What Times Square Area Buildings Use To Be Theaters? — Page 5

There's also a little bit of the Rialto Theatre building on the right in your Victory Theatre photo, Mama.

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The Broadway Theatre.
Broadway and 41st St
1888-1928

The Paramount Theatre, Times Sq.
The housing of the huge auditorium can be seen down the side street to the left.

Madison Square Theatre.
1877- 1908

The Cosmopolitan Theatre.
Columbus Circle.
Demolished totally 2000.
Staged the first musical version of 'The Wizard Of Oz'

Updated On: 11/26/08 at 10:42 AM

Here's a surviving piece of the facade from the Ziegfeld Theatre. Apparently, this piece is still kicking around Manhattan somewhere.

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Updated On: 11/26/08 at 10:49 AM

The Rivoli

And don't forget the John Street Theater at 15 John Street, a few blocks north of Wall Street, where the Hallam family played for 3 decades, from 1767 to 1797:

THEN:



NOW:

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I lived in the East Village for 15 years. It broke my heart they tore down the Variety Arts.

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These photos are just fabulous. You realize I'm going to have to fill a few disks with all these photos, don't you?

I think the reason these places have such a strong hold on our hearts is because of the imagination, artistry, and effort that went into their design and creation. Then once built, the range of emotions that resulted from the performances that went on there. Today's glass and steel boxes are built without heart and soul and would never, EVER, hold those ghosts of the past.

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There has been a great deal of interest in the Liberty Theatre on this fascinating thread. 8 to 10 years ago I was walking down West 41st Street and stopped at the enormous red brick exterior of the rear of the Liberty. There were construction workers around and the stage door was open. I asked a worker if I could take a look inside and he said "Sure"! I entered the stage door and walked across the stage, noting the old lighting board still in position. I then walked into the auditorium with its tattered seats and thought about the many performers who played there, including Abbott and Costello. When I left, the construction foreman yelled at me, but it was worth it being inside this old theatre.

If it were to be used as a theatre again, it would need a complete restoration. It apparently is owned by the Hilton Hotel which has a few photographs of the interior in the hallway between 41st and 42nd street. And, as has been noted, it was used in the "Angel Project" several years ago.

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