That Big LED With Swing-in Doors For A Live Stage Is Now Running In Times Square

July 19, 2023 by Dave Haynes

That giant LED display in Times Square, with LED-clad doors that swing open to reveal a live performance stage, is now operational.

The musician Post Malone did a surprise dinner-hour concert on the stage Tuesday, the live video of his performance relayed in real-time on the larger screen that surrounds the stage opening.

The display is a main feature of a new development in the tourist magnet in midtown Manhattan.

The performance space is set up 30 feet above street level and will be hidden most of the time in a much larger LED ad display at the foot of TSX Broadway, a 46-story tower rising up at 1568 Broadway, between 46th and 47th Streets. It is set to open sometime this year. The idea is that performers launching new recordings or tours could book the space and make a splash in Times Square. Presumably it will get used in some fashion, as well, for annual New Year’s Eve celebrations.

Big LED displays in Times Square are nothing new, of course, but what’s very different here is how a set of massive stage doors are built into the display. The doors, weighing 86,000 pounds, are on hydraulic hinges that allow them to be opened or closed in roughly 15 seconds. They were fabricated by Show Canada Industries, and contain the same SNA Displays LED modules that fill the rest of the display.

I THINK the overall screen has been live for a few months now, as the development gets finished off. But this was either the first, or among the first, uses of that live stage component.

This thing would have cost serious money, but I could see other property developers looking at this as something that makes sense in high foot traffic, pedestrian-dominated plaza in a big city. There is presumably a mountain of paperwork needed to stage a pop-up concert, and then another mountain of work and costs, to put in a stage, supporting AV and lighting, and a video backdrop. If you could instead book a ready-made space to launch a new album, that’s a path of least resistance.

@sharmedlife

This is why we ❤️ NYC! @Post Malone surprised New Yorkers by performing at the TSX Broadway Icon Stage in celebration of his album ~ Austin ~ coming out July 28! We continued the festivities at the @Raising Cane’s After Party at their new global flagship in Times Square ~ where you can get all 4 Raising Cane’s Post Malone Collector’s Cups today only in NYC. Cup 3 drops nationwide tomorrow! #caniacambassador #postmalone #nyc #newyorkcity #posty #surpriseconcert #raisingcanes #austin

♬ original sound – sharmedlife

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