RKO Hamilton Theatre - New York City

Hamilton Theatre - New York City (Byron and Co., 1915)

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RKO Hamilton Theatre

3560 Broadway at 146th Street
New York, N.Y. 10031

Organ Specifications:
► III/15 M.P. Möller, Op. 2238 (1917)
• II/ Welte & Sons Company (1915)

Constructed in 1912-13 as a vaudeville house during one of New York's theater building booms, the Hamilton Theater is located in the Hamilton Heights area of Manhattan. Designed by the great theater architect, Thomas W. Lamb, the building is one of his significant pre-World War I theaters in New York City. The Hamilton's developers, B .S. Moss and Solomon Brill, were major builders and operators of vaudeville houses and movie theaters in the New York City area.

Moss & Brill's new theater was at first named the "Lafayette," perhaps as a historical link to its location along the stretch of Broadway that was called the Boulevard Lafayette until 1899. Before its completion, however, the theater was renamed "Moss & Brill's Hamilton Theatre," possibly to avoid confusion with a nearby theater also named the "Lafayette" that was under construction at the same time.

Construction of Moss & Brill's Hamilton Theater, which began on June 26, 1912, proceeded at a very fast pace; it opened on January 23,1913, a little more than six months after building commenced. On opening night, there were performances by the theater's resident orchestra, a series of short dramas, several comedians, an acrobatic act, and short motion pictures. Besides a schedule of performances, a list of admission prices, and the hours of operation, the printed program for the evening included a comprehensive description of the theater's interior and systems, including dimensions, materials, and decoration. Inexplicably, George Keister, another prominent theater architect, was credited with its design, but no evidence connecting him with the Hamilton's construction has been found.

Hamilton's leasehold, to Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO) Radio Pictures. RKO eliminated vaudeville from the Hamilton, installed a sound system, and converted it to one of the first movie theaters to show "talking pictures" in New York City. Under RKO's ownership, the theater's interior was redecorated in 1943 and its lobby modernized in 1954. That year, RKO purchased the underlying land from the Acker estate. RKO closed the Hamilton in 1958, leasing it for use as a sports arena and then as a discotheque. An evangelical church purchased the building in 1965, selling it to investors in the mid-1990s; the theater auditorium has remained vacant since that time, although the storefronts have been continually occupied. The marquee was removed in 1995, when the lobby was converted to retail space.

– From the 2000 NYC Landmarks Preservations Commision Report

M.P. Möller, Inc.
Hagerstown, Md. – Opus 2238 (1917)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 44 stops, 15 ranks

The second organ in the Hamilton Theatre was built in 1917 by M.P. Möller of Hagerstown, Md. Installed at a cost of $4,000, this was one of Möller's standard theatre organ models having three manuals and 15 ranks.

Solo Organ (Manual III) – 61 notes, enclosed [7" wind pressure]

Horn Diapason

Bass Clarinet [TC]

—

Tibia Clausa [10" w.p.]

Vox Humana

French Horn

Chimes

20 bells

Octave Horn

—

Orchestral Bells

37 bars

Cello Solo

Glockenspiel [Harp]

—

Oboe Horn

Marimba

49 bars

Kinura

Harp

49 notes

Flute

—

Xylophone

49 bars

Clarinet

Great Organ (Manual II) – 61 notes [7" wind pressure]

Tuba Profunda [TC] [10" w.p.]

Octave

—

Contra Bass Bourdon

Flute

—

Double Open Diapason

Violin I

—

Tuba Mirabilis

—

Violin Celeste

—

Open Diapason

—

Violins II

—

Flute

—

2 2/3

Quint

—

Violin I

2 2/3

Twelfth

—

Celeste

Fifteenth

—

Violin II

Piccolo

—

Clarion [Tuba]

—

Accompaniment Organ (Manual I) – 61 notes, enclosed

Bourdon

—

2 2/3

Twelfth

—

Open Diapason No. 1

—

Piccolo

—

Solo String

—

Fifteenth

—

Viole d'Orchestre

—

Snare Drum, roll

Vox Celeste

—

Triangle, tap

Flute

—

Tom Tom, tap

Flute

—

Chinese Block, tap

Solo String

—

Tambourine

Vox Celeste

—

Castanets

Viole do'Orchestre

—

Pedal Organ – 32 notes

Resultant

—

Trombone [ext. GT] [10" w.p.]

Diaphonic Diapason [ext. GT]

Sub Bass [ext. SO]

Second Touch

Bourdon

Bass Drum

Tuba

—

Tympani

Diapason

—

Snare Drum

Solo String

—

Crash Cymbal

Vox Celeste

—

Small Cymbal

Viole d'Orchestre

—

Triangle

Flute

—

Couplers

Great to Pedal 8', 4'

Accomp. to Solo 16', 8', 4'

Solo to Pedal 8'

Great 16', 4'

Accomp. to Pedal 8', 4'

Solo 16', 4'

Solo to Great 16', 8', 4'

Accomp. 16', 4'

Accomp. to Great 16', 8', 4'

Pedal Octave

Solo to Accomp. 16', 8', 4'

Tremulants

Solo Organ

Tibia

Tuba

1 Tremulant, 2 tablets, for Great and Accomp.

Toe Pistons

Song BIrds (1)

Thunder Sheet

Song Birds (2)

Crash Cymbal

Pedal Movements

Two Swell pedals

Sforzando Pedal

Crescendo Pedal

Adjustable Combinations

Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6

affecting Solo Organ

Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6

affecting Great Organ

Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6

affecting Accomp. Organ

Pistons 1-2-3-4-5-6

affecting Pedal Organ

Piston Couplers

Manuals to Great

Pedal to Manuals

Welte & Sons Company
Poughkeepsie, N.Y. (1915)
Electro-pneumatic action
2 manuals

The original organ in the Hamilton Theatre was built in 1916 by the Welte & Sons Company of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.

Sources:
     Cinema Treasures web site: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1353
     Junchen, David L. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 1. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1985.
     New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission Report (February 2000).
     Trupiano, Larry. Factory Specifications for M.P. Möller organ, Op. 3800 (1923).

Illustrations:
     Byron and Company (New York, N.Y.). Exterior (1915). Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.

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