Designed by Chicago architect Walter W. Ahlschlager and opened in 1928,
the 2,800-seat Beacon Theatre is a fantastic Art Deco treasure, built as silent pictures began talking and as vaudeville capitulated to the movie palace era.


Recognized as a national landmark -- the interior remains legally protected from alteration and demolition -- the three-level auditorium is distinguished by 30-foot statues of Greek women on each side of the proscenium arch.

Other features include an open-air lobby, bronze front doors, ornate moldings, white marble floors, and corridor murals depicting elephants, camels and traders.

Today, the Beacon's chief reputation is as a fierce concert house where, amid a curtain - less stage and flawless acoustics, Patti LaBelle, Korn, Tina Turner, Morrissey, VH-1's 'Divas Live' have done their thing. Cutting-edge hardcore bands, gospel singers and world music superstars rock the town here as well.

Leonard Allen

Subway:
Take the 1,2, or 3 (red line) to 72nd St., walk 2 blocks north on Broadway to 74th St.
The Beacon Theatre is on Broadway between 74th and 75th St.

Take the B (orange line) or C (blue line) to 72nd St.
You will exit on Central Park West. Walk 3 blocks west (away from Central Park) to Broadway, then north to 74th St.
The Beacon Theatre is on Broadway between 74th and 75th St.

Bus:
72nd St. Crosstown bus to Broadway or any Broadway or Amsterdam Ave. bus to 72nd St.
Walk north to 74th St.
The Beacon Theatre is on Broadway between 74th and 75th St.