What Times Square Area Buildings Use To Be Theaters?- Page 9

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 8:06am

Couple of nice shots of the Mark Hellinger that I'm not sure we've posted previously.

[Mamie]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 10:51am

Wow! It's absolutely gorgeous.

[zepka102]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 10:55am

It's a crime we don't have the MArk Hellinger as a Broadway theater.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 11:05am

It was a spectacular place to see a show. The huge, luxurious lobby gave you ample space to congregate before the show and at intermission, without the dispiriting crush of humanity you experience at almost every other theatre. The grandeur and comfort of the Hellinger just built up anticipation for whatever flop you were about to see there. And during the boring parts of said flop, you could contemplate all of those googaws and doodads flying around on the ceiling above you.

[ILoveMyDictionary]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 11:58am

I have a playbill from the Liberty Theatre when it played The Spring Maid starring Christie MacDonald. It says that Klaw and Erlanger were the managers of the theatre. Is this the same Klaw that the Klaw Theatre was named after?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 12:39pm

Yes. And the St. James was originally named the Erlanger.

[jaystarr]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 2:08pm

Mark Hellinger Theater

I hope we get this beautiful theater back!



The Balcony:




The Stage (view from Orchestra)




Proscenium


Balcony (view from stage)


Box Seats


More interior (ceiling)






Updated On: 7/14/09 at 02:08 PM

[fashionguru_23]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 3:01pm

At least, we are getting back the Henry Miller as a "new" Broadway house. Why is the New Victory rarely used as an Off-Broadway Theatre?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 3:32pm

The New Victory is run as a non-profit, housing productions for children and families and is not available as a house for commercial Broadway or Off-Broadway productions.

When the renovation of 42nd Street began, the New 42nd Street Organization did not want the theatres on the street to all return to use as Broadway theatres. When work began, there were nine former Broadway theatres on that block - the New Amsterdam, Apollo, Lyric, Times Square, Selwyn, Harris, Liberty, Empire and Victory ... 10, if you count the remains of one, the Lew Fields, which was stripped of almost all interior and exterior detail and ended its life as an ugly cinema called the Anco.

The idea in the early to mid 1990s was that Broadway could not sustain nine additional new Broadway theatres, so the New 42nd Street Organization was determined to find alternate uses for some of them. As it turns out, having a few more of those theatres available for Broadway productions would probably have been a good thing, as Broadway seems to be encountering booking jams in most of the recent seasons, with productions waiting in the wings for shows to fold.

Obviously, the New Amsterdam became Disney's flagship theatre and the Selwyn returned as the American Airlines. The New Victory became a children's theatre.

The Harris - once owned by and destined for renovation by the Nederlander Organization - was knocked down, with almost no attention paid to it. A shame, because as per photos, so much of that theatre seemed to be intact.

The Apollo and Lyric were also knocked down, with elements of both of those intimate playhouses used for the unbookable, unsustainable Ford Center/Hilton.

The Lew Fields/Anco was demolished, with no tears shed.

The Empire (aka Eltinge, named for famed female impersonator Julian Eltinge) was moved down the street, given a cheap coat of paint and a cursory "renovation" and is the entrance for the AMC theatres.

The Liberty auditorium sits marooned on West 41st Street.

The Times Square - which several non-profits and I believe some commercial theatre owners had looked at - has been embroiled for about five years in the aborted Marc Ecko store and still does not seem to have a determined future use.

Updated On: 7/14/09 at 03:32 PM

[Jonwo]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 4:54pm

The Mark Hellinger looks like it's in good condition and with a little bit of refurbishment could easily become a theatre again but I'm unsure if any theatre owners would be willing to offer enough money to move the Time Square Church to another location.

I do hope with the Henry Miller's reopening, that more lost theatres could be restored or rebuilt and be back in use.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 5:33pm

The Times Square Church has kept the Hellinger in better shape than the Nederlander Organization ever did. Apart from missing it as a Broadway venue for 20 years and the foolishness that it was sold outright to the church, the only thing that ever alarmed me in particular about the Times Square Church was a story that ran in Theatre Week or In Theatre Magazine where a reporter snuck in one day at an off hour to take a peek at the venue and found a couple having sex in the mezzanine.

