Victoria Theatre
1547 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
1547 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10036
3 people
favorited this theater
The Gaiety Theatre was opened by Klaw and Erlanger in 1908 at Broadway and 46th Street, designed in Louis XV style, containing two balconies, boxes, and a large proscenium arch. Seating a little over 800, the Gaiety Theatre was designed by the firm of Herts & Tallant, the duo also behind the New Amsterdam, Liberty and Follies-Bergere Theatres (better known as the first Helen Hayes Theatre, and before that, the Fulton).
Home to numerous successful legitimate shows in its first nearly two decades of operation, such stars as Helen Hayes, John Barrymore and Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. all appeared onstage during this time. The Gaiety eventually switched, like so many other Broadway houses, to movies in 1926 (except for a short-lived foray into musical stage shows in 1931-2). In the mid-30s, in addition to movies, the Gaiety began to present burlesque acts, and soon the Gaiety was the city’s premier burlesque house, even hosting the occasional big-name Hollywood act onstage, like Abbott and Costello.
In 1942, an attempt at reviving vaudeville at the Gaiety Theatre failed, and later the same year, the theater was renamed the Victoria Theatre, and returned to movies.
In the 1970’s, the Guild Theatres chain acquired the Victoria Theatre and renamed it the Embassy 5, being their fifth house in the Times Square area.
By the late-1970’s, however, it had closed. Despite the efforts of preservationists, the theater met the wrecking ball in 1982. During the demolition, however, a section of the 46th Street facade collapsed into the street, forcing its closure for more than two days.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 109 comments)
Here is a 1967 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/ydynovo
Here’s a 1934 view with the Gaiety and Astor in the background: View link
Here is a photo circa 1965:
http://tinyurl.com/yz6kr8r
Here’s a 1954 view when the Victoria was presenting Garland’s “A Star Is Born” day-and-date with the Paramount Theatre: http://www.nfo.net/usa/bwayasto.jpg
Half a century ago today, Paramount’s “It Started in Naples,” teaming Clark Gable and Sophia Loren for the first and only time, opened its NYC premiere engagement at the Victoria and Murray Hill Theatres. Here’s a link to the original trailer: http://www.tcm.com/mediaroom/index.jsp?cid=197379
Nice link Tinseltoes.
A September 7, 1943 article in the New York Times explains how this location became an outlet for Russian films in 1943-1944.
Maurice Maurer, owner of the lease for several Times Square theatres including the Victoria, sold his lease to the Stanley, which had been an established outlet for Russian films since 1941. He then competed with the sucessful Stanley by programming first-run films from Russia (or about Russia) at the Victoria for almost a year.
Just prior to this it had been the Laffmovie and the often raided Gaiety Burlesque.
Seventy-eight years ago tonight, MGM’s B&W adaptation of Robert E. Sherwood’s sophisticated comedy hit, “Reunion in Vienna,” opened its world premiere engagement at the Gaiety Theatre as a two-a-day reserved-seat roadshow. John Barrymore and Diana Wynyard filled the leading roles played in the stage version by Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. The booking gave MGM two roadshow presentations in the same block of Broadway, with the B&W thriller “Hell Below” (Robert Montgomery-Walter Huston) continuing at the Astor Theatre.
This previously linked 1954 image is now part of a New York Times slide show of photographs by Frank Oscar Larson: View link
On this traditional Columbus Day (10/12) in 1949, J. Arthur Rank’s Technicolor epic, “Christopher Columbus,” with Fredric March in the title role, opened its NYC premiere engagement at the Victoria Theatre. Universal-International handled the American distribution, which proved a critical and boxoffice disaster.