Design
Although the front entrance to the building currently is located on 51st Street, this was originally a side entrance. The main entrance was originally at 1655 Broadway, with a narrow lobby leading to a Grand Foyer on 51st Street. In 1930, it was desirable for a first-run motion picture theater in the Times Square area to have an entrance, no matter how small, on Broadway. The Hollywood's entrance, though narrow, featured a bright marquee and a huge lighted vertical sign. The Broadway entrance was closed in 1934 and converted to retail space.
The rococo interior is typical of the 1920s movie palace design. The coved ceiling has dozens of murals reminiscent of Boucher and Watteau, depicting 18th-century French aristocracy.
The spectacular rotunda lobby is dominated by eight fluted Corinthian columns and a ceiling that is decorated with colorful murals of classical scenes. This and other interior spaces were designed by Leif Neandross, chief designer of the Rambusch Decorating Company.
The auditorium seating capacity is approximately 1,506, one of the largest in the theatre district. The stage is among the largest and best-equipped of all of New York's theaters. A large plaster-of-Paris crown rests above the proscenium .
Read more about this topic: Mark Hellinger Theatre
Famous quotes containing the word design:
“If I knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good, I should run for my life ... for fear that I should get some of his good done to me,—some of its virus mingled with my blood.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Westerners inherit
A design for living
Deeper into matter—
Not without due patter
Of a great misgiving.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“We find that Good and Evil happen alike to all Men on this Side of the Grave; and as the principle Design of Tragedy is to raise Commiseration and Terror in the Minds of the Audience, we shall defeat this great End, if we always make Virtue and Innocence happy and successful.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)