Old Theatres/New Theatres- Page 2

[Neilfrombrooklyn]

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.  

[Mr Roxy]

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.

[Smaxie]

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.  

[Mr Roxy]

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.

[Braniff Forever]

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.  

 

 

 

 

"

 

[Braniff Forever]

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.,

[Smaxie]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:12pm

For the theatres no longer with us, this is a great place to start.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Broadway-Theatres-Updated-Expanded/dp/1568981163/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442254243&sr=8-1&keywords=Lost+BRoadway+Theatres

 

5

Updated On: 9/14/15 at 02:12 PM

[Braniff Forever]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:14pm

Thanks, Smaxie....I'll check it out! Looks interesting.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 2:50pm

Does that book have pictures?

[Smaxie]

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.  

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 3:04pm

I NEED THAT BOOK!

[Timmer]

Posted: 9/14/15 at 5:56pm

Why can't some of these be replicated?  Modern versions of the old classics. 

[Timmer]

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.

[Mr Roxy]

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. 

Updated On: 9/14/15 at 06:21 PM

[Cesare2]

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.

 

[Cesare2]

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."

[Neilfrombrooklyn]

Posted: 9/15/15 at 10:32am

1. 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.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/15/15 at 10:36am

It ain't happening. If and when Hard Rock goes, it will go back to office space.

[Neilfrombrooklyn]

Posted: 9/15/15 at 11:01am

Just saying it is possible.