Updated On: 7/14/09 at 05:33 PM

[Mamie]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 6:36pm

This is interesting so I thought I'd post it here - even though this was not a Times Square theatre.

The Star Theatre was located downtown at 844 Broadway from 1861 to 1901. This was before the theatre district had moved further north. In 1902 it was dismantled - probably the same way it was built, one brick at a time. This link is to a time lapse video someone made in 1902 as the theatre was coming down.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=828NGoYdNeE

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 6:52pm

wow what a great video

Updated On: 7/14/09 at 06:52 PM

[Brave Sir Robin2]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 8:34pm

This is amazing! How long does that church have a lease?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 8:44pm

The Nederlander Organization originally leased it to the church but a few years later, for reasons I cannot understand, sold it. The church owns it. So, unless the church were to go under or find a property they prefer or get an astronomical offer for the building, it won't be returning as a Broadway theatre.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/14/09 at 11:18pm

Maybe an outside source will buy the theater? Andrew Lloyd Webber? ha.

That sucks about all those buildings, though. And the Hilton is an awful house.

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 7/15/09 at 10:51am

Just have to pop in and mention how much I always enjoy this thread and how glad I am whenever more pictures are posted. It's a fascinating little treat.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 7/15/09 at 11:55am

ALW's not likely to buy it. The last time he set foot in the Hellinger, it was to see the world premiere staging of JCS, which any ALW fan will recall he has expressed serious dislike of. But the London one...oh, good God, he bought the damn theatre. *sigh*

[PalJoey]

Posted: 7/15/09 at 12:13pm

That stop-time video of the Star Theater coming down is so sad.

I wonder whatever happened to the ghosts?

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/15/09 at 12:55pm

I think Lloyd Webber did want to purchase the Hellinger. I vaguely recall that he wanted that theatre for Sunset Boulevard (which would have been perfect). I also think that Michael Bennett and Cameron Mackintosh had also tried to buy it at various points.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 7/15/09 at 2:53pm

Here's a nice shot looking into the house from the stage of the Hudson Theatre. (It's the theatre just down the street from the Belasco and attached to the Millenium Hotel).

The Hudson was built in 1903 and was used as a legit theatre up until 1968, with intermittent periods as a TV studio. After 1968, it was a porno theatre, a rock club and is now a conference center.

It's been beautifully restored with a large, spacious lobby. Another house that would be great if it returned to the legit fold, but not likely to happen.

[Mamie]

Posted: 7/15/09 at 3:55pm

I wonder whatever happened to the ghosts?

You think like me, PJ.

It looks like they might have had time to catch a streetcar for uptown.

Updated On: 7/16/09 at 03:55 PM

[Mamie]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 9:43pm

Time for another old theatre - The Hippodrome!

The Hippodrome was a huge theatre located on 6th Ave, filling the block between 43rd and 44th Streets. The Hippodrome had an enormous 119 foot wide stage and held an audience of 5,000. The last production there was "Jumbo" in 1935. The picture I have from that production (2nd one down) covers 2 pages and was too big for my scanner. You can get an idea of how big a production it was from this piece of the picture. I did a quick count and found 47 people in addition to the live elephant in the center.




JUMBO


Irish tenor Jack McCormack in 1918 - WITHOUT amplification!




Houdini and Jennie - in 1918

Updated On: 7/16/09 at 09:43 PM

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/16/09 at 10:01pm

The Mark Hellinger is gorgeous. It's absolutely criminal that it no longer houses Broadway shows.

[Kevn520]

Posted: 5/1/10 at 10:15am

This remains one of my favorite threads on BWW. Out of everything I've read here and in "Lost Broadway Theatres", the Liberty Theatre remains the most fascinating. It's probably because it still exists in some capacity, and it is hidden from public view.