The origin of Westbury Music Fair can be traced back to the mid-1950s. A radio broadcaster by the name Frank Ford after attending a music presentation under a small tent saw the potential to come up with something more accommodating for the performances. He teamed up with a Lee Guber and Shelly Gross. The three embarked on a plan to raise money to lease the venue with big accommodation. Over 100,000 dollars was raised and what followed was the creation of Valley Forge Music Fair. A brilliant, multicolored striped tent and 1,700 chairs were set up for the venue’s first production, The King and I, starring Charles Korvin and Constance Carpenter. The locale was beneath the path of planes flying in and out of Idlewild Airport which sometimes resulted in difficulties hearing the performance.
In 1966, the tent gave way to a state-of-the-art, fully enclosed theatre-in-the-round, enabling the Westbury Music Fair to provide entertainment year-round. It was constructed with a focus of creating room for 3000 attendees. The first entertainer to perform in the new facility in 1966 was Jack Benny with special guest Wayne Newton.
The brand new facility boasted heat and air conditioning, folding metal chairs, carpet and tickets priced as little as $2.50. Not long after, permanent seats were installed and ticket prices were raised slightly. In 1998, the venue, and its trademark rotating stage, was sold to SFX Entertainment, now owned and operated by Live Nation. New York Community Bank acquired naming rights in 2010. It’s now known as the NYCB Theatre at Westbury.
Sources:
“NYCB Theatre at Westbury Information.” NYCB Theatre at Westbury | Latest Events, Information & Tickets. Independent Guide Not Sponsored by Live Nation!, 5 Mar. 2021, www.westburymusicfair.org/westbury-music-fair-information/#:~:text=The%20origin%20of%20Westbury%20Music,and%20exquisite%20for%20the%20performances
Schlichenmeyer, Terri. “A Look Back at the NYCB Theatre at Westbury History.” Long Island Pulse Magazine, Long Island Pulse Magazine, 24 Mar. 2017, lipulse.com/2017/03/27/nycb-theatre-at-westbury
“Westbury Music Fair.” Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame, 10 Apr. 2023, www.limusichalloffame.org/inductees/westbury-music-fair
