

Located near Madison Square Garden on West 34th Street, in the heart of midtown New York City, the landmark Manhattan Center building still stands 100 years after it was first built as the Manhattan Opera House by Oscar Hammerstein in 1906. With the bold intention to take on the established Metropolitan Opera by featuring cheaper seats for the ordinary New Yorker, the Manhattan Opera Company provided an alternative venue for many great operas and celebrated singers to make their debut.

After four years, the Met could no longer withstand the competition and offered Hammerstein $1.2 million to stop producing opera for a period of ten years. He accepted the offer and began experimenting with different acts before eventually selling the building. In March of 1911, the Shubert brothers opened the hall as a "combination" house featuring vaudeville shows during the week and concerts on Sunday nights. Once again, the Manhattan Opera House provided entertainment for New Yorkers at prices that were much more affordable.

1920s-1960s

In the following years, ownership changed a few times and in 1922 the Manhattan Opera House was finally purchased by the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry. The Masons built the Grand Ballroom on the seventh floor as well as a new building facade. In the year 1926, Warner Brothers premiered Don Juan, billing it as the very first commercially released film featuring a recorded musical soundtrack. The Manhattan Opera House was the venue chosen by Sam Warner to set up the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system used to capture the 107-piece New York Philharmonic orchestra. Today, more than 75 years later, Manhattan Center continues to be New York’s premier scoring stage due to its superior acoustics.

The name of the building was changed to Manhattan Center in 1940, helping to attract many other types of events. The Manhattan Center became a hot spot for “big band” dances as well as trade shows, union meetings and other social functions. Among the diverse events held at Manhattan Center throughout the decades that followed were radio broadcasts, recordings, and performances by the likes of Paul Robeson (1941), Harry Belafonte (1952), Perry Como (1959), Leonard Bernstein (1960), The Grateful Dead (1971), and Bob Marley (1975).

1970s-1990s

In 1976, the building was purchased by its current owner, the Unification Church. The church used the Grand Ballroom for various religious and cultural events, but also rented it out for other public uses, including music recording. For a number of years the Manhattan Center was run by Rev. Sun Myung Moon's son Hyo Jin Moon.

Manhattan Center Studios was formed in 1986 to develop the Manhattan Center into a venue capable of hosting multimedia events. MCS expanded the audio recording facilities when Studio 4 was opened in 1993. Studio 7 was rebuilt in 1996 to become a state-of-the-art control room capable of servicing all types of recordings and live events in the Ballrooms.

To expand into the video and television industry, the company began investing in video equipment and studio facilities in March of 1990. The company’s video post production facilities in Studio 9 were completed in 1993 and in the years that followed, two fully equipped television studios were built. Studio 1 was completed in 1994 and Studio 6 was completed in 1995. The connection of the studios to the Ballrooms makes them attractive venues for live broadcast events and webcasts. Studio 1 and Studio 6 were temporarily closed throughout the Spring and Summer of 2003 to complete extensive upgrades as the company entered into a threeyear contract with Atlantic Video, a Washington DC based television services and production company.

Beginning in 1997, the Hammerstein Ballroom underwent a major face-lift to accommodate the demands for a premier event venue in midtown Manhattan. Today, clients include top business professionals and the best of the entertainment and cultural world. The beautifully renovated decor, superb acoustics and high level technical services are only a few of the attributes that contribute to the success.

Trivia

• ESPN2's Cold Pizza originated from the Manhattan Center every weekday morning.
• The rock band Living Colour recorded their music video for the song Cult of Personality on the stage of the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center building.
• The first broadcasts of WWE Monday Night Raw were aired from the Manhattan Center.
• Independent professional wrestling promotion Ring of Honor currently holds events in the Grand Ballroom of the Manhattan Center.

External links

• Manhattan Center Studios | Audio Dept. | Home
• Manhattan Center Studios | Audio Dept. | Recording Studios
• Manhattan Center Studios | Audio Dept. | History
• Manhattan Center Studios | MCStudios

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Credits

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