Roxy Theatre
153 W. 50th Street,
New York,
NY
10020
153 W. 50th Street,
New York,
NY
10020
83 people
favorited this theater
Showing 626 - 650 of 1,209 comments
Vito: Seems like I’ve heard those famous words many times before!
I worked for 20th Century Fox during the 50s, and since most of our films played the Roxy, I attended many shows there. I did not appreciate the grand theatre enough back then, basically took it for granted I quess. Once inside the Roxy or Paramount you entered a wonderful world of make believe like nothing we have today.
well… you don’t know what you’ll miss till it’s gone.
Stuart; if you take the time to read previous posts, you’ll read several eyewitness accounts, including some fascinating contributions from a famous entertainer who played at this fabulous, lost showplace. He is Ralph Heid – the “Hurricane on the Xylophone” -and he posted on January 20, 2006.
Has anyone here ever had the privilege of being inside the Roxy while it was still standing? I just wondered what it must have felt like.
Stannorton: Which large Swanson photo do you have in your den? The blonde with both arms in the air above her head or a brunette with a feather boa being held through her arms? The dresses worn in both photos are the same and the background ruins of the Roxy are the same, but there is a difference in these 2 photos when you look at the figure of Swanson.
I’ve just been comparing what seems like 2 different Swanson/Roxy photos. The background is the same, but the photo of Swanson shows her as a brunette in one and as a younger appearing blonde in the other? The source of the 2 photos are 10/09/05 and 4/13/04 posts. Can someone explain?
“Roxy Theatre – World’s largest theatre; seats over 6,200; largest permanent symphony orchestra; colossal pipe organ; played by three organists; cathedral chime of 21 bells; permanent choral group; permanent ballet coprs and precision dancers, the Roxyettes; foyers and lobbies of unusual size and splendor; decorations of marvelous beauty. Magnificent stage shows. Finest talking pictures. News of the world in Fox Movietone. Refreshingly cooled in summer. Unique features of service, comfort and convenience. One of the famous show places of New York City and attended by visitors from all over the world.” After reading this it’s very hard to believe that the Roxy is no longer in NYC, the entertainment capital of the world!
Warren: Your post of Oct. 9th which shows the famous Swanson photo among the Roxy ruins just got printed out and will go on my refrigerator to remind me of what was in NYC. Thanks and I would love to know the story behind that photo..publicity shot or demolition story?
Another factor was the building code which decreed that theatres couldn’t have anything built above them for fire safety reasons. The air rights for those spaces were worth more than the buildings. I remember a lawyer for Rockefeller Center telling me (and joking about it) after the Music Hall was saved, that a woman attacked him verbally during the Music Hall hearings saying, “You tore down the Center Theatre and you tore down the Roxy”, and him replying, “Well, two out of three isn’t bad!” Rockefeller Center actually managed the Roxy in its last days as they did the Hall (the Center already having been torn down.) They were interested in extending the Center across 6th Avenue, which they did. Almost none of the buildings that were there in the early 60’s when I first started visiting N. Y. and the Hall were there in ‘74 when I started working at the Hall. For a time the Hall had its roof area landscaped and used as a recreation area for the stage hands and the Rockettes (an amenity taken away, I’m told, when the Rockettes went union.) That expanse is enormous stretching for almost half a block east to west and from 51st St. to 50th St. north to south. Similar expanses were above all of the palaces in the city, which meant a lot of real estate footprint was taken up by very little building. Even more so than drive-ins where the value of the land they were stiuated on became more valuable than the business, Manhattn real estate usage was to doom the palaces.
Patsy: The Roxy Theatre was located at 50th @ 7th Avenue and the Radio City is located @ 50th @ 6th Avenue. The Roxy Theatre at the time was operated by National Theatres the parent company to Fox West Coast Theatres and other divisions. During the mid 50’s to around the mid 60’s National Theatres started to unload many theatres from the chain, like other chains around the country. Because of business in that market, so they cut all sizes of theatres. So the largest ones were the easiest targets. The Roxy was in their plans because of the size (5000 seats). The property in this market had become more expensive and they could make more money on select locations by just razing the theatre. The old Taft Hotel still stands and a TGIF and other food places are in the front half of where the lobby enterance was. In 1963 National Theatres cut the Fox Theatre in San Francisco from the chain. In the early 60’s the Fox Beverly Theatre in Beverly Hills was cut (but just recently has been razed) and in 1969 the famed Carthay Circle was razed for an
office building. So the bigger the theatre is means there is more square footage for something else. Another that didn’t help the Roxy was theatre was built on the next property going east. So people here have wondered why the Roxy, Capital Theatres could not have been saved. They were just to big for their own good during the 1960’s. 5000 seats is a lot of seats to fill for a movie during this time.
Bryan: On your post of May 20, 04 how does one find the 1930 photos of the balconies and proscenium arch on the link that you have provided? Thanks.
Did it have anything to do with a rivalry between RCMH and the Roxy. In one of the b/w photos on this site it looks like the Roxy was near RCMH?
Could someone tell me why the Roxy was torn down? I know there has been much written about the Roxy, but the why has always escaped me.
Below is an excerpt from How They Met by Joey Green which mentions the Roxy Theater and it’s connection to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.
