Capitol Theatre
1645 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1645 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
35 people
favorited this theater
The Capitol Theatre was located where the Paramount Plaza stands today, directly across from the Winter Garden Theatre.
Opened in 1919, the Capitol Theatre in 1924 was taken over by Loew’s Inc. and became the flagship movie palace for MGM Films. The Capitol Theatre hosted World Premiere’s of many now ‘classic’ films. The theatre presented movies and stage shows except from 1935 to 1943 when no stage shows were included in the program. The shows were too expensive to produce during the Great Depression and were only revived when World War II brought an economic boom. In 1952 stage shows ceased to be held. A larger, 25 foot x 60 foot wide screen was installed for the June 1953 engagement of “Never Let Me Go” starring Clark Gable.
In 1959 the Capitol Theatre was ‘modernized’ and re-opened as Loew’s Capitol Theatre with “Solomon and Sheba”. The movie palace became a Cinerama showplace.
World Premieres of 70mm films included “Cheyenne Autumn”(December 23, 1964), “Doctor Zhivago”(December 22nd, 1965), “The Dirty Dozen”(June 15, 1967) and “Far From the Madding Crowd”(October 18, 1967).
The Loew’s Capitol Theatre was never twinned or divided into more than one theatre. At the conclusion of the Roadshow engagement of “2001:A Space Odyssey” in 1968. the Loew’s Capitol Theatre closed, and was demolished.
Contributed by
William Gabel
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Recent comments (view all 755 comments)
Thank you for writing, Tinseltoes. Sorry! The man’s name was Leo Zeitlin (1884-1930), and I’ve been able to document that he composed many arrangements for the Capitol from the playlists kept by WEAF in the 1920s. Most of his arrs were played on the Sun evening Capitol Theatre radio program (the playlists are in the Lib of Congress Music Section, Dept of Recorded Sound), but by 1929-30 he was also writing overtures for the theatre, and those MAY have been credited to him in the theatre programs, which is why I’m eager to find any that I can.
A colleague and I have published Zeitlin’s chamber music (I can provide information about that volume, if anyone is interested), and we are working on an edition of one of his overtures (from Sept 1929).
Thanks, Paula! Over the years, I’ve seen mentions of Leo Zeitlin’s name, but I can’t recall in what context. Have you gone to the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center in NYC? You should begin by looking in the card catalogs for the music, theatre, and dance divisions. Also, the theatre division has a substantial collection of bound volumes of Roxy Theatre programmes from the start into the 1930s. Programmes for later years can often be found in the clipping files for the movie playing at the Roxy at the time. Also, from the time the Roxy opened, its stage shows were always reviewed at some length in the vaudeville section of weekly Variety. Lincoln Center & the Business Library at Madison & 42nd both have Variety on microfilm.
Hi Tinseltoes, thanks for the suggestions. I’ve been through the material at Lincoln Center, including the scrapbooks that the Capitol (NOT the Roxy!) kept, and I have read Variety, Billboard, many of the NY newspapers AND the papers devoted to the movies in the 1920s (as well as The Metronome, Musical Courier, Musical America, Musical Digest, etc.). Zeitlin was mentioned in a Capitol press release in 1927 (the text of which appeared in a number of papers), and his death, in 1930, was reported almost everywhere (from the NYTimes on down). So you certainly could have come across his name.
Zeitlin receives credit for a couple of his overtures in theatre programs that I have seen, but Yasha Bunchuk (the conductor at the Capitol, beginning in 1929) is credited with several others that (I think) may have been composed by Zeitlin. Hence my interest in finding programs.
The B&W photo displayed in the introduction could be of any theatre, and hardly does justice to one of the largest and most influential buildings of its type in the world. Many consider it the masterwork of Thomas W. Lamb, but I can’t find even a trace of that in the picture.
You are right Tinseltoes.
Sixty-eight years ago today, Universal’s Technicolor remake of its silent Lon Chaney classic, “Phantom of the Opera,” opened its NYC premiere engagement at the Capitol Theatre. Claude Rains played the title role this time around, with Nelson Eddy and Susanna Foster as the singing romantic leads. Advertising described it as “The Picture That Has Everything,” but the Capitol’s stage show was even more outstanding, with Duke Ellington & His Orchestra, the Deep River Boys, Peg Leg Bates, Patterson & Jackson, and Ellington soloists Betty Roche, Johnny Hodges, and Ray Nance on the bill. A special added stage attraction was Lena Horne, “loaned” by MGM, which now had the rising star under exclusive contract.
Wow!! I bet nobody forget that experience.. Thanks Tinseltoes for your updates. Just imagine, all that for a couple of dollars…..
Sixty-four years ago today, Columbia’s B&W romantic comedy, “Her Husband’s Affairs,” starring Lucille Ball and Franchot Tone, opened its NYC premiere engagement at the Capitol as part of the theatre’s 28th anniversary celebration. But the BIG news was on the Capitol’s stage, with Frank Sinatra in his first Broadway engagement since becoming synonomous with the rival Paramount Theatre. Sinatra was now under movie contract to MGM, whose parent company ran the Capitol Theatre. Supporting Sinatra at the Capitol were comedian Lorraine Rognan and pianist Skitch Henderson & His Orchestra. An extra added stage attraction was the Will Mastin Trio, featuring Sammy Davis,Jr. Hey, who knew?
Wow what a show and a movie too!! Inagine the choice for a New Yorker at that time. One movie palace after another to attend on any given day, Thanks Tinseltoes for the history lession..
“In 1952 stage shows ceased to be held.” On Dec 24, 1952 the film “Against All Flags” opened at the Capitol with a stage show featuring Johnnie Ray, Gary Morton, Georgia Gibbs and Ray Anthony and his orchestra. [NY Times, Nov 18, 1952: Column, “Of Local Origin” The column also states that “According to the management, this marks the the first time in a year and a half that the theatre has offered a stage and screen show. Stage and screen shows will be presented at the Capitol whenever the proper stage attractions can be booked, a spokesman for the house said yesterday.” My friends and I, all junior high students and big Johnnie Ray fans saw this stage show about 15 times! The stage show continued into January 1953.