Embassy Theatre

I had heard last summer that there were plans to renovate the theatre? Has nothing come of those?

Scott, I am the NYC Metro Area Director for the Theatre Historical Society of America--please contact me at: joemasher@aol.com

Scott,
I am the director of the Music Hall in Tarrytown, a friend of mine, Travis Sluss, interested in starting a rock venue alerted me to the existence of your theater. We are members of the League of Historic American Teaters, LHAT and I would love to bring some people there to look at the place, maybe something can still be done. Please contact me:
bjorn@tarrytownmusichall.org

Thanks to Barry Goodkin's "Theatre Openings" feature in the latest issue of Marquee Magazine, I was surprised to find that the Embassy and Capitol were built simultaneously and opened in the same week, the Embassy (which Goodkin says had 1,591 seats) on August 12th, 1926, and the Capitol (with 1,748 seats) on August 18th. Since Thomas W. Lamb designed both theatres, I wonder if they were originally under the same ownership?

The year given for this photo is 1986.

The Embassy Theatre opened on Aug. 12, 1926 with seating listed at 1,591.

A recent Lower Hudson news article regarding Ed Sullivan:

TV icon holds place
in village hearts

Leah Rae
lrae@lohud.com

PORT CHESTER — The village is looking for a way to commemorate Ed Sullivan: Broadway legend, TV pioneer and a bit less generally known, Port Chester High School graduate, class of ’19.

The late entertainer’s local ties are acknowledged in low-key ways such as a library program held earlier this month. But as Port Chester tries to nurture a restaurant and entertainment niche, the village board resolved this month to name something — a street, a square, some other proud place — for the TV star.

The idea will officially go to the beautification committee for deliberations. In the meantime, a few people around town offered suggestions.

Ann Barringer Spaeth of the Council of Community Services suggested an "Ed Sullivan Ampitheater."

"We lack places for people to congregate," she said. A shallow inlet along the Byram River came to mind as a potential space that could be filled in for a theater. "It would just encourage more people to perform, do things outside, congregate and have fun," she said. "And he was all about that."

Sullivan grew up in Port Chester and stood out as a competitive athlete in baseball, track, football and basketball. He covered high school sports for The Daily Item newspaper, a predecessor of The Journal News, and eventually jumped from journalism to entertainment.

"The lights of the city were drawing him. He just wanted to get there," said James Maguire, who wrote the biography "Impresario: The Life and Times of Ed Sullivan."

But if Port Chester was the place he wanted to leave, those roots would work to his benefit.

"He really used that small-town Port Chester attitude towards life to shape his show in later years," Maguire said. He recalled an interview with Joan Rivers about Sullivan’s variety show. "She said, ‘When (Johnny) Carson liked you, you could play the big cities. When Sullivan liked you, you could play anywhere, including the small towns.’"

Maguire wrote in his book that "social commentators would point to Ed Sullivan as the apotheosis of square, a prude, a man who ran his great national showcase by tight, moralistic strictures. Certainly Sullivan himself ... was in reality far from this. But to the extent that the man projected this quality, the boy learned this prim and pious worldview on the leafy streets of Port Chester."

Sullivan’s parents moved to Port Chester from Harlem after two of his siblings, a twin brother and a sister, died in infancy.

When he wasn’t playing sports, he took in movies and traveling shows. He and his brother Charles walked to the Apawamis Club in Rye to work as caddies, said Maguire and an earlier biographer, Michael Harris.

Sullivan died in 1974 at age 73.

Trustees Domenick Cicatelli and Gregory Adams suggested an Ed Sullivan Square, perhaps at Main Street and Westchester Avenues, now home to a movie complex.

Trustee Daniel Brakewood saw an opportunity to highlight Port Chester’s identity.

The village has designated itself Westchester County’s restaurant capital. But when visitors come to town, Brakewood said, "they see Port Chester, but they don’t see our history, really."

The last public street named for a person was not a cause for civic pride. William Brody Square, at South Main and East William streets, was named as part of an apology over a 2000 eminent domain lawsuit. The village was faulted for failing to properly notify Brody, a building owner, that his property could be taken.

The village’s parks are designated with monuments and memorials, former Mayor Peter Iasillo said.

To honor Sullivan, he said, "I think the school would be a good spot."

Camille Linen, co-founder of the Port Chester Council for the Arts, suggested asking Sullivan family members for ideas. Her own hope is for a community art center or theater.

Robin Lettieri, director of the Port Chester Rye Brook Library, said an official commemoration would be a popular move.

"The residents of Port Chester love their local history," she said, "and I think they would really appreciate that."


I believe the Embassy should be refurbished and used as a performance arts center in honor of Ed Sullivan. Such a shame this building is sitting unused for so long.