Broadway Theatre

1681 Broadway,
New York, NY 10019

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robboehm
robboehm on June 24, 2023 at 9:52 pm

Don’t forget the Gallo Opera House became Studio 54. The place to be. They also did a renos of the Crescent, Carlton, Floral, Williston and Suffolk Theatres to be catering halls.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on June 24, 2023 at 9:17 pm

Looks nothing like it, but sort of brings to my mind when they renovated the Palladium (former Academy of Music) from a theater into a nightclub in the late ‘80’s.

robboehm
robboehm on June 21, 2023 at 1:51 pm

Worked for me. Wonder how the public will receive the production.

Comfortably Cool
Comfortably Cool on June 21, 2023 at 10:55 am

A four-page article, with five large color photos, can be found in “Out With the Velvet Seats, in With the Dance Floor” in the June 19-July 2 issue of New York Magazine. This link might not work for everyone, but worth a try: Click here

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on June 20, 2023 at 7:04 pm

Union dispute regarding Byrne’s upcoming show was resolved as of June 9th.

https://variety.com/2023/music/news/david-byrne-broadway-union-agreement-here-lies-love-1235639414/

m00se1111
m00se1111 on June 20, 2023 at 6:34 pm

we’ll presume you mean the original run of Candide and not the revival?

If that kind of reno is a thing worth nothing, then a similar renovation took place for the show that opened June 17, 2023 - “ Here Lies Love” From Broadway.org “Here Lies Love is based on former Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos' astonishing rise to power and subsequent fall at the hands of the Philippine People Power Revolution. From the minds of David Byrne and Fatboy Slim, Here Lies Love transforms the theatre into a dance club where the audience is immersed in the story.”

Opening night is July 20th, it has an open ended run. ( correcting my faux pas in original posting)

robboehm
robboehm on June 19, 2023 at 1:42 pm

Another major reno not mentioned in the overview was the one for the stage production of Candide. All the seats were removed. The audience sat in a balcony that ran around the entire theatre. The show was performed below in the entire space.

m00se1111
m00se1111 on June 19, 2023 at 7:54 am

Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie debuted here in October 1928, when it was still known as the Colony.

That info shown is this video of the Main St Cinema in Disneyland at 1:33 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRpTc_LJD8A

vindanpar
vindanpar on June 28, 2017 at 8:12 pm

Ok I was just trying to figure out the point of CC’s post.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on June 28, 2017 at 5:35 pm

vindanpar, CC’s above comment has been removed, but it is still present under the photo. I stated above that it was “on stage”, but did not do so on the photo description. The notification is what alerted members to the addition of the photo, so it is moot.

vindanpar
vindanpar on June 28, 2017 at 5:06 pm

CC I’m not sure if you are reproaching Zornig or just repeating what he already said.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on June 28, 2017 at 3:50 pm

Circa 1963 photo added courtesy of Neil Marsolek‎. “The Girl Who Came To Supper” premiered on stage at the Broadway Theatre December 8th, 1963.

robboehm
robboehm on April 13, 2016 at 11:55 am

My parents may have taken me to see Fantasia as a child. We went to a lot of movies in the city. Finally got to see it many years later on the CinemaScope screen of my local theater.

Coate
Coate on April 13, 2016 at 1:52 am

As cited in my retrospective article, the Broadway Theatre held the longest-running roadshow engagement of Disney’s “Fantasia” and was among only eleven venues that presented the film in Fantasound.

Cinerama
Cinerama on January 11, 2016 at 10:27 am

More info here – http://incinerama.com/ctbroadway.htm when it was a Cinerama theatre.

Coate
Coate on November 13, 2015 at 12:25 pm

Walt Disney’s “Fantasia” premiered here on this date in 1940. Happy 75th! And here’s a retrospective article to mark the occasion. Included is a historian interview and a breakdown of where the film played in its initial roadshow release.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on May 19, 2015 at 10:24 am

Incredible December 1928 photo as the Colony added courtesy of the Eyes Of A Generation.com Facebook page.

Hammerstein Theatre, now the Ed Sullivan Theatre in the background. Below copy/history of the Hammerstein also courtesy of the Eyes Of A Generation.com Facebook page.

Tomorrow is David Letterman’s last day in this grand theater that was built in 1927. This photo shows “Good Boy” playing at what was then The Hammerstein Theater in December of 1928. The famous song at this link was first performed here and was the first “hit” event in the theater’s history. https://youtu.be/rI275t9BNJo?t=42s

The song is “I Want To Be Loved By You.” and is sung by Helen Kane, who’s voice and style was the inspiration for the famous cartoon character Betty Boop. In 1931, bankruptcy forced the sale, and the theater was bought by Billy Rose. After a few more years of legitimate theater ventures, Rose entered a long term lease with CBS in 1936. The debut radio show from here was “The Major Bowes Amateur Hour,” and the venue was known as CBS Radio Playhouse.

In 1950, the theater was converted to television and became CBS Studio 50. The first big production from Studio 50 was “The Jackie Gleason Show” in the fall of 1950. In ‘52, Ed Sullivan’s “Toast Of The Town” show was moved from The Maxine Elliot Theater to Studio 50, and joined Gleason there. Tomorrow night, another chapter ends, and a new one will begin again soon at 1697 Broadway.

edlambert
edlambert on July 27, 2014 at 6:17 pm

Does anyone know the size of the screen installed at the Broadway for the premiere of “This Is Cinerama”?

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on October 23, 2013 at 12:44 pm

Coincidentally, this pic, also from October, 1931, and posted back in May of 2012, shows the marquee advertising what appears to be essentially the same bill. Barto & Mann seem to be listed on the marquee in place of Al Trahan?

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on October 23, 2013 at 12:28 pm

Wow… 1931! I wonder how big that “giant” television screen was – not to mention how grainy or fuzzy the image was, at that size!

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on May 22, 2012 at 10:25 am

Note the CINE ROMA verticle sign at the far near corner of the marquee. This name and concept moved around between the Ambassador, Piccadilly and Broadway in the late thirties.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on January 2, 2012 at 8:31 pm

“Steamboat Willie” opened at this Colony. The 79th Street was not named Colony until 1937.

jeffg718
jeffg718 on January 2, 2012 at 8:10 pm

I’ve found some websites that say that “Steamboat Willie” premiered at the Broadway Theatre in 1928 when it was the Colony and other websites that say it premiered at the 79th Street Theatre which later was renamed the Colony. I am curious to know which is correct.

robboehm
robboehm on September 19, 2011 at 8:50 am

In addition to the renovations mentioned in the opening the Broadway “suffered” a major modification when Candide played there. Basically it was converted to an arena with a large portion of the orchestra seating replaced by the stage.

Ed Solero
Ed Solero on April 11, 2011 at 2:36 pm

Great photos on that site! Thanks for sharing, CWalczak! I love the surreptitious shots of the screen during the film… Really gives an idea as to how overwhelming the image must have been, particularly to those who had until that time been used to standard Academy ratio for so long!