Editing Radio City Music Hall (section)

===Late 20th century===
[[File:Radio City Music Hall 2229954271 675a3a4551.jpg|thumb|Marquee in January 2008 during the Christmas Spectacular]]
After the theater reopened to the public, Radio City started creating its own music concerts. Previously, the theater had only hosted events created by external producers.<ref name="Morgan 1986">{{cite news |last=Morgan |first=Thomas |date=March 27, 1986 |title='Snow White' To Rock, Radio City Diversifies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/27/arts/snow-white-to-rock-radio-city-diversifies.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228223406/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/27/arts/snow-white-to-rock-radio-city-diversifies.html |archive-date=December 28, 2018 |access-date=December 28, 2018 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Time slots were set aside for movie screenings, but Radio City had mostly turned to stage shows.<ref name="O'Haire 1982" /> By January 1980, Radio City was hosting shows such as the stage adaptation of ''[[Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (musical)|Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs]]''<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cohen |first=Marcia |date=October 14, 1979 |title=Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho! Here Comes a Staged 'Snow White' |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/14/archives/heigh-ho-heigh-ho-here-comes-a-staged-snow-white-snow-white.html |access-date=April 1, 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403220543/https://www.nytimes.com/1979/10/14/archives/heigh-ho-heigh-ho-here-comes-a-staged-snow-white-snow-white.html |url-status=live}}</ref> and the ''Rockettes Spectacular.''<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26587957/|title=Music Hall Gets a Lift|last=Leogrande|first=Ernest|date=January 15, 1980 |work=New York Daily News|access-date=December 28, 2018|page=198|via=newspapers.com|archive-date=April 3, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220403220544/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26587957/music-hall-gets-a-lift/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, the theatrical shows proved to be unpopular, so, in 1983, the Radio City Music Hall shifted to creating music concerts and participating in the production of films and TV shows.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/10/arts/radio-city-shifts-focus-to-pop-music-concerts.html|title=Radio City Shifts Focus To Pop Music Concerts|last=Holden|first=Stephen|date=September 10, 1983|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228223341/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/10/arts/radio-city-shifts-focus-to-pop-music-concerts.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The parent company, Radio City Music Hall Productions (a subsidiary of Rockefeller Center Inc.), started creating or co-creating films and Broadway shows such as ''[[Legs (film)|Legs]]'' and ''[[Brighton Beach Memoirs]]''.<ref name="Morgan 1986" />

By the early 1980s, the LPC was considering designating the original Rockefeller Center complex as a city landmark, including the exterior of Radio City Music Hall. In 1983, the LPC held hearings to determine how much of Rockefeller Center should be protected as a landmark.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lake |first=Katharine |date=April 18, 1983 |title=Rockefeller Center Landmarking Proposed |page=106 |work=New York Daily News |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97567070/rockefeller-center-landmarking/ |access-date=March 13, 2022 |archive-date=March 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313235550/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97567070/rockefeller-center-landmarking/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The Rockefeller family and Columbia University acknowledged that the buildings were already symbolically landmarks, but their spokesman [[John E. Zuccotti]] recommended that only the block between 49th and 50th Streets be protected.{{efn|Namely 1250 Avenue of the Americas, [[30 Rockefeller Plaza]], the [[British Empire Building]], [[La Maison Francaise (Rockefeller Center)|La Maison Francaise]], the Channel Gardens, and the Lower Plaza{{sfn|Glancy|1992|p=425}}|name=49th–50th-block}} By contrast, almost everyone else who supported Rockefeller Center's landmark status recommended that the entire complex be landmarked.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dunlap |first=David W. |date=September 21, 1983 |title=Rockefeller Center: A 'Jewel' but Is All of It a Landmark? |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/21/nyregion/rockefeller-center-a-jewel-but-is-all-of-it-a-landmark.html |access-date=February 14, 2022 |archive-date=February 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220214024735/https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/21/nyregion/rockefeller-center-a-jewel-but-is-all-of-it-a-landmark.html |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Wiener |first=Caryn Eve |date=September 21, 1983 |title=6-Block Landmark Viewed as Too Costly |page=25 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97567027/6-block-landmark-viewed-as-too/ |access-date=March 13, 2022 |archive-date=March 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220313235156/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97567027/6-block-landmark-viewed-as-too/ |url-status=live}}</ref> The LPC granted landmark status to the exteriors of all of the original complex's buildings, including the previously unprotected exterior of Radio City Music Hall, on April 23, 1985.{{sfn|Adams|1985|pp=270–271}}<ref>{{Cite news |last=Collins |first=T. J. |date=April 24, 1985 |title=Rockefeller Center a Landmark for Real |page=23 |work=Newsday |via=newspapers.com |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97338249/rockefeller-center-a-landmark-for/ |access-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-date=March 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310211411/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97338249/rockefeller-center-a-landmark-for/ |url-status=live}}</ref>{{efn|The final exterior landmark designation covers 12 buildings as well as the Channel Gardens, Rockefeller Plaza, and Lower Plaza. These are [[1230 Avenue of the Americas|1230]], [[1250 Avenue of the Americas|1250]], and [[1270 Avenue of the Americas]]; [[1 Rockefeller Plaza|1]], [[10 Rockefeller Plaza|10]], [[30 Rockefeller Plaza|30]], [[50 Rockefeller Plaza|50]], and [[75 Rockefeller Plaza]]; the British Empire Building; the [[International Building (Rockefeller Center)|International Building]]; and La Maison Francaise. Radio City Music Hall was also added as an exterior landmark, and the lobbies of the International Building and 30 Rockefeller Plaza were also protected.{{sfn|Glancy|1992|p=425}}}} Rockefeller Center's original buildings also became a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1987.{{sfn|Glancy|1992|p=426}}