“Before dawn on November 30, 1940, Desi and Lucy eloped by driving from Pierre Hotel in NYC to Greenwich, CT with Desi’s agent and business manager to act as witnesses. Just across the state line in CT, the eager couple could avoid New York’s required waiting period and return to Manhattan, according to Desi’s calculations, in time for his noon performace at the Roxy Theatre. The blood tests, however, took longer than anticipated. Then Desi had to send his business manager into Woolworth’s to buy a brass ring for Lucy. The justice of the peace also slowed things down by insisting upon marrying the couple in a more romantic environment than his office, bringing them to the Bryam River Beagle Country Club to conduct the ceremony before a roaring fireplace. The couple then returned to NYC where Desi, having missed the first of his 5 performances, carried Lucy over the threshold of the Roxy Theater.”
My great uncle, Bee Ho Gray, had a western performance group which performed at a Roxy Theatre in February, 1938. I am not sure which Roxy Theatre he performed in but he spent many years performing on Vaudeville stages in New York and other cities with people like Will Rogers and Bing Crosby. I have an original program from the show which can be seen at:
http://beehogray.com/roxy-theatre.html
Can anyone confirm if this is the same Roxy Theatre by looking at the program?
Thanks,
Clark Gray
www.beehogray.com
Amen to taking the old Theatres for granted. When I was a kid living in San Francisco, my family would take me downtown on Market St to the Palaces. At the time that’s all there was and no reason to believe that would all change. There was the granddaddy of them all the Fox, then the Orpheum, the St. Francis, the Golden Gate, the Warfield, the United Artists and the wonderful Paramount. Today only the Warfield survies as a concert venue, the Golden Gate and Orpheum for legit shows. But alas, no movies have played there since the 60’s. If I only appreciated what I had then. What a shame the younger generation will never see the likes of those again.
So true Stuart, so sad but true, it'a all about the money.
Y'know it was a real crying shame that they had to tear this beautiful theatre down. A lot of wonderful buildings were torn down all over the states around this time. As is always the case, we never seem to appreciate what we already have until it’s gone.
Bob Furmanek, I would love to see that VistaVision info you described. I worked with just about every movie process that came along over the years but never VistaVision.
Are you the “Bob Furmanek” who works in Film?
Are you related to Abbott and Costello and etc. ?
I can’t remember when (Somewhere between 1954 and 1957), I appeared togehter with Abbott and “his” chimp.
If you want, we could stay in contact?
My email address:
Best regards
Ralph Heid
Fascinating, and thank you for taking the time to answer. You provide a rare insight which I certainly appreciate.
No, I don’t know you personally. But I did find a website about you and that’s where I read about the “Hurricane on the Xylophone.”
Mr. Furmanek?
Please answer.
regards Ralph Heid
Hello Bob Furmanek
My first question: do you know me? How do you know about “The Hurricane on the Xylophone”?
Yes, I am still “going strong” and I still use this Logo.
-What can you tell us about appearing in a stage show at the celebrated Roxy?
I guess it was one of my greatest times in showbusiness. As much as I remember (I was 10), I got pulled out on ice by some Roxyettes, standing with my xylophon on a big platform which looked like a heart. I did'n only want to make my act as an xylophonist, but I also wanted to be on stage on other occations, because I wanted to iceskate. One of the dancers EMANUEL DEL TORO went to town with me to buy some skates and we went to the rockefeller plaza to learn. It only needed 2 or 3 days and I was very secure on he skates. So finally the director Mr. Rothaffel permitted me to be a few minutes in a gypsy-scene, where the were some “gypsys” dancing and I had the pleasure to be on ice with them. I also got a specia permission from New Yorks mayor, because I was actually to young to appeare on stage for such a long time in the US.
-What were the backstage areas like, and were they still well maintained at this late stage in the theaters history?
As a child you see things different and you also remember them different. But for me it was one of the most impressing backstage “life” I had in all my time as an entertainer. I will never forget our dressingroom! It was huge and resembled a smaller Hotel-Suite. Yes, it was old! even the elektricity was old, I think you called it AC! I remember, because once we brought our portable TV set but it just broke down because of that. But it still was very nice for those days. There was even a bed in the dressingroom and a personal shower and toilet.
-How many shows did you do a day, and what occupied your time while the feature was playing?
There were 4 shows a day and sundays (maybe also saturdays, I can’t remember), there were 5 shows.
I know, everyone would say: “what poor child”, but that’s not true. I loved what I was doing and my act only about 10 minutes. he other minutes I was on skates with the gypsys, I really wanted that. Nobody could stop me. I allways was a stage person and I still am.
Between the show, when the feature-film was running, I either went out with my parents to eat, or I had a little nap in the dressingroom, or I played with the Roxyettes in the rehearsal-room, or I went adventures thru the whole theatre from up to down and side to side. sometimes I went on stage in front of the screen (the audience did'nt see me….. I think) to watch the film wich was very big so close. And if I wanted to go in the theatre to watch the film, there were allway two bodygards taking care, that nothing bad would happen to me.
We stayed at the BELVEDERE HOTEL on 48th street.
There’s much more to tell you, but hopefully I answered your questions with this.
I like to hear from you again and I like to know, if you know me?
Best regards from Switzerland
Ralph Heid
http://www.heid.net
Mr. Heid; are you still known as the “Hurricane on the Xylophone?”
What can you tell us about appearing in a stage show at the celebrated Roxy? What were the backstage areas like, and were they still well maintained at this late stage in the theaters history? How many shows did you do a day, and what occupied your time while the feature was playing?
Just a quick question of screen sizes. What theater (worldwide) has the record for the largest screen ever? Anyone know?