Capitol Theatre
1645 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
1645 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10019
35 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 767 comments found
A fair point, bigjoe59. It should read that the theater was demolished after the roadshow engagement of “2001: A Space Oddyssey” was moved over to the Warner in September of 1968.
Hello-
a mistake of sorts in the intro needs to be corrected. true the Capitol was running the original roadshow engagement of 2001 in the late spring of 1968 shortly before it closed and was later demolished. but the roadshow run of 2001 did not end at this point as well. said engagement was switched to the Warner Cinerama at Bway & 47 St. where it continued to do good business for several more weeks.
Click here for an exterior view of the Capitol Theatre in 1931.
Portage? I thought this was the page for the Capitol theatre. I hate when I miss a meeting.
DEFG, You are a hoot. Thanks for details about film ratio. I am looking forward to the screening. I did see it around 1990 but don’t remember if it was scoped or not.I did see “Gone With The Wind” about the same time and the ads did say:First time enhanced wide screen. I thought it was breathtaking with no loss of film. Haven’t seen it again like that. Just 35mm on DVD. Oh well, “Tomorrow is another day”
I will be seeing John Derek this Saturday night in a real live movie theater, the Portage Theater in Chicago, showing a pristine 35mm real film of “The Ten Commandments”. Should be quite an experience!!
I still remember the fine performance John Derek gave in “Exodus”, and millions will see him play Joshua when ABC shows DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” this Saturday night.
John Derek: Then unknown, now unknown.
Sixty-seven years ago today, the B&W “I’ll Be Seeing You,” a wartime romance produced by Dore Schary for Selznick International, opened its NYC premiere engagement as part of the Capitol’s Easter holiday program. The UA release starred Ginger Rogers, Jospeh Cotten, and Shirley Temple, with the then unknown John Derek in a bit part. Headlining the Capitol’s stage show were Sammy Kaye & His Orchestra, with an audience-participation segment, “So You Want to Lead a Band?”. Also on the bill were the great Spanish-flamenco dancers, Rosario and Antonio, and ventriloquist Paul Winchell with “Jerry Mahoney.” During intermissions, patrons were invited to sing along with the Capitol’s resident organist, Ted Meyn.
Eighty-years ago today, MGM’s B&W jungle adventure, “Tarzan the Ape Man,” with “Adonis Swimming Champion” Johnny Weissmuller in the title role, opened its NYC premiere engagement at the Capitol Theatre. Broadway musical comedy star Joe Cook topped the stage show, bringing with him some of the cast from his recent hit, “Fine and Dandy.” The legendary Yasha Bunchuk was conductor of the resident Capitol Grand Orchestra.
Garbo talks!
Eighty two years ago.
“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.
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..
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!! I bet nobody forget that experience.. Thanks Tinseltoes for your updates. Just imagine, all that for a couple of dollars…..
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.
You are right Tinseltoes.
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.
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.
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.
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).
It would help if you actually named the man who wrote the musical arrangements. Or is that part of the question— to learn his name?
I’m writing about a man who composed musical arrangements for the Capitol Theatre between 1925 and 1930. Does anyone know of collections of programs from the Capitol for that period other than those at the Theatre Historical Society? I’ve found only one posted on the web. (This query is addressed especially to Tinseltoes and Warren G. Harris, if they are still reading this list.) If private replies are appropriate, use eisenbak@stthom.edu.
It is so wonderful to read all of these dates and I enjoy them so. In many ways you keep the Loew’s Capitol stll “alive”. Thank you.