Posted by Mark Heter on September 15, 2003 at 10:57:14:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Hippodrome vets? posted by fishin' on September 14, 2003 at 19:15:50:
The "Hip" has been gone for a long, long time. There is a parking lot on the site at this time - called "Hippodrome Parking".
Sousa's Band played an extended winter engagement there, hence the march. They did a mini concert, and accompanied the vaudeville acts. The place was built at the height of vaudeville, and I would assume they did several shows a day. I believe Paul Bierely's excellent book on Sousa contains a photo of the Sousa Band in the pit of the "Hip". The advent of sound movies probably put the death knell on the place from 1927 on, along with the rest of the vaudeville-type entertainment.
You're on your own as to figuring out who played tuba in the pit orchestra there. The place dates back to the early days of the musicians' union in NYC (Local 802 didn't come along until the 1920s) so it is highly unlikely that any personnel records from this place exist. When I broke in during the late 1960s, there were a precious few old stagehands (IATSE) around who had worked the Hip - these guys were in their 70s at that time.
I don't remember ever hearing any anecdotes about the Hip's orchestra - too long ago, probably. Just one of many pit gigs that came and went over the years. There were dozens of pit orchestras around NYC in those days; the most famous were the Roxy (where Eugene Ormandy played violin in the pit) and Radio City (Erno Rapee, Del Staigers, Fritz Geib, etc.).
Most of the guys I would have asked about this died about twenty years ago.