Plaza Theatre
627 Madison Avenue,
New York,
NY
10022
627 Madison Avenue,
New York,
NY
10022
1 person
favorited this theater
The originally 991-seat theatre (500 more seats were later added) was built by a German cultural society and first opened in 1908 with stage plays and musical concerts. The single-floor Beaux Arts auditorium was peculiarly designed, with boxed seats at the rear instead of adjacent to the stage.
The New German Theatre was an instant disaster and soon leased to the Shuberts, who turned it into a conventional playhouse under the new name of the 59th Street Plaza Theatre. The Shuberts also failed to achieve success, and in November, 1909, Marcus Loew took over the lease and converted the house to movies as Loew’s Plaza Theatre.
When Loew’s later acquired the larger and more elegant Lexington Opera House about eight blocks away, it sold the Plaza’s lease to Leo Brecher, who operated it as a subsequent-run movie house until it was demolished in 1929 to make way for an office building. Brecher then took the name Plaza for a new and much smaller theatre that he built a block away at 42 East 58th Street.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
In looking at my 1910 Program with the Mucha cover, it seems that the cover design served for two separate theatres. The one program advertises the future “Plaza” with both the name “Deutsches- Schauspiel Haus” and the name of the Irving Place Theatre on its cover. The program that I possess has only the name, “Irving Place Theatre” as well as a diagram in the back for exits to 15th street and to Irving Place. I can see traces of the original dual title that were eliminated from the printing stone beneath the Mucha designed lettering on my copy. So, perhaps one programme design served for two venues, providing some further confusin. My cache of pictures, by the way, is coming soon, through courtesy of Warren’s computer kindness.
Robert Haas
These are some of the images submitted by Robert Haas and described in his postings above. I’ll try to display the rest as soon as I can make room for them in my album:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas1.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas2.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas3.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas4.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas5.jpg
Thanks to Warren for his generosity with is abilities, and for his computer savvy. Robert.
Update:
The association of Mucha with the “German Theatre” started in 1907 at the IRVING PLACE Theatre. He designed the plays listed in my above confused article, and produced the program of the “Deutsches Schauspiel Haus- Irving Place Theatre ” for that venue.
When Baumfeld decided to open the “ New German Theatre” ( also called the “German-American Theatre”) it was in the new and eccentric structure located at Madison Avenue and 59th street. This is the venue with the Mucha murals and color scheme. It was this theatre that was closed after a little over a year, renamed “The Broadway” and then “The Plaza” and later demolished.
The original theatre at Irving Place became simply, “The Irving Place Theatre”, and continued to produce plays in both languages until its closure sometime during WW1.
Most of Mucha’s theatrical experiences were just as convoluted as this one.
I apologise for adding to the confusion. I think ..and hope.. that this is now cleared up. Robert
These are the remaining images contributed by Robert Haas and described by him above. Due to space limitations in my album, I will eventually have to remove some of these images, but I’ll try to retain those showing interiors of the New German/Plaza Theatre:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas6.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas7.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas8.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas9.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/haas10.jpg
Could Robert Haas please e-mail me privately at .com? Thanks!
None of the photo links are active, is there any pics of this theatre out there? I really like the older theatres.
send your email to .com I will gladly send the pictures to you
Dear Chuck, Please do contact me..
Renewing link.