Ziegfeld Theatre

I did “register” in the required way, but all alerts suddenly stopped about a month ago. Perhaps my internet provider rejects them as “junk,” “spam,” or whatever.

What hsppened to subscription “alerts?” I haven’t received any in weeks for this or any of the many other theatres that I signed up for.

Here’s an exterior view of the orginal Ziegfeld Theatre: columbia

On this day in 1943, ten years after becoming Loew’s Ziegfeld, the theatre opened a double bill of MGM’s “Reunion in France” (Joan Crawford-John Wayne) and Republic’s “Hit Parade of 1943,” simultaneously with Loew’s Lexington, Olympia, 72nd Street, 83rd Street, and 175th Street in Manhattan, the Paradise in the Bronx, and the Valencia in Queens. As sometimes happened, the Ziegfeld’s top feature, in this case “Reunion in France,” could also be seen in Times Square at Loew’s State, which usually had a second-run feature in support of the vaudeville on stage.

From December 1951 into April 1952, Laurence Olivier and wife Vivien Leigh acted the title roles in “The Cleopatra Plays” on stage at the Ziegfeld Theatre. Supported by a company of British actors, the couple gave 66 performances of William Shakespeare’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” and 67 performances of George Bernard Shaw’s “Caesar and Cleopatra.” Ms. Leigh had previously starred opposite Claude Rains in a Technicolor film version of Shaw’s play.

The last movies at the Ziegfeld were “Once Upon a Time” and “Shadows in the Night” in August 1944.

Here’s a photo taken just before the Ziegfeld’s grand opening in February, 1927: View link

A limestone head of a goddess, alleged to be from the facade of this theater, was recently spotted on E. 80th St. View link

The Ziegfeld was one of the first “legit” theatres to boast of having a refrigerated air system, which in this case kept the temperature never higher than 70 degrees during summer. At the time of this 1927 ad, no one could have known that in another six years, the glorious playhouse would be reduced to a Loew’s grinder with sub-run movies: View link

Patricia was Ziegfeld’s only child. Her mother was Billie Burke. Patricia once wrote a memoir, “The Ziegfelds' Girl,” which is well worth reading.

In the introduction, the title of probably the greatest of all American stage musicals needs to be corrected. It’s “Show Boat” (not “Showboat”).

Thanks Howard,
Am familiar with the site and its great collection of snapshots.
845Frank

Warren’s 10/26 photo above is a dandy. I am trying to taylor it for my screen-saver. Another of my favorite houses is the Cosmopolitan, aka, Majestic,International and Columbus Circle. This was also another hard luck house that after its premier in 1903 with the Wizard of Oz its luck scooted precipitously downward until after being a TV studio in 1954 it met the wreckers ball. Even after Ziegfeld took over in 1925, until his own house was built, and a redesign by Joseph Urban the longest running show only managed a 300 performance run (Louis XIV). The Depression and its far northern district location kept the theatre lonely and dark.

845Frank