A NATIONAL HISTORIC LANDMARK
The Tarrytown Music Hall, built in 1885 by chocolate manufacturer William Wallace, is listed on the National Register for Historic Places and is the oldest operating theater in Westchester. Designed by distinguished architects Theodore DeLemos & August Cordes, who also built New York City’s Grand Central Palace and the Macy’s building at Herald Square, the Music Hall’s facade is considered to be one of the finest examples of Queen Anne decorative brick work in the county. Its interior is a combination of Victorian and Art Deco design.
At the time of its opening, the “Millionaire’s Colony” was flourishing in the Hudson Valley and the Music Hall offered wealthy and middle class residents a venue for cultural events,namely concerts, balls, flower shows and vaudeville. In 1901, the theatre became one of the first theaters to show the moving pictures and in 1930 it became solely a first run movie house. The Music Hall closed its doors in 1976, largely due to the rise in popularity of multiplexes and television, and it was soon after proposed by the Village of Tarrytown that the theater be torn down to make way for a parking lot.
On February 14, 1980, The Friends of the Mozartina Musical Arts Conservatory, a not-for-profit, educational, and cultural organization, purchased the abandoned theater with the purpose of preserving the historic building and establishing a center for the performing arts. Extensive renovations and capital improvements, essential for the theater’s preservation and operation, were completed, including a new roof, new heating, electrical and plumbing systems and stage overhaul.
Today, the Music Hall is a fully operating 843-seat theater and is home to first class jazz, folk, blues and classical concerts, plays,musicals, operas, comedy, dance performances, and independent, foreign, classic, documentary and family oriented films.
Concert goers have always been treated to a wonderful experience at the Music Hall due to its excellent acoustics. During his 1997 concert, Tony Bennett put his microphone down and told the audience that he didn’t need it in this theatre. Over fifty recordings have been made in the theater since 1980. Alan Silver, President of In Sync Laboratories Inc., writes of the Music Hall: “Of other great halls I have recorded in only the Mozartsaal and the large hall of the Musikverein, both in Vienna, and Carnegie Hall in New York City have had equivalent qualities of reverberation and clarity.”
Notable artists and groups who have performed and/or recorded in the Music Hall since 1980 include Christine Andreas, Dave Attell, Joan Baez, David Benoit, Lewis Black, David Bromberg, Dave Brubeck, Liz Callaway, Tom Chapin, Judy Collins, The Count Basie Orchestra, Alex Fox, Dizzy Gillespie, Savion Glover & TiDii, Nanci Griffith, Lionel Hampton, The Hubbard Street Dance Co., Kim Hunter, Christine Lavin, Lyle Lovett, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Kevin Meaney, Tom Paxton, The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Tito Puente, Bonnie Raitt, Leon Redbone, Brian Regan, Chita Rivera, Sonny Rollins, Diane Schuur, Martin Sexton, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, John Tesh, Richard Thompson, Gwen Verdon, Lucinda Williams and Karen Ziemba to name just a few.
The Music Hall has been the site for several films, documentaries, TV shows and commercials including The Preacher’s Wife starring Whitney Houston & Denzel Washington, The Impostors starring Stanley Tucci & Oliver Platt, The Secret Lives of Dentists starring Denis Leary & Campbell Scott, Mona Lisa Smile starring Julia Roberts, Game 6 starring Michael Keaton & Robert Downey Jr, The Good Shepherd directed by Robert DeNiro and starring Matt Damon, and Broadway: The American Musical hosted by Julie Andrews.
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The Friends are presently working towards a historic structures report and a master plan for the entire restoration and expansion of the Music Hall that will include paint and seat restoration and improved public and backstage amenities. For more information on how you can be a part of the theater restoration project or how you can sponsor a series of programs in music, dance and drama, please call (914) 631-3390, or email: info@tarrytownmusichall.org.
