Hammerstein Ballroom
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The Hammerstein Ballroom is a two-tiered, 12,000 square feet (1115m2) ballroom located within the Manhattan Center Studios on 311 West 34th Street in Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States of America. It is known for its elegant appearance and excellent acoustical design. The capacity of the ballroom is dependent on the configuration of the room; the ballroom 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. There are six miniature balconies which are normally used for celebrity guests. The floor slants down to the stage area to enable those in the back rows to see easily.
The Manhattan Center was constructed in 1906 by Oscar Hammerstein as an alternative to the popular yet comparatively expensive Metropolitan Opera. In 1910, the Metropolitan Opera paid Hammerstein $1.2 million USD to stop operating the Manhattan Center as an opera venue for ten years. This led to the elaborately decorated Hammerstein Ballroom being used for a variety of events, including vaudeville performances.
The ownership of the center changed hands multiple times over the next few decades, with the ballroom 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. The center was expanded to Manhattan Center Studios in 1986, and in 1997 the Hammerstein Ballroom underwent considerable renovations, with the hand painted ceiling frescos being completely restored.
The Hammerstein Ballroom has seen performances from a wide variety of musical acts, including Foo Fighters, Jack's Mannequin, Switchfoot, Tiesto, Jethro Tull, Morrissey, Motörhead, Franz Ferdinand, KoRn, Fatboy Slim, Hanson, HIM, Oasis, O.A.R., Counting Crows, Nine Inch Nails, Trey Anastasio, The Offspring, Incubus, Coheed and Cambria, Guns N' Roses, Radiohead, Stone Temple Pilots, R.E.M. (see here), Arctic Monkeys, Regina Spektor, The Goo Goo Dolls, Avenged Sevenfold, Moby, Tiësto, Tool, the Beastie Boys, Wu-Tang Clan, No Doubt, PJ Harvey, Kelly Clarkson, Iron Maiden, Kanye West,O-Town, The Strokes, The Pixies, Shoshana Bean, The Disco Biscuits, Rammstein, Evanescence, Muse, Bob Dylan, Cafe Tacuba and Britney Spears.
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.
In addition, the ballroom has also been used to host conventions, art exhibitions and formal dinners.
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[edit] Professional wrestling
The professional wrestling promotion Extreme Championship Wrestling staged some of its events from the Ballroom. Starting in August of 2000 ECW staged two back to back shows, on the first night a one night tag title was held when the titles were vacated in May of 2000. They would then hold two pay-per-views one called ECW Massacre on 34th Street in December of 2000 and then the next month they held ECW Guilty as Charged PPV, which would be the last Paul Heyman owned ECW pay-per-view. The Ballroom then hosted the first two WWE owned ECW One Night Stand pay-per-views, in June 2005 and June 2006. On one notable occasion, an audience member scaled down the gilded balcony and tried to assault a performer who had repeatedly goaded him. World Wrestling Federation regularly held its early episodes of Monday Night RAW at the Grand Ballroom on the other side of Manhattan Center. Independent promotion Ring of Honor started running shows in the Grand Ballroom in 2006, even hosting their annual Glory by Honor, and Final Battle shows there. Ring of Honor successfully ran a show in the ballroom on May 10, 2008.
