If you want to be treated like royalty for one night hop into a New York prom limo and catch a show at Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall is one of the most well-known tourist attractions in New York City. It was designed by architect William Burnet Tuthill and built by philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in 1891. Carnegie Hall is considered to be one of the most prestigious venues in the world of classical and popular music and has its own artistic programming, development, and marketing departments all on site.
Carnegie Hall has many different theatres that put on a variety of shows, different from the main stage.
The Main Hall (Isaac Stern Auditorium/Ronald O. Perelman Stage)
The Main Hall’s five levels of seating seats 2,804 people. There is no bad seat in this theatre. The highest seat available, for those who love heights, is approximately 137 steps to the top balcony. Being one of the most famous concert stages in the United States, most of all the popular musicians and classical musicians have performed there since 1891. The last time this hall has been renovated was 1986.
Zankel Hall
Zankel Hall, better known as the Recital Hall, was the first auditorium open to the public in April of 1891. It is quite a bit smaller than the Main Hall only, seating 599 people. It, like the Main Hall, was also renovated in 1896 and renamed Carnegie Lyceum. What is so interesting about this particular hall is its flexibility, in that it can be reconfigured into several different arrangements. Most recently, it opened in the space in September of 2003.
Weill Recital Hall
Weill Recital Hall, which is named for Sanford I Weill and his wife Joan, was originally called Chamber Music Hall. This hall is still being used since it opened in 1891. It seats 268 people and has gone through many name changes until 1986 when it finally became Weill Recital Hall.
Carnegie Hall Archives
Not only does Carnegie Hall offer different rooms for your musical pleasure, it offers space for behind the scenes work as well. The Rose Museum contains working spaces for everyone from performing artists to rehearse, all the way to the architects, playwrights, and painters who design and create the shows.
Carnegie Hall is one of the last large buildings in New York that is built of masonry in its entirety. It is unique in that there is no steel frame. The exterior of the building has Roman bricks with details done in terracotta and brownstone.
What is most interesting, is that Carnegie Hall is named after the person who financed it and not the person who actually created it like most buildings that you hear of.
Located at 57th St. and Seventh Ave. in Manhattan, Carnegie Hall must be on your list of things to experience when visiting New York City.
By Heather Wishart