Criterion Theatre
1514 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1514 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
27 people
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Saw FUNNY GIRL there. What a great experience. It is sad to think that it is gone. New York has lost a lot of its history.
Theatre was first twinned upstairs/downstairs. Then the downstairs was split left/right. The last 4 houses were in the basement. I was in here first time XMAS week 1962 for Lawrence Of Arabia.
On the below comment about “Cleopatra”, “Around the World in 80 Days” all opened at the Rivoli Theatre not the Criterion. “Ben-Hur” opened at the Loew’s State Theatre. Criterion opened “South Pacific”, “My Fair Lady”, “Patton”, “The Ten Commandments”. The Loew’s State Theatre was the MGM showcase house. The Rivoli Theatre was the first TODD-AO house in New York City. The Criterion Theatre installed the TODD-AO projection system around 1957.
ALL the NYC premiers happened at the Criterion. All the outside boroughs had to wait their turn. Many folks recall “Opening Thursday at a theatre near you.”
“Ben Hur”, “Cleopatra”, “5 Weeks in a baloon”, “Around the World in 80 Days”, “Spartacus”, and other blockbusters opened there.
My first visit to the theater was to see “Hans Christian Andersen” in early 1953…and then again in 1964 to see the roadshow of “My Fair Lady”, followed by my final visit in 1966 to see “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”… I hate to see these old movie palaces turn into toy stores, but the public today just doesn’t “get it” about the real way to see a motion picture.
Did anyone else see roadshow engagement of “The Ten Commandments” in 1955 at the Criterion.