Manhattan Center Expands Live Concert Possibilities in the Hammerstein Ballroom, Upgrades TV Production Capacity

December 19th, 2011 by Trenton

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The large-scale media production complex Manhattan Center, located at 34th and 8th Avenue, has expanded the availability for live concerts at its well-known venue, the 3,500-seat Hammerstein Ballroom.

The 3,500-seat Hammerstein Ballroom has ended its exclusive status, and can now host concerts from a multitude of promoters.

Previously operating under an exclusive booking arrangement, the Hammerstein Ballroom — the century-old opera house which has hosted thousands of top-tier artists and events over the years — will now be open to a much wider range of concert promoters.

“For the first time, all of the major international, national, regional and local promoters – including Live Nation, AEG Live, Bowery Presents, Metropolitan Talent, and all the independent and emerging promoters – will now each have the same opportunity to book their artists in the Hammerstein Ballroom, in addition to the Grand Ballroom,” said Sarah-Jane Bennison, Director of Sales & Marketing for Manhattan Center. “With the nature of the Hammerstein being such a legendary landmark in NYC, it makes sense to have an open policy towards booking. A lot of promoters haven’t had the opportunity to come here — now they can.”

Supplementing the developments at the Hammerstein is the reopening of Manhattan Center’s TV1 HD television studio. The former home of long-running productions like ESPN’s “Cold Pizza”, TV1 has been redesigned after suffering severe flooding damage. Along with TV2, the larger TV1 can accommodate stage and studio, and provides self-contained studios with private lobbies, green rooms, dressing rooms, hair and make-up facilities, turnkey production offices, adjacent editing suites, and production support spaces.

“With the launch of TV1, Manhattan Center becomes a fully integrated house,” Bennison points out. “It’s not just about straight-up concerts in the live venues — with live streaming and broadcasting, we have the ability to offer fully integrated media production packages for a wide variety of live events.”

Manhattan Center remains the home of two audio production facilities, in operation since the early 1990s. The Neve VR-equipped Studio 4 “Log Cabin”, and Studio 7 with a massive 96-channel Neve VR, which is situated adjacent to the Grand Ballroom, and records orchestral film scores, classical recordings, and live performances.

— David Weiss