Ambassador Theatre

215 W. 49th Street,
New York, NY 10019

Unfavorite 7 people favorited this theater

Showing 14 comments

vindanpar
vindanpar on February 25, 2024 at 3:25 am

This is a very wide theater so I’m surprised it showed hit movies. It’s too wide even for stage productions. Unless of course you’re not on the side. It’s where I saw the original production of Ain’t Misbehavin after it moved from off Broadway. I was to see it many more times at the Plymouth when it was revived with the original cast. I think it is no longer considered politically correct. But that’s because today people find everything incomprehensively politically incorrect.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on January 18, 2020 at 3:12 pm

Promo flyer for The Straw Hat Revue", the 1939 show where Danny Kaye would meet his wife Sylvia Fine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Fine#/media/File:Straw_hat_revue_1939.jpg

Gerald A. DeLuca
Gerald A. DeLuca on November 10, 2017 at 2:14 am

David, “Germany, Year Zero” may have done well at its opening but died a quick death everywhere immediately thereafter. Few cities played it. Spelling: Rossellini.

DavidRayner1947
DavidRayner1947 on August 31, 2016 at 7:32 am

I’ve just added a much brighter and clearer image of a photo already uploaded, showing the American premiere of Roberto Rosselini’s classic 1947 film “Germany Year Zero”, held at the Ambassador on Monday, September 19th, 1949. A very popular film at the time, going by the huge crowd outside waiting to get in.

rlrl2010
rlrl2010 on September 15, 2010 at 7:43 am

morally. heard the St Malachy Church had problems due to the area

rlrl2010
rlrl2010 on September 14, 2010 at 2:22 pm

they fixed up the 8th Ave area around the Ambassador really nice. just curious, say like 30 years ago was the corner of 49th and 8th a bad corner?

rlrl2010
rlrl2010 on September 13, 2010 at 5:55 pm

Did Godspell play here in 1977? Was there a prostitution problem around the theater and the Ramada or was it decent?

edblank
edblank on May 27, 2008 at 5:58 pm

It’s interesting that this Broadway theater once played movies.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on June 20, 2007 at 8:08 am

I originally submitted the Ambassador about a year before it was actually posted. I suspect someone at CT felt it did not qualify due to its more significant legit history and wanted to review it further.

Either that or I sent them on a tail-spin looking up THE WHITE LADY and YIDL MITN FIDL.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on June 19, 2007 at 5:46 pm

The movie in question is Lilian Gish’s THE WHITE SISTER, not THE WHITE LADY and it played at the Ambassador for over six months. The introduction I am credited for has been somewhat altered with new information since I first submitted material for this theatre over a year ago.

Cine Roma was a moving cinema company that went from venue to venue booking their product and changing the venue’s name. The Colony/ Broadway (53rd) and the Ambassador were two of them.

William
William on June 19, 2007 at 8:24 am

Two other film titles come up for opening at the Cine Roma.
“Allegri masndieri” (The Make Believe Pirates) opened Oct. 19th, 1939

“Dottor Antonib, II” (Doctor Antonio) opened Dec. 1939.

The Internet Broadway Database does not give a complete history of the theatres. It based more on the Boardway shows then the movies.

rsalters (Ron Salters)
rsalters (Ron Salters) on June 18, 2007 at 11:08 am

It should be pointed out that the Ambassador is “built on a bias”, the center axis of the auditorium and stage are at an angle to the street. The rear of the auditorium is in the southeast corner and the stage is in the northwest corner of the lot. It shares this characteristic with the Beacon Theatre on Broadway, and the late Roxy Theatre. One of the big musical hits here in 1921 was the Shubert’s Schubert/Romberg musical “Blossom Time” whose road companies continued to cross America right up into the early 1950s. I had no idea that it had any cinema history.