Venue: Manhattan Center
Town: Manhattan, US

The Manhattan Center is a building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street, it houses Manhattan Center Studios, the location of two recording studios; its Grand Ballroom; and the Hammerstein Ballroom, a performance venue. In 1976, the building was purchased by its current owner, the Unification Church, for $3 million. Tenants include: Telemundo, Macy's, CFDA, WeWork, Facebook, iHeart Media, Samsung, American Heart Association, Robin Hood, FX Network, Endeavor, MAC Cosmetics, Viacom, SiriusXM, NBA, NBC Universal, Masterbeat, Formerly Al Jazeera America HQ, Broadway Cares Equity Fights AIDS. The Manhattan Center was originally called the Manhattan Opera House and was built in 1906 by Oscar Hammerstein I, and was located one half block east of the 9th Avenue Elevated's 34th Street station. Hammerstein boldly sought to compete with the established Metropolitan Opera (at the time, located at the first Metropolitan Opera House, five blocks to the north) by offering grand opera to the New York public at lower ticket prices and with a superior orchestra and stage productions. Rapidly, it received critical acclaim and became a popular alternative to the Met, and many great operas and celebrated singers debuted at the new theater. In 1910, after the Metropolitan Opera felt it could no longer tolerate the competition, it offered Hammerstein $1.2 million to cease producing opera for a period of 10 years. He accepted the offer and experimented with various other types of entertainment before ultimately selling the building. In March 1911, it was opened as a "combination" house by the Shubert brothers featuring vaudeville shows during the week and concerts on Sunday nights at affordable prices. In 1922, the Manhattan Opera House was purchased by the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry, who built a new building façade and a new Grand Ballroom on the seventh floor. In 1926, Warner Bros rented the ballroom to set up a studio