International Theatre
5 Columbus Circle,
New York,
NY
10023
5 Columbus Circle,
New York,
NY
10023
No one has favorited this theater yet
Around the turn of the century, many believed that the new center of New York’s entertainment district would be moving to Columbus Circle, and E.D. Stair and A.L. Wilbur backed up the speculation by erecting a grandiose new theater at the western end of the oval-shaped plaza, Grand Circle, in 1903.
Designed by John H. Duncan, the 1584-seat Majestic Theatre had entrances on both 58th and 59th Streets, as well as its main entrance on Columbus Circle. Featuring a large proscenium arch, two balconies, a double staircase in the lobby and two sets of box seats, the Majestic truly lived up to its name, and was designed to be every bit as impressive and ornate as the finest European opera house.
The lobby and hallway walls were covered in marble wainscoting, while gilded columns lined the upper level of the lobby and also pairs of massive white columns framed the side boxes in the auditorium, capped by statues of trumpeting cherubs and colossal golden eagles.
The stage, at 80 feet wide and 38 feet deep could accommodate the most elaborate of shows, and did just that when it opened in the fall of 1903 with the first musical stage version of “The Wizard of Oz”, which was a tremendous hit. Its then-jaw dropping special effects, such as an on-stage tornado were particularly crowd-pleasing. It would run for over ten months.
In 1911, the Majestic was renamed the Park, which continued to feature legitimate theater, but also Sunday afternoon movie screenings. As the Park Theatre, this is where “Pygmallian” had its debut.
However, in 1922, burlesque came to the Park, and it was again renamed, as Minksy’s Park Music Hall. A year later, William Randolph Hearst acquired the theater, and made it the main venue for his own Cosmopolitan Pictures film company. It was given yet another new name, the Cosmopolitan.
Florenz Ziegfeld took over the Cosmopolitan in 1925, and his house architect, Joseph Urban, updated the interior. For nine months, it returned to legitimate theater, but in 1926, Ziegfeld gave it up to focus on the construction of his self-named theater. Under new management, however, the Cosmopolitan continued to stage legitimate fare until the Depression forced its closing in 1929.
It reopened in 1931, now presenting a mixed bill of vaudeville acts and motion pictures. From 1934-35, it was once more legit, as the Theatre of Young America, but late in 1935, movies and the old name, the Park, returned again.
In 1944, now renamed the International, the theater hosted the Ballet International for several weeks, then a brief run of legitimate theater, the next year. In December 1945, it was a movie house once more, as the Columbus Square, but was the International by the following August, hosting the occasional live performance but mainly sitting vacant until acquired by the NBC network in early 1949, as a television studio premiering the Admiral Broadway Review on January 28, 1949. The stars were Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. The television program was “Your Show of Shows.”
NBC left the International in 1954, and not long afterwards, the former theater, along with most of its neighbors on Columbus Circle, was razed to make way for the New York Convention Center.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
Here are new links to previously posted images:
View link
View link
View link
View link
The year given for this photo is 1924.
According to a publicity booklet put out by the Cinema Verdi for the 1944-45 season, this theatre, for a few months starting on January 14, 1944, was renamed the Cinema Verdi, with a policy of Italian films. With the selling of the theatre, “Cinema Verdi” moved to a new home on 8th Avenue at 41st Street in the Arena Theatre.
There was a Columbus Theatre at 981 West 8th Avenue and still showing films in 1938. Does anyone know if it was this same location?
As the UFA Cosmopolitan, this location was German films until at least 1931.
Too bad none of the photo links work anymore.
Many of Warren’s photo links are no longer working anymore.
Warren’s links posted on May 16, 2008 are still working and are worth checking out. (Where is he, anyway? I miss him.)
I recently saw It Should Happen to You on TCM, starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon, and I noticed the “International” theater’s marquee said it was an NBC television studio.
I believe the big billboard that she puts her name on is the one directly to the right of the theater, which billboard is noticable in all the exterior shots posted here.
In 1909 this theater, then being operated as the Majestic by the Shubert organization, was converted for a while into a combination movie and vaudeville house. The article about the Majestic in the June 12, 1909, issue of The Moving Picture World is worth quoting in its entirety for the glimpse it offers of the early days of movie exhibition in large theaters:
In 1934, The Theater of Young America presented “The Chinese Nightingale” with music by my father, Alan Shulman,at the Cosmopolitan Theatre. The show opened on October 5, 1934 and ran for 8 performances. Flora LeBreton starred and the orchestra was conducted by Dr. Francis Gromon. In 1947, as the Majestic Theatre, is was used by International Records to record the Stuyvesant String Quartet and the New Friends of Rhythm. www.alanshulman.com