Beacon Theatre (New York City, New York)

 theatre, Moorish Revival (architecture), interesting place, Renaissance Revival (architecture)

Designed by Walter W. Ahlschlager and built by Chanin Construction Co. in 1927, the 3-tiered, 2,894-seat theater was intended for motion pictures аnd vaudeville. Later alterations were made by Rapp & Rapp of Chicago. The theater has an address of 2124 Broadway, while the hotel's is 2130. The Beacon Theatre was originally conceived by film producer Herbert Lubin in 1926 as part of a projected chain of deluxe New York City movie palaces, to be called the Roxy Midway Theatre. However, the collapse of Lubin's fortunes doomed the Roxy scheme and the Midway was never opened. The nearly completed theater sat vacant for a time and was eventually acquired by Warner Theatres to be a first-run showcase for Warner Bros. films. Later operated by Brandt Theaters, the Beacon continued as a primarily first-run movie theater into the early 1970s. In 1974, Steven Singer bought the theater to present live pop concerts promoted by Stephen Metz. They were followed by Marvin Getlan and Allen Rosoff who bought the theater in 1976 and continued its new life as a major presenter of live concerts. In 1987, an effort to convert the theater into a nightclub was blocked in court on the grounds that it would irreparably damage the theater's historic and protected architecture. Subsequently, the theater underwent a revival in its concert hall business, filling New York's low-to-mid-sized venue notch between the larger Radio City Music Hall and various smaller clubs and ballrooms. The Madison Square Garden Company began operating the Beacon in 2006.

The theater is clad in buff-colored brick above a limestone ground floor and grey granite water table, and rises six stories high. The only ground-floor opening along the north facade on 75th Street is a gated bay at the east end, behind which is the base of the iron stairway up to the catwalks. The east facade along the avenue has a freight entrance at the north end, followed by two smaller square opening with metal infill, a wider freight entrance, another square opening, two smaller freight entrances, and two more wider freight entrances at the south end. A dentil course caps the entire ground floor. A projecting iron catwalk is attached to the facade at the 2nd floor, spanning from the north end to the southern third of the theater. There is a recessed niche in the facade about a third of the way down, that is the focal point of the east facade. Here, a metal stair ascends to the other two levels of the catwalk, which continue to the south. The 2nd-story level of the catwalk has two sets of metal service doors at its south end, the farther one set up higher. The next level of the catwalk has another service door matching the first one, and the top level of the catwalk has another service door matching the south one, also set higher up. A metal roof covers the catwalk, and a limestone lintel with large dentils and a carved, bearded face ends the niche just above this metal roof.

Above this, the facade has a large pointed-arch of stone, resting on two stylized stone capitals with ornament vaguely resembling Aztec eagles. A dentil course extends to either side, between the capitals and the arch, all the way across the east facade. To the north the dentil course is interrupted by a projecting section on two brackets, with a round-arched stone molding above. A matching, but paired set of arches repeats to the south, with a final arch at the south end. Separating each of these bays is a faintly discernible brick pier, each topped by a brick arcade of three arches topped by a stone lintel. A small, square, stone medallion is located above the three groups of smaller arches, and the large, main arch is surmounted by a grand cartouche that highlights a stone roof cornice at the center of a wide, peaked pediment. Carved stone squares with wildcat faces line the underside of the cornice, both along the pediment, as well as the flat, slightly-lower sections on either side. The north facade of the theater has a large, multi-story outlined arch of stone at the center, resting on six short, scrolled brackets. The arch is framed by a keyed stone pier on either side. The dentiled band course from the east facade continues around onto this elevation, with a central projecting section topped by a trio of the small arched moldings. A corbeled brick cornice crowns the facade.

The Beacon's ornate neo-Grecian interior features 30 ft-tall Greek goddesses flanking the proscenium arch of its curtainless stage, which can rise from its basement level carrying a full classical orchestra. Under its marquee is an exterior lobby with tile flooring extending to the sidewalk along Broadway between 74th and 75th Streets. Entry is gained through its bronze-doored vestibule into an opulent 2-story circular lobby. White marble floors give way to mahogany bars on both the orchestra and mezzanine levels, and two more levels provide access to both the foot and top of its steeply inclined upper balcony. Exquisite detailing abounds throughout, including elaborate gilded plaster moldings, polished hardwood, and brass staircase rails. Corridor murals depict atmospheric Eastern scenes of trading caravans complete with elephants, camels and other animals.

Its opulent interior with Greek, Roman, Renaissance, Rococo and Moorish influences was designated a New York City landmark in 1979. It underwent a restoration by Beyer Blinder Belle in 2009.

www.neighborhoodpreservationcenter.org/db/bb_files/79--...
daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2010/10/magnificent-1929...
www.traditionalbuilding.com/projects/new-beacon-shines-...
www.beyerblinderbelle.com/projects/85_beacon_theatre
landmarkinteriors.nysid.net/gallery/beacon-theater/