Located in the historic Manhattan Center building, the Hammerstein Ballroom still stands nearly 100 years after it was first built as the Manhattan Opera House by Oscar Hammerstein I in 1906. Hammerstein built the opera house with the bold intention to take on the established Metropolitan Opera by featuring cheaper seats for the ordinary New Yorker. The Manhattan Opera house quickly became 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.
Ownership changed again in 1922 when the Manhattan Opera House was purchased by the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry. The Masons built a new building façade as well as The Grand Ballroom on the seventh floor. In 1926, Warner Brothers chose to set up the Vitaphone sound-on-disc system in The Grand Ballroom to capture the 107-piece New York Philharmonic orchestra for the film Don Juan. This marked the release of the first commercial film featuring a recorded musical soundtrack. 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 here throughout the decades that followed were radio broadcasts, recordings, and performances by the likes of Paul Robeson, Harry Belafonte, Perry Como, Leonard Bernstein, The Grateful Dead and Bob Marley.
Manhattan Center Studios was formed in 1986 to develop the Manhattan Center into a venue capable of hosting multimedia events. Beginning in 1997, the Hammerstein Ballroom underwent a major face-lift to accommodate the demands for a premier event venue in midtown Manhattan. The 12,000 square foot Hammerstein Ballroom remains an elegant pre-war ballroom featuring a hand-painted ceiling mural, ornate woodwork and three balconies overlooking the main room and stage. The 75 foot high ceiling holds many rigging points for production décor and lighting options. Ties to the in-house audio recording studios and video control rooms make the space an incredible venue for productions, special events and webcasts by merging its theatrical past with modern technology. The space accommodates up to 2,500 people for receptions and theatrical productions and 1,000 people for a seated dinner.
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.