Tarrytown Music Hall

The Music Hall, in Tarrytown, New York, United States, is located on West Main Street downtown. It is a brick structure in the Queen Anne architectural style erected in the late 19th century. In 1980, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the oldest theater in Westchester County still used as a theater, Dave Brubeck, Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis are among the musicians who have performed there. Many classical music performances have been recorded there to take advantage of its excellent acoustics. It is one of only 6% of theaters in the United States built before 1900. It closed in 1976 due to neglect and structural problems. Shortly after it was listed on the Register, a local not for profit bought it and restored it. It has remained in operation since it was reopened a few years later, with several other renovations. More notable artists have performed there since then and it has been used in several films and television commercials.

The Music Hall is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of West Main and Kaldenberg Place, one block west of Broadway (U. S. Route 9). The surrounding neighborhood is a densely developed urban core, with many two story commercial and mixed use buildings. Some mature trees grow above building height, and there are a few parking lots between and behind the buildings. The terrain slopes gradually towards the Hudson River 0.6 mile (1 km) to the west. The building was to be mixed use with apartments and commercial space, as well as a large entertainment area in the rear. Architect Philip Edmunds's design exemplified the Queen Anne style in its mix of materials, as advocated by Richard Norman Shaw, considered to have established the style. It cost Wallace $50,000 ($ in modern dollars) to build and opened in December. The first night's performance was instrumental selections from The Mikado with a quartet vocal performance of "Moonlight on the Lake". In 2009, the Canadian Brass could be heard clearly in the rear of the theater without amplification. Bjorn Olsson was hired as the theater's first full time professional director in 2003. That year the theater spent $100,000 to re roof one side of the building, replace the stage curtain, spotlights and sandbags. Today, the theater hosts performances 180 days a year. More recently, exterior and interior scenes from the 2011 film, Henry's Crime, starring Keanu Reeves, were shot at the Tarrytown Music Hall in January 2010. Random Farms Kids Theater (a Westchester based non profit children's theater and founded by Anya Wallach in 1996), Ars Viva Chamber Orchestra (a premiere chamber orchestra), and Westchester Symphonic Winds (an adult community based 60 piece wind and percussion ensemble) are all currently recognized as resident companies of the Tarrytown Music Hall. In 2012, the alternative music group guster filmed a DVD at the Music Hall during their acoustic tour. In 2018, The Music Hall introduced a resident theater arts program for young people called The Tarrytown Music Hall Academy, offering a variety of workshops to kids in the Hudson Valley and beyond with a focus on the process of creating theater arts, including lighting, costume, and set design, play writing, stage combat choreography, as well as performance.