Morosco Theatre — Page 3

"I'm not quite sure what happened with the Ford Center to prompt the change to Hilton, to be honest. I remember the change was made very suddenly. As best as I can figure, it had something to do with Livent. They were the original owners/leaseholders of the theatre so perhaps when they went bankrupt, Hilton bought their lease out or something and changed the theatre's name?"

When Livent went bankrupt, Clear Channel subsidiary Live Nation bought its assets and assumed control over continuing leases. Hilton paid Live Nation to re-name the theatre. Most likely the naming rights were not absorbed by the new leases, since the company that had the agreement no longer existed.

I got to grab a brick from The Morosco. I went to a Wed matinée that week and we were walking past. The whole area was chain linked fenced off. There was worker on a Bulldozer and I asked if if I could get one. He said I was they only one who talked to him decently that week, poor guy it really wasn't his fault, and people were harassing him as they passed. He let me in the fence so I could grab one. It has a chunk of cement on it too. I had to drag it around the rest of the day.

Thank you everyone for this thread. Fascinating.

One of the best threads on the board guys! Brilliant! Dont let it die please.

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From the story Margo posted:

"He said the planned redevelopment of 42d Street would return eight theaters to legitimate use and that the proposed midtown rezoning plan 'would encourage the preservation of 44 legitimate Broadway theaters.'"

So which 8 theaters were returned to legitimate use? And since we don't have 44 theaters on Broadway now, what theaters were lost in that time?

Does anyone know what happened to the Edison Theatre? I found it on Wikipedia and IBDB, but don't have much info about its size or current status.

*Edit: It looks like the space has recently been taken over by the supper club.* It sounds like the interior is on good shape, but they won't let you see photos unless you are a part of the club.*

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Updated On: 12/11/07 at 11:37 PM

Looks like a hell of a lot of remodeling has gone on to help it look more like a dance hall than a theatre.
Once again, i ADORE these informative threads. x

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The Morosco, Helen Hayes and Bijou Theatres were all active Broadway theatres up until being torn down in 1982. (The Bijou was pretty much a dump and not a huge loss, but the Morosco was a great playhouse with something like seven Pulitzer Prize winning plays that had been performed there, and the Helen Hayes Theatre was a jewel, both inside and out.)

Two other theatres, the Astor and the Gaiety, were also torn down to make way for the Marquis. They had been legit theatres at one time, but had spent most of their lives as movie houses. The Astor had some terrible remodeling done in the 1950s, and later was turned into a used bookstore, but I think the Gaiety remained active as the Victoria movie theatre up to the end.

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"They were lovely. Some very prominent theatre professionals were arrested for protesitng durring the demolition (I believe) of the two theatres. Among them were Joe Papp and Tammy Grimes.'

And me, I was one of the ones arrested for protesting right before the demolition.

Thank you, Smaxie, for those photographs... I am fascinated by that HUGE billboard that started on 45th Street, rounded the corner onto Broadway, and then turned onto 46th... literally over a block long! It was lost with that bunch of Morosco, etc., theaters. I also loved the BIG corner-turning billboard over the Mayfair/DeMille/Embassy Theater across Times Square; it was used to advertise "big" movies like Psycho, The Great Escape, and Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines. In the '70s/'80s it was used for Panasonic; it is now chopped into quarters for Wicked, Jersey Boys, etc. So here is a question for you Broadway experts: does there exist anywhere an archive of photographs or artwork for these two (reportedly) largest billboards in the world? One would hate to think that such spectacularly massive efforts, the constantly renewing products of American entertainment capitalism, would have left no permanent evidence of their existence!

Facade of the old Helen Hayes Theatre.

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Helen Hayes Theatre proscenium. It still looked pretty much like this at the end.

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Updated On: 12/12/07 at 02:04 PM