New Theatre
210 W. Lexington Street,
Baltimore,
MD
21201
210 W. Lexington Street,
Baltimore,
MD
21201
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First opened on December 17, 1910, the now-ironically named New Theatre is one of the oldest theaters in Baltimore.
It could seat 1,400 originally and was decorated in highly ornate Beaux-Arts style. Designed by architects A. Lowther Forrest and Oliver B. Wight.
The New Theatre had two small balconies, side boxes and a stage with an proscenium arch with elaborate plasterwork.
In 1921, the theater was remodeled for the first time, followed by more remodelings in 1929, 1935, and 1946. The last one, by architect Armand de Cortieux Carroll, destroyed all that remained of the New Theatre’s orginal decor, including the removal of the two balconies and their replacement by a single larger one to give an increased seating capacity of 1,800.
Modernized one last time in the late-1960’s, its main entrance was switched from West Lexington Street to Park Avenue.
The New Theatre was shuttered in September 1986 and afterwards served for a number of years as a clothing store. In 2002, the former theater was scheduled for demolition to clear the way for a renewal project of the area. Demolition finaly came in April 2010.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Any historians out there who are attached to The New Theatre? I have a small handful of ticket stubs 1966, 1967 and 1970. They are yours for the asking.
Email me at
Stephen
my cousin was an usher here and she was allowed to let us sit in the last row of the theatre and get free popcorn. this was during the roadshow days so we were able to see- as follows
Funny Girl
Hello Dolly
Sweet Charity
Gone with the Wind
War and Peace
Ben Hur
Ten Commandments
then, much later,
i remember seeing a double bill of
The Man with 2 Heads/Shaft’s big Score
in 65, i remember going to see the Sound of Music here- on the Lex ave side. we arrived very late, and i remember going up a substantial flight of steps to get to the seating area.
Another photo of the New theatre.
View link
You all forgot the fire that extensively damaged the original Lexington St. lobby, circa 1967. That’s what caused the entrance to be moved to Park Ave., while the old lobby was sealed off and converted to retail.. The auditorium was given a bland, mostly white color scheme.
In the 1990s, the building was occupied by New York Fashions, which reconnected the the old lobby area to the former auditorium. Part of the upstairs concourse was still visible in the store.
DEMOLITION IS UNDERWAY at the New!! One corner of the building – to the left of where the screen was – has been removed; from the rear (Clay St.) you can see part of the balcony, the upper surround speakers, and the booth apertures. Sad sight to see, folks…
Another corner – this one in the rear left – was opened this past week, as the several buildings to the west of the New were leveled. The original Lexington St. lobby is gone. Only things standing on that end of the block is the corner building and what’s left of the New’s auditorium.
From Clay St. you can see that the projection room holes were recessed into the ceiling. Was that ceiling lowered during one of the New’s several remodels?
I hope this works…I took some pics today of the New’s destruction, then resurrected my rarely-used MySpace page to create this album:
View link
There’s also one picture of the Howard in its current state.
It’s gone.
The New, 1910-2010. May its memory live on.
I worked there as an usher during the Sound of Music run. I just loved it there. All kinds of nooks and crannies to explore. It was always so difficult for people to navigate up the balcony stairs in the poor lighting. I wish it had been preserved.