The Town Hall
123 W. 43rd St.
212-997-1003www.the-townhall-nyc.org
The Town Hall was built in 1921 by a group of suffragettes and began as a lecture hall and public forum for debates where America’s Town Meetings on The Air was broadcast live for 25 years.
Over the decades, Eleanor Roosevelt, Carl Sandberg, Margaret Sanger, Billie Holiday, Igor Stravinsky, Bob Dylan, Miles Davis and most recently, The Dalai Lama and President Obama have graced the stage.
Today the hall flourishes as a popular, affordable venue, boasting the hottest acts in rock, pop, folk, cabaret, world music, comedy and dance, including Billy Joel, Blondie, Elvis Costello, Natalie Merchant, Graham Nash, Liza Minnelli, Cyndi Lauper, Norah Jones, Andre Watts, Henry Rollins, Joe Jackson, Pink Martini, Regina Spektor, Bryan Adams, Aimee Mann, Robin Williams, Dawn Upshaw, Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Al Gore, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Mercer, Don Rickles, Jay Leno, Dave Matthews, Vanessa Williams and Ben Folds.
For over a decade, The Town Hall has hosted live broadcasts of Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion. In its annual show, Broadway Rising Stars, The Town Hall gives recent graduates from the nation’s leading performing arts schools a chance to showcase their talents and perform on the legendary stage.
The Town Hall Educational Outreach Program helps schools build their arts programs and advance student learning through standards-based, collaborative arts residencies. Over the past two-and-a-half decades, The Town Hall has produced the Feature Film Seminar Series and a number of new and critically acclaimed musical series, which include the Spring Series, Broadway By The Year, The Broadway Cabaret Festival and The Summer Broadway Festival.