Forgotten Broadway theatres

[Smaxie]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 10:24pm

There have been plenty of threads lately, celebrating some of the great Broadway theatres we've lost, like the Mark Hellinger, Morosco, Helen Hayes, Ziegfeld, Playhouse, etc.

But how about we take some time to remember the not so great theatres. Broadway fans of the late '70s and early '80s may remember a few truly oddball 500 seat spaces that served brief stints as Broadway theatres, before being torn down or converted to other uses.

Does anyone remember the 22 Steps/Princess on West 48th Street, where the Hotel Renaissance now stands, home of Pump Boys and Dinettes, as well as various horrors like Censored Scenes from King Kong, Coquelico, Fearless Frank, etc.

The Jack Lawrence on far West 48th Street, home of Quilters and Cleavage?

The Rialto, on Broadway between 42nd and 43rd Streets, which housed Marlowe, Canterbury Tales and Musical Chairs?

The Edison on West 47th Street (now the Supper Club), which was home to the Oh, Calcutta revival, as well as the awful Change in the Heir?

And the Century (once Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe), on West 46th Street, in the basement of the Paramount Hotel, where Waltz of the Stork and Taste of Honey played?

[alterego]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:03pm

Although those listed belong to a much earlier period there is an excellent book called - LOST BROADWAY THEATRES by Nicholas Van Hoogstatten. It is (was?) published by Princeton Architectural Press. Well worth finding.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:06pm

I have the book

The old Earl Carroll theater was interesting

[alterego]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:13pm

So many of them were. Look at the theatres lost and look at the more recent ones built i.e. The Minskoff, The Marquis and The Gershwin. In many cases it was a tragedy that they were demolished.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 6/26/07 at 11:15pm

Talk about tragedies

The picture palaces of Times Square that are gone

Mark Strand
Roxy
Capitol
State
Paramount
Mayfair - Still standing but on a death watch

Updated On: 6/26/07 at 11:15 PM

[Justin D]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 8:49am

I have that book, as well as one that focusses on the other broadway theatres that are still standing, but they do not include those 3 newer ones (i've yet to see the inside of the gershwin or marquis and cant seem to find any interior pics of those 3 online anywhere.

[Steve2]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 9:02am

Has anyone read "The City and the Theatre: The History of New York Playhouses: A 250 Year Journey from Bowling Green to Times Square" or "Broadway Theatres: History and Architecture"?

[Justin D]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 9:06am

i think the other one i mentioned i have is the latter one, I just could not remember the title, its nice, but the lost broadway theatres book has nicer photos, although the "Broadway Theatres: History and Architecture" has photos of current theatres (most of them).

I also love the end section of Lost Broadway Theatres where they show blueprints and the combination of the 2 theatres to make the Hilton.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 6/27/07 at 10:47am

Let us not forget the Harkness Theatre formerly the Colonial, at 62nd and Bway, although most of the theatre was on 62nd and Columbus. There is an apartment tower there now. The one with the climbing wall on the ground floor.

The Colonial was a vaudeville/subway circuit house and then a TV studio where The Price is Right with Bill Cullen was filmed. ABC used it as a miscellaneous studio for some years and then Rebekkah Harkness bought it and spent a huge amount of money turning it into a near state-of the-art theatre for dance. Among other things the bathrooms were in black Italian marble with gold plated faucets.

No dance companies save hers, the Harkness Ballet, really wanted to go there, and so they tried for legit bookings. The Acting Company played a season there, Irene Worth in Sweet Bird of Youth, Robert Morse in So Long 174th Street and Ipi Tombi, a South African revue by way of London, all played there and none of them ran.

What doomed the Harkness wasn't the location (which didn't help either), but "The Mural" which was a huge artwork up both sides of the proscenium arch and across the top which was filled with nearly naked, well-sculpted men and women (plus a robed, chaste Rebekkah herself) paying "Homage to Terpsicore", the title of this mammoth site-specific work. Prospective bookers would take one look at it and that was it.

The building cost 5 million and eventually was sold for 1 million.

I know. I worked there.