Roxy and Radio City Music Hall costume designs: [graphic,] ca. 1930-1939

ArchivalResource

Roxy and Radio City Music Hall costume designs: [graphic, ], ca. 1930-1939

Roxy and Radio City Music Hall costume designs: [graphic,] ca. 1930-1939

http://archives.nypl.org/the/21408

Albert Packard was the business manager of the costume shop for both the Roxy Theatre and Radio City Music Hall from 1930 until 1982. The Roxyettes/Rockettes, a precision chorus line marked by synchronized high kicking, began as the Missouri Rockets in 1925. After moving to New York City, they becoming the resident performers at the Roxy Theatre and were renamed the Roxyettes. The Roxyettes were part of the opening show at Radio City Music Hall in 1932, stayed on and were renamed the Rockettes in 1934. Both theaters had a ballet corps as well as the precision dancers. The Roxy Theatre and Radio City Music Hall costume design drawings executed in gouache provide detailed and colorful documentation of many Roxyette and Rockette performances. Most of the materials are unsigned, undated and lack titles though some character names are given making the stories recognizable for Alice in Wonderland, Hansel and Gretel, Madame Butterfly, and Scheherazade among others. Some designs are labelled for the Christmas or Easter shows. It appears that most productions were assigned a number which is written on the back of the designs. The lower numbers are for costumes for the Roxyettes and the higher are for the Rockettes. The collection also includes costumes for individual featured performers such as Patricia Bowman and for the Radio City Corps de Ballet. The designs have penciled notations on fabric type, and sometimes, the names of the chorus line performers. Some have fabric swatches attached. Monte Montadoro drew the designs for Alice in Wonderland and some others.

355 designs in 3 boxes

The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.