Henry Miller's Theatre
124 W. 43rd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
124 W. 43rd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 74 comments found
was in here a few times when it was th Park-Miller, porn house. Returned many years later, when it was the Kit Kat Klub for the 1990s revival the legit tuner “Cabaret”
Argah; I meant too, not two.
I am sorry for the confusion; I was referring to the Harris and Selwyn in Chicago, not New York. The New Yorker I was referring to was in Toronto. See my comment of September 15. I was giving examples of theaters whose facades remain but have entirely new theaters behind them. Thanks for bringing up the Lyric and Apollo; they two are good examples.
The Harris? Is there a theater behind that front wall? I think you mean the Lyric and Apollo, which kept the 42nd and 43rd Street facades and many architectural ornamentation, but lost their roofs and everything else and were gutted to the ground; a brand-new theater was constructed on the site, much as the Miller was.
The Selwyn? That was truly a renovation, since the auditorium is intact and was extensively renovated back to its original look. The lobby did collapse during construction and was rebuilt.
I’m not familiar with the New Yorker. Care to elaborate?
AlAlvarez: what you say is certainly true, but in the case of those multiplexes, at least the outer shell or much of it remains as well, perhaps, as the facade, and there have been many other cases where a theater’s interior has been gutted to the walls and a new theater interior built. But in the case of the Miller, the Harris, the Selwyn, and the New Yorker, all that remains of them are their front walls (albeit some very magnificent front walls), which I do not think is enough to say that that the new theaters built behind them are rebuilds or renovations. If all that is needed to preserve a theater is the survival of a wall, then there is at least a possibility perhaps one day we will have a Paramount theater back at Times Square. (Well, we can dream can’t we?)
CWalcak, most classic theatres that operate as multiplexes today have little or nothing left of the original interior shell.
For the sake of consistency though, this theater should still be listed as Closed/Demolished, as all that remains is the restored facade. What happened to to the Henry Miller is identical to what happened to the former New Yorker Theatre in Toronto – the facade was retained, but everything else behind it is all new and the place is now the Panasonic Theatre, which is not listed as the current name of the theater here on CT nor as an aka for the New Yorker. Neither would be reasonable to say that Cinestage/Selwyn and Michael Todd/Harris still exist in Chicago though their facades remain as part of the Goodman Theater.
The new rebuilt theatre is now known as the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, it seats 1055.
Apparently, the Henry Miller’s long and distinguished history as a “legit” theatre means nothing to addicts of cinema and/or disco. At the time of opening in 1918, it was considered one of the most beautiful playhouses in New York. After Miller’s death in 1926, his son Gilbert took over the management and continued as a producer of quality plays into the 1960s. A full list of play bookings can be found at www.ibdb.com
The theater has been rebuilt and has been opened since last fall. The staus should show open braoadway theater.
The crane crash was during the construction of the Millennium Hotel across the street which, ironically, has incorporated the exquisite “Hudson Theater” into the hotel and serves as a conference center and event space. The theater is spectacularly renovated and is a hidden gem that most theater enthusiasts forget exists.
And don’t forget the successful revival of Cabaret originated there when it was the Kit Kat Club. Then a piece of something from the levelling of the surrounding buildings crashed through the roof and the show transferred to Studio 54 (which began it’s life as the Gallo Opera House).
One could argue that the Miller’s greatest success was serving as two of New York’s most renowned discos: Xenon and Shout for many years!
Hopefully it will do better under the Sondheim name. It’s career as the Miller was checkered. It’s ironic that one of it’s biggest hits in recent years was Urinetown when the theatre was due to be levelled.
Might anyone have pictures of this theatre while it was the PARK-MILLER?
Thanks!
On March 22, 2010, on his eightieth birthday, it was announced that Henry Miller’s Theatre would be renamed to honour American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.
View link
My goof the opening show will be Bye Bye Birdie. Per Warren’s earlier posting.
Good news, the new Henry Miller behind the landmark facade which was kept in tact while the new office complex was being erected is due to open with a revival of Grease. Don’t know anything about the number of seats the new auditorium will have. Or, for that matter any architectural elements from the original will be in place. When more is known we can get into the open/closed/demolished debate.
LOL, Saps!
This was the first porno theater I ever tried to enter — I was about 15, and the manager at the door wouldn’t let me in, saying “You don’t wanna know what goes on in here.” But I did!
Alas, it wasn’t until Cabaret opened here, decades later, that I finally passed through these hallowed portals.
LuisV – there is a similar situation in downtown Boston. During the spring, the Modern/ Mayflower Theater was totally demolished after being derelict for many years. The facade was dismantled and set aside. A new building is being constructed on the site by Suffolk University. The facade will be re-erected to front this new building which will have a small performing-arts auditorium inside to be called the “Modern Theater”. The Status of the old Modern here in Cinema Treasures is “Closed/Demolished”. When the new theater opens, will we be able to say that it is “Open” again? (same situation with the Henry Miller). My gut feeling is to vote “No”.
Thanks for posting the link Warren. Since this theater is pretty much new I realize that the new theater won’t have it’s own page, but…..the facade was saved and, as per the article, some architectural elements form the old theater were reinstalled in the new. Is there an argument to be made to change the status to open from demolished? I totally understand if the answer is no, but it does still have the same name, it does still have the same location, it does still have the exact same facade and it does still have interior elements from the original (how much I cannot say) so I think an argument could be made to say yes. I throw it open for Cinema Treasure readers to weigh in.
An illustrated article about the new “green” theatre can be found here: View link
Although it had a spotty history as a legitimate theatre it is ironic that the last show which played there, Urinetown, the Musical, was a hit. I remember walking thru the construction to attend the show. They had netting under the chandelier to prevent any crystals from being dislodged by the surrounding construction. Actually the run of the show was cut short by the need to demolish the auditorium for the new building.
Incidentally, a number of years previously, the theatre had been damaged by debris from a neighboring construction site which penetrated the roof.
This is from Boxoffice magazine in October 1961:
NEW YORK-The unanimously favorable reviews for “West Side Story” resulted in continuous lines of ticket-buyers outside the Rivoli and a capacity gross for its two-a-day engagement. “King of Kings” was also capacity in its second week of two-a-days at Loew’s State, while “La Dolce Vita” held up remarkably well for the start of its second six months (27th week) at Henry Miller’s Theater. “Exodus” closed a 44-week run at two-a-day Tuesday October 24 at the Warner Theater, which opened “The Mask” at continuous run October 27 but will revert to two-a-day in December with “El Cid”.