The building that is diagonally across from TKTS used to be the Mayfair & than the DeMille. It has that one of a kind wraparound billboard
The Astor & Victoria & its famous block long billboard is now the site of the Marriott Marquis. The soon to be defunct Virgin used to be the Loews State. Near the Lyceum was the USO which during the run of Ben Hur was the Ben Hur Bar.
What is now an office bulding around the corner from the Barrymore was the Mark Strand later to become the Warner. They renovated the Warner for Cinerama & than again when they doubled it & made the backstage area the Orleans showing X rated movies & the outside resembling the set of A Streetcar Named Desire.
The Paramount was one of a kind. The lobby was modelled after the Paris Opera House. The stagehouse was shallow for a theater that size. It closed in 1964 after The Carpetbaggers & reopened one last time for a 24 hour round the clock showing of Thunderball. Regrettfully, that was the only time I was in it. It had a lobby long concession stand & was painted a hideous pepto bismal pink. It was sadly gutted after that.Watch Midnight Cowboy & in the beginning when the Voight character looks out his hotel window you see a drop cloth over the entrance when they were gutting it. It eerily looks like the theater is still there with the Paramount logo over the arches. The chandeliers were removed in the 40's during the war for blackout reasons & the statuary was stored away lest the Sintra fans smash them in a frenzy. On the sidewalk by the Paramount building is sort of a manhole cover. When the theater was there they had the cover solid brass with the Mount Paramount logo on it. In the center of the glass fron over the marquee they had a stained glass Mount paramount.
The Capitol was a huge theater 3 rd in size between the music Hall & Roxy . It had over 5000 seats. It was a georgeous theater that was covered over when the remodeled it. It than became a Cinerama theater & a number of rows of seats were removed from the rear & a huge & lovely Japanese garden with ponds, fish & bridges was put in. It all went down went the theater did
The Criterion was where Bonds Clothes used to be. It was remodeled & went to a rather ignominious death.
The Earl Carroll Theater was across the Street from the Roxy & was very modern in decor. For years after it closed, it was a Woolworths with most of the theater intact under a false ceiling. It went down intact when Woolworths went down.
There was a Globe theater where the Roxy Deli is now. The Metorpolitan opera House is now an office building with a little plaque the only memory of it.
Poster Emeritus
Updated On: 2/28/09 at 02:20 PM
