Theatre Interiors/Architecture — Page 2

I love the New Amsterdam throughout. It's so elaborate! I also really like the Palace. Does anyone have a clear picture of the Schoenfeld proscenium and stage?

Thanks, LB2 for posting that photo of the Palace. It looks A LOT better than I remember the last time I was there (The Grand Tour methinks, among other flops).

No, it was La Cage.

Updated On: 6/24/11 at 08:21 PM

I love all of these pictures! Any one else have interior shots they'd like to share?

bump :)

Here is a website for used books that can be very useful when Amazon lets you down.

www.abebooks.com

There are 28 copies of Lost Broadway Theatres available at various used booksellers. They range in price from $11.75 to almost $180, and all are plus shipping.

Put the site on your favorites because you can find many books quite cheaply there. Sometimes the shipping is more than the price of the book.

Go for it.

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From what I understand, The Harvey (nee the Majestic) is a bit of everything: faux, real and distressed. When I lived in Brooklyn in the 70s the Majestic was boarded up, derelict and pretty much waiting for the wrecking ball. It wasn't until the 80s that BAM took it over.

Rather than restore it, I think they shored up some of the falling plaster and chipped out a lot of what was already coming down. The 1st balcony was removed and the orchestra floor raised and then steeply raked under the gallery. The stage was also opened up and thrust forward beyond the proscenium.

But they also had to update the plumbing, heating and air-conditioning so I don't know whether the ceiling is a reconstruction or a save or a bit of both.

All of this was done to please Peter Brook who was going to have a resident company there. His 9 hour production of The Mahabarata opened the theatre, and also a 3 hour production without intermission of The Cherry Orchard was done under his direction.

The legendarily uncomfortable seating is his thought because an audience mustn't be too comfortable.

I like The Harvey, painful seating and all.

BAM addendum - If you go to the BAM Cinemas, these were carved out of the Playhouse which was a 1200 seat one balcony theatre. The proscenium of the Playhouse is intact in the large cinema that is entered upstairs (I forget what number it is). In the mid 70s this space was named after Helen Carey, the late wife of then Governor Carey who died in 1974 of cancer. The former Governor died last week.

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Does anyone have any more photos of the Marquis Theatre interior?

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I was in the Freidman for the first time yesterday, and it was GORGEOUS.

bump :)

New Amsterdam

Updated On: 11/28/11 at 12:32 AM

gypsy4: What worked for me was going to tinypic.com and uploading individually from there. They give you a link for message boards/forums and you just copy and paste it to here. Hope that helps!!

My favourite OMG-what-were-they-thinking theatre doesnt even exist anymore, and it's a shame that I cant even remember its name.

Technically not a Broadway house, it was just south of Lincoln Centre by a few blocks, where now stands a high rise condo complex with a wall-climbing set up on the first floor. It was built by some heiress with too much money for a dance company, and the interior was all shocking baby blue, with this amazing mural that went around the prosc of dancers in motion, all leading you up to the incredible visage of the benefactress, seated and decked out in her best Martha-Graham-inspired neo-grecian finery.

Open for less than a year, it was a huge joke among theatre folks, which was a shame because the acoustics in the place were incredible.

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