Download Albert Packard Costume Designs for the Roxy Theatre and Radio

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
THE BILLY ROSE THEATRE COLLECTION
PACKARD, ALBERT,
COSTUME DESIGNS FOR
THE ROXY THEATRE AND RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL,
1930’S AND UNDATED
*T-VIM 1993-036
EHE, 12/97
MAIN ENTRY:
Packard, Albert
TITLE:
Costume designs for
The Roxy Theatre and
Radio City Music Hall,
1930’s and undated
SIZE:
355 designs (3 oversized boxes)
ACCESS:
Unrestricted
SOURCE:
Gift of Regina Packard, 1993.
BIOGRAPHICAL STATEMENT:
Albert Packard was the business
manager of the costume shop for
both the Roxy Theatre and Radio
City Music Hall from 1930 until his
retirement in 1982.
DESCRIPTION:
The collection consists of costume
design drawings in gouache for
various Roxyette and Rockette
performances as well as for featured
performers and the Radio City Corps
de Ballet. Most are unsigned,
undated and lack titles though
research indicates that the bulk of the
drawings are from the 1930s.
INTRODUCTION
The Albert Packard collection of costume designs for the Roxy Theatre and Radio
City Music Hall were given to The Billy Rose Theatre Collection of The New York
Public Library by Regina Packard in 1993.
ARRANGEMENT NOTE
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. It is in this numerical order that the designs have been arranged. The
unnumbered are at the end of the collection, by alphabetical order by designer in the rare
case that they are signed, and after that, the unnumbered and unsigned are grouped by
like costume i.e. women’s long traditional, short ballet, men’s, animals, etc.
BIOGRAPHICAL/HISTORICAL NOTE
ON THE ROXYETTES AND ROCKETTES
AND THE THEATERS WHERE THEY PERFORMED
Founded in 1925 by Russell Markert as the Missouri Rockets, this troupe of sixteen
precision dancers debuted at the Missouri Theatre in St. Louis and were soon touring the
country. Their success at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City led to rehearsals for a
Broadway show, RAIN OR SHINE, as well as appearances at the Roxy Theatre. To meet
the demand, two chorus lines were created, one, renamed the Roxyettes, became the
resident performers at the Roxy. The doubling of the line for an Easter show finale was
such a hit that a line of 30 to 36 dancers became the norm. The Roxyettes were at Radio
City for its opening and have been part of the music hall productions ever since. In 1934,
they were renamed the Rockettes. Markert directed the troupe until retiring in 1971.
The Roxy Theatre at 50th Street and 7th Avenue in New York City was New York’s
most lavish combination movie and stage showplace when it opened in 1927. Built by
theatrical impresario, Samuel Lionel Rothafel, or “Roxy,” in an exuberant mix of
Renaissance, Gothic and Moorish styles, the theater had three pipe organs raised and
lowered on elevators, a 110 piece orchestra, a ballet corps of fifty and a chorus line, the
Roxyettes. Ultimately taken over by Rockefeller Center, it was demolished in 1960,
sacrificed to Rockefeller Center’s expansion.
On December 27, 1932 “Roxy” Rothafel opened Radio City Music Hall. Now a part
of Rockefeller Center and designated a national historic landmark, the entire Art Deco
theater was designed as a “stylized representation of a sunrise.” The opening show had
nineteen acts and lasted for five hours. Subsequently the format was changed to feature
film debuts with live shows of fifty minutes. This theater still has the famous chorus line
of high-kicking Rockettes, and until the 1970s, had a ballet corps as well. Roxy resigned
from its management in 1934 and died in 1936.
Albert Packard was the business manager for the costume shop of the Roxy Theatre
and Radio City Music Hall from 1930 until his retirement in 1982. It was he who saved
this collection of costume design drawings which were given to the library by his family
some years after his death in 1983.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
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. 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.
Box List
Box 1: All Roxy Theatre or Roxyettes, numbered 4 - 43
includes Alice in Wonderland (#34)
Patricia Bowman (#35, 36 and 39)
one date given, 1933
Box 2: numbered 46-127
Roxyettes: Scheherazade (#46)
Glory of Easter (#59)
Madame Butterfly (#63)
st
1 Rockette (#84)
Hansel and Gretel (#87)
one date given, 1938
Box 3: numbered 143-344 and unnumbered
no number, but a letter code--large group of Spanish/Italian style, religious
processional
signed Guy Kent for O’Halloran’s Luck
signed Mostaller
signed SonderRine
unsigned, unnumbered, grouped by costume type