Radio City finally recorded a net gain of $2.5 million in 1985, its first profit in three decades. This was partly attributed to the addition of music concerts, which appealed toward younger viewers.<ref name="Morgan 1986" /> Radio City also started hosting televised events including the [[Grammy Awards]], the [[Tony Awards]], the [[Daytime Emmy Awards]], the [[MTV Video Music Awards]], and the [[NFL Draft]].<ref name="Wang 2018" />{{efn|The Grammys, which alternated between New York City and [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]], were moved to Hollywood in 2004, as have the Daytime Emmys, off and on, since 2006.}} A new golden curtain was installed at the main stage in January 1987. The curtain was the third one to be installed since Radio City's opening in 1932; it had last been replaced in 1965. Because of Radio City's historic status, the curtain had to be the same style, texture, and color as the previous curtains.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/19/garden/quest-for-a-curtain-for-a-historic-hall.html |title=Quest for a Curtain for a Historic Hall|last=Freudenheim|first=Betty |date=March 19, 1987|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=December 28, 2018|archive-date=December 28, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181228223423/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/19/garden/quest-for-a-curtain-for-a-historic-hall.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1997, Radio City was leased to the [[Madison Square Garden Company]] (then known as [[Cablevision]]), providing funding to keep the Rockettes and the ''Christmas Spectacular'' at Radio City. In exchange, Cablevision would be able to renovate and manage the theater.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=583}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/04/nyregion/lease-of-radio-city-music-hall-keeps-rockettes-kicking.html|title=Lease of Radio City Music Hall Keeps Rockettes Kicking|last=Lueck|first=Thomas J. |date=December 4, 1997|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=November 21, 2009|archive-date=May 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130518113140/http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/04/nyregion/lease-of-radio-city-music-hall-keeps-rockettes-kicking.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Radio City was closed on February 16, 1999,<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/21/nyregion/bringing-up-basement-rockefeller-center-turning-its-underground-concourse-into.html|title=Bringing Up the Basement; Rockefeller Center Is Turning Its Underground Concourse Into a Shiny New Shopping Zone. Lost in the Bargain, Preservationists Say, Is an Art Deco Treasure|last=Collins |first=Glenn|date=February 21, 1999|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=December 15, 2018|archive-date=November 23, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123142331/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/21/nyregion/bringing-up-basement-rockefeller-center-turning-its-underground-concourse-into.html|url-status=live}}</ref> for a comprehensive renovation.<ref name="Iovine 1999">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/06/nyregion/piece-by-piece-a-faded-icon-regains-its-art-deco-glow.html |title=Piece by Piece, A Faded Icon Regains Its Art Deco Glow|last=Iovine|first=Julie V.|date=September 6, 1999 |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=December 15, 2018|archive-date=December 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216034333/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/09/06/nyregion/piece-by-piece-a-faded-icon-regains-its-art-deco-glow.html|url-status=live}}</ref> During the closure, many components were cleaned, modernized, or replaced, including the curtains, seats, carpets, doorknobs, and light fixtures.{{sfn|Marshall|2005|p=131}}<ref name="Iovine 1999" /> Workers installed a gold-silk curtain measuring {{convert|112|ft}} wide, as well as 5,901 seats upholstered in salmon-colored fabric.<ref name="Collins 1999" /> The ceiling was also restored by John Canning.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Pronechen|first=Joseph|date=January 16, 2000|title=The View From/New Haven; Historical Church Is Reborn After Fire|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/16/nyregion/the-view-fromnew-haven-historical-church-is-reborn-after-fire.html|access-date=June 1, 2023|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The renovation was originally projected to cost $25 million, but the cost increased to $70 million due to various additional tasks that surfaced during the extensive refurbishment.<ref name="Collins 1999">{{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/10/travel/travel-advisory-live-from-radio-city.html|title=Travel Advisory; Live From Radio City!|last=Collins|first=Glenn|date=October 10, 1999|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=December 15, 2018|archive-date=December 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216040911/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/10/10/travel/travel-advisory-live-from-radio-city.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Radio City received a $2.5 million tax break from the [[Empire State Development Corporation]], which was meant to accommodate the expenditure of up to $66 million in renovation costs.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/30/nyregion/for-radio-city-restoration-a-2.5-million-sales-tax-break.html |title=For Radio City Restoration, A $2.5 Million Sales Tax Break|last=Pristin|first=Terry|date=January 30, 1999 |work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=December 15, 2018|archive-date=December 16, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216041201/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/01/30/nyregion/for-radio-city-restoration-a-2.5-million-sales-tax-break.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The theater reopened with a gala concert on October 4, 1999.{{sfn|Stern|Fishman|Tilove|2006|p=583}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Look Divine! Radio City Restored, Reopened & Radiant |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26246212/look_divine_radio_city_restored/|date=October 5, 1999|work=New York Daily News|access-date=December 15, 2018|via=newspapers.com|url-status=live|archive-date=December 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216030948/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/26246212/look_divine_radio_city_restored/ |page=7}}</ref>