Loew's Sheridan Theatre
200-202 W. 12th Street,
New York,
NY
10011
200-202 W. 12th Street,
New York,
NY
10011
8 people
favorited this theater
This 2,342-seat theatre was located at Seventh Avenue and W. 12th Street, in the western portion of New York’s famed Greenwich Village. It was opened in 1921, and was taken over by Loew’s in December 1926.
After years of light attendance, the balcony was closed and soon, the theater itself was shuttered in 1969. That same year, St. Vincent’s Hospital, located across Seventh Avenue from the Sheridan, purchased the theater’s triangular lot, with the intention of building a nurses residence. The hospital demolished the theater soon after, but the land wound up being used as a community garden.
Today, nothing remains of this theater. The lot is still in use by St. Vincent’s, but simply as a receiving station for various supplies. Yet another Loew’s palace that is but a ghost of its former self.
Although the theater is gone, it was immortalized by Edward Hopper in his 1937 painting, The Sheridan Theater.
Contributed by
John Chappell
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Recent comments (view all 65 comments)
When the Sheridan first opened in September, 1921, The New York Times described it as the largest theatre to be especially built for motion pictures south of 42nd Street. Seating capacity was reported to be 2,700. The auditiorium ceiling had a sixty-foot dome “which perfectly reflects the idea and style of the Italian Renaissance, carried out in Georgian green, ivory and gold,” the NYT noted> “A large lounge for ladies and gentlemen has been introduced for the orchestra and mezzanine floors. As a great relief to picture patrons, cross-ways extending the entire width of the auditorium allow arrivals and departures to traverse the floor without interfering with the vision of others seated along the sides of these crosss-ways, as they are sunken below the level of the seats which they front.” The stage had a permanent set that cost $40,000 and would serve as a frame to the films and their “live” prologues. Each program would be similar to those at Broadway deluxers like the Strand, starting with an overture by the resident orchestra, several concert pieces by singers and dancers, and then followed by a newsreel and feature movie. The Sheridan’s opening film was “Disraeli,” with George Arliss. Here’s a grainy photo of the Sheridan nearing completion. It had two vertical signs flanking the entrance at the intersection of Seventh Avenue South and Greenwich Avenue: View link
The link in the introduction to Edward Hopper’s legendary painting no longer works. Here’s a new one:
View link
Demolition started in the summer of 1969, and took several months. Though Loew’s had been earning profits from the Sheridan, the circuit was only a lease-holder and had to vacate when the owner sold the building and its underlying ground to St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center. A long article and photo of the auditorium in the process of demolition can be found in The New York Times of August 28, 1969. I’d be happy to send a copy to those contacting me privately at .com.
I became aware of this thatre a number of years ago while attending an off Broadway show which I believe was called In Gay Company. There was a song in that show that one character sang that he met his one true love in the balcony of Loew’s Sheridan Square.
A sad time at the Sheridan.
View link
1966
View link
Nice site and pictures,those were the days!
Love the old verticals and other signs.
Great Looking theatre.From 1966.
So, St. Vincent’s buys the theater, tears it down and never builds anything, leaving a vacant lot. 40 years later St. Vincent’s is out of business. Karma is a bitch. Fuck them.