Old Theatres/New Theatres- Page 2
Old Theatres/New Theatres
Old Theatres/New Theatres#25
Posted: 9/14/15 at 9:12am
My theory is if they throw out all the extraneous Hard Rock debris, etc., the space is big enough for a good sized theater.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
Old Theatres/New Theatres#26
Posted: 9/14/15 at 9:33am
A theater in this size space would make the Lyric look like the Helen Hayes by comparison. The damage has been done . The original theater was destroyed. Time to move on.
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
Old Theatres/New Theatres#27
Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:42am
Theatres need fly space for hanging sets, lights, rigging. Even our smallest Broadway theatres, like the Helen Hayes, Friedman and Booth have fly space. There's no way to do that in the Hard Rock space without taking out several floors above Hard Rock that are currently occupied by offices, Otherwise, you'd have a Broadway theatre that can pretty much only handle a unit set and primitive lighting.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
Old Theatres/New Theatres#28
Posted: 9/14/15 at 10:52am
The idea of making that space a theater again is beyond ludicrous. It is IMMENSE. You would have so much unnecessary space left over.
Old Theatres/New Theatres#29
Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:03pm
Smaxie said: "The current Ziegfeld Theatre was always a movie theatre and never housed shows.
Thanks for the photo. Looks like a beautiful space. I like theaters that are farther away from the Times Square Madness
There WAS a Ziegfeld Theatre very close to that same location, but on Sixth Avenue and 54th Street. It was a legit theatre that housed the original Show Boat, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Brigadoon, Kismet, among other shows. But its remote location was unpopular and it was demolished in 1966. From photos, it was an extraordinary looking building, inside and out.
"
Old Theatres/New Theatres#30
Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:09pm
Also, does anyone know of a book or coffee table book that shows all the old theaters or gives a history of the theaters themselves? I'm not sure why I find the actual theater spaces to be so fascinating? I guess I like the history they contain and the idea to think of all the famous and not so famous performers who passed through their stages. Also, it's fun to think about who was in the audience over the years.,
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
Old Theatres/New Theatres#31
Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:12pm
For the theatres no longer with us, this is a great place to start.
5Old Theatres/New Theatres#32
Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:14pm
Thanks, Smaxie....I'll check it out! Looks interesting.
Old Theatres/New Theatres#33
Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:50pm
Does that book have pictures?
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/26/05
Old Theatres/New Theatres#34
Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:58pm
Tons. If you go to the Amazon link, you can use the "look inside" feature. They have a couple of sample pages. They happen to have the pages for the Casino Theatre, that stood at 39th and Broadway and was demolished in 1930. 
Old Theatres/New Theatres#35
Posted: 9/14/15 at 3:04pm
I NEED THAT BOOK!
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/06
Old Theatres/New Theatres#36
Posted: 9/14/15 at 5:56pm
Why can't some of these be replicated? Modern versions of the old classics.
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/06
Old Theatres/New Theatres#37
Posted: 9/14/15 at 5:59pm
39th and Broadway is now considered "outside the theatre district", so even if you could rebuild that theatre (which obviiously we can't), it would still technically not be a Broadway house unless they gave a waiver.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
Old Theatres/New Theatres#38
Posted: 9/14/15 at 6:21pm
Many of these theaters were one of a kind like the Ziegfeld.
The cost to replicate them would be astronomical plus the artisans who did them are long since gone. Add that, todays theatergoers probably would not even care.
Old Theatres/New Theatres#39
Posted: 9/14/15 at 7:07pm
For more on old Broadway theaters, there are also the later Mary C. Henderson's books "The City and the Theater," :"The Story of 42nd Street," and "The New Amsterdam." All have loads of pictures. I think "The Ziegfeld Touch" might also have pictures of the Ziegfeld Theater.
The multiplex Village East Cinema on Second Avenue used to be the Phoenix Theater, where "Once Upon a Mattress" and "The Golden Apple" "opened. Grease," "Oh, Calcutta!," "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," and "Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" also opened there before moving to Times Square. It was a Broadway-size house.
The Manhattan Center was once the Manhattan Opera House. Kurt Weill's "The Eternal Road" played there.
Old Theatres/New Theatres#40
Posted: 9/14/15 at 7:34pm
BTW, if you're interested in what the Playhouse Theater (where "The Glass Menagerie" and "The Miracle Worker" opened) looked like, it's the theater where "Springtime for Hitler" played in the original "The Producers."
Old Theatres/New Theatres#41
Posted: 9/15/15 at 10:32am
- First, a lot of the old Paramount is used for storage. Secondly, since the building is currently in use, it should be structurally sound. Thirdly, it should be possible to extend the stage, provide greater leg room, wider aisles and subdivide into a multiplex. New World Stages was a move theater, now five off-Broadway venues. Also, Radio City is much bigger as is the Theater at MSG, formerly the Felt Forum. The Nederlanders operate some big barns out of town. Final point, on a separate thread, the Shuberts started out below 39th Street so there is no physical reason to limit theaters to above 39th.
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/17/03
Old Theatres/New Theatres#42
Posted: 9/15/15 at 10:36am
It ain't happening. If and when Hard Rock goes, it will go back to office space.
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