Hammerstein Ballroom

Hammerstein Ballroom

Location	Manhattan Center 311 West 34th Street Manhattan, New York City
Public transit	New York City Subway: ​​ at 34th Street-Penn Station ​​ at 34th Street-Penn Station Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit at Penn Station New York City Bus: M7, M20, M34 SBS, M34A SBS
Owner	Unification Church
Type	Music
Capacity	2,200 (Reception/Theater Style) 1,000 (Seated Dinner) 3,500 (Standing/Concerts)
Construction
Opened	1906
Renovated	1997
Website
www.mcstudios.com/the-hammerstein

The Hammerstein Ballroom is a two-tiered, 12,000-square-foot (1,100 m²) ballroom located within the Manhattan Center at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The capacity of the ballroom is dependent on the configuration of the room; it seats 2,500 people for theatrical productions and musical performances, and several thousand for events held within a central ring. The two main balconies – which are unusually close to the ground and gently sloped – seat a total of 1,200.

History

The Manhattan Center was constructed in 1906 by Oscar Hammerstein I as the Manhattan Opera House, the home for his Manhattan Opera Company, an alternative to the popular yet comparatively expensive Metropolitan Opera. In 1910, the Metropolitan Opera paid Hammerstein $1.2 million to stop operating the Manhattan Opera House as an opera venue for ten years. This led to the elaborately decorated theater being used for a variety of events, including vaudeville.

The ownership of the center changed hands multiple times over the next few decades, with the theater being converted into a large ballroom and being used as a Freemason's temple in the 1930s and a trade union headquarters in the 1940s before falling into disuse in the 1970s, before being bought by Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church, the ballroom's current owner. The building was renamed Manhattan Center Studios in 1986, and in 1997 the former theater was renamed the Hammerstein Ballroom and underwent extensive renovation, with the hand painted ceiling being completely restored.

Notable events

The Hammerstein Ballroom has seen performances from a wide variety of musical acts and its popularity has varied over the years due mainly to competition within the neighborhood.

• The professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling staged some of its events from the Ballroom. Starting in August 2000, ECW staged two back to back shows before holding its final two pay-per-view events, Massacre on 34th Street in December 2000 and Guilty as Charged in 2001. The Ballroom then hosted the first two WWE-promoted ECW One Night Stand pay-per-views, in June 2005 and June 2006. Since 2008's A New Level, Ring of Honor has hosted DVD and TV tapings as well as pay-per-view events at the Hammerstein Ballroom, having also used the adjacent Grand Ballroom regularly for events. On September 23, 2010, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling held their show in the Ballroom for the first time.
• Jane's Addiction recorded the 1997 Halloween Show of their reunion tour at the Hammerstein Ballroom - the band's members performing some numbers in their encore from the balcony.
• In 1997, Bryan Adams recorded his album Unplugged at the Hammerstein Ballroom. He was backed by students of the Juilliard School of Music in the orchestra.
• On July 7, 1999, Britney Spears performed to a sold out crowd as part of her ...Baby One More Time Tour. It marked the singer's first solo concert in New York City.
• Patti LaBelle recorded her DVD Live! One Night Only at 2 sold out concert at the Hammerstein Ballroom with special guests Luther Vandross and Mariah Carey. It was released in 1998 and later won her a Grammy Award.
• Alt-rock band Incubus played at the Hammerstein on September 15, 2001, at a time when nearly all other bands scheduled to perform in New York City canceled their appearances in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks.
• The popular rock/jam band O.A.R. released a live album in 2004, 34th & 8th, which was recorded at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
• In 2002, NASCAR held its annual end-of-season awards ceremony in the Ballroom, the only time since 1985 the end-of-season awards ceremony was not held in the Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom.
• The rock band Korn recorded their DVD Live at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
• Iron Maiden was scheduled to perform four concerts at the Ballroom on 23, 24, 26 and 27 January 2004, for their Dance of Death World Tour. The second show was cut short after one audience member dropped a beer on the soundboard, while the final concert was cancelled due to a scheduling conflict.
• In 2004, between the 11th and 18 December, Pixies played a record sold out shows as a part of their reunion tour.
• In November 2006, David Bowie gave his final public performance at the venue.
• The professional wrestling promotion Ring Of Honor hosted events from the ballroom including Manhattan Mayhem events 6th, 7th, 8th and 10th Anniversary Show: Young Wolves Rising, Supercard of Honor V and Supercard of Honor VII, Best in the World 2011 Best in the World 2012: Hostage Crisis, Glory By Honor V : Night 2, Glory By Honor VI : Night Two, Glory by Honor VIII: The Final Countdown, Glory By Honor IX, Death Before Dishonor VI, Death Before Dishonor IX, ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds (2014), Night 3 of ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds (2017) TV tapings and most Final Battle events.
• Several shows have been taped here, including some seasons of NBC's America's Got Talent and part of the third season of the Bergeron version of Hollywood Squares.
• Kylie Minogue performed as part of her For You, For Me Tour on 11, 12 and 13 October 2009. Minogue performed again as part of her Aphrodite World Tour on May 2, 3 and 4, 2011.
• Thirty Seconds to Mars played their 300th sold out World Record show on December 7, 2011.
• All Time Low recorded their first live DVD titled Straight to DVD at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
• Sony hosted a reveal event of the PlayStation 4 console at the Ballroom.
• Mega group Swedish House Mafia performed on February 28, 2013 at the Ballroom.
• Paramore performed as part of their North American Spring Tour for their fourth album Paramore on May 16, 2013.
• Howard Stern held his 60th Birthday Bash at the Ballroom on January 31, 2014.
• Moncler held its Grenoble Fall/Winter 2014/15 fashion show at the Ballroom on February 8, 2014.
• The Hammerstein Ballroom was the site of the 2014 American Comedy Awards on NBC.
• On October 17-18, 2014, May 28, 2016, and July 14, 2018, virtual singer and Vocaloid character Hatsune Miku performed at the Hammerstein Ballroom as part of Crypton Future Media's Miku Expo concerts.
• The popular all-girl electro-pop trio Perfume held their "Perfume WORLD TOUR 3rd" at the Hammerstein Ballroom on November 15, 2014. They returned to the Hammerstein Ballroom on September 3 and 4, 2016 for "Perfume 6th Tour 2016: COSMIC EXPLORER". They will return to the Hammerstein Ballroom on March 30, 2019.
• Gwen Stefani performed 22 tracks from her career on October 17, 2015, in support of her new single, "Used to Love You" and her upcoming third studio album.
• On May 16, 2016, Jennifer Lopez performed for the NBCUniversal Upfronts.
• Samsung hosted the launch of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone in a "Samsung Unpacked" event.
• On October 30, 2016, Hammerstein Ballroom became the Manhattan services venue of Hillsong Church NYC. Four services are scheduled to be held there each Sunday..
• On December 21, 2018, The Hammerstein Ballroom hosted the last stop on AJR's The Click Tour Part 2.

See also

• Audubon Ballroom
• Roseland Ballroom

External links

• Official website