The Music Hall, Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, Mo., scene of the recent presidential debate between incumbent Ronald Reagan and Walter Mondale, is pictured on a postcard in color about 1936, when the Music Hall was completed. The legend on the reverse side of the card reads: New home of the Kansas City Philharmonic orchestra, the Music Hall also is available for conventions, lectures, concerts, plays, musical shows, motion picture shows and all other gatherings which require the use of a theater of large proportions and complete equipment. H.F. McElroy, City Manager. Visiting the hall for advanced inspection, May 26, 1936, a reporter for The Kansas City Star wrote: The walls are of mulberry or old Indian red; the carpets are of the same earth red, with aisle and floor coverings of mulberry, relieved by a modernist design in green and gold...A dozen horizontal gold bars encircle the walls, a few feet apart. They suggest the bars of music. The architectural lines are graceful and at the same time severe. Next to the Philharmonic orchestra, the chief early user of the Music Hall was Walter Fritzhy, with his annual series of widely attended musical concerts. Leslie Howard appeared in the opening stage show, Hamlet, on Jan. 26, 1936. Earlier Philharmonic concerts had been held in Convention Hall, which was described as make-shift, since the tones of the various instruments could never by perfectly blended. The new Music Hall supplied a modern sound shell, constructed of plywood painted pale green. The hall provided beauty and comfort not only for the audience, but for the stage folk as well, wrote Dwight Pennington of The Star. Fanny Brice, when she was shown to her dressing room (with parlor, bath and dressing room, all beautifully furnished) gazed in admiration a moment and then told her guide, 'Just put in a hot plate and bring me a lease.' The hall and its comfortable upholstered seats have been completely refurbished several times since the opening. Kansas City Times, November 2, 1984.
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