People's Theatre

199 Bowery,
New York, NY 10002

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Additional Info

Architects: William Graul, Louis Maurer, R. Thomas Short

Previous Names: Delancey Street People's Theatre, Hoym's Theatre, Tony Pastor's Opera House,

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People's Theatre

The Delancey Street People’s Theatre was opened by the mid-1800’s. It was renamed Hoym’s Theatre in 1858. From 1865 to 1875 it operated as Tony Pastor’s Theatre. Alterations were made to the plans of architect William Graul in 1883 and it reopened as the People’s Theatre on September 3, 1883. Seating was provided for 1,454.

Further alterations were made in 1908 to the plans of architect Louis Maurer and again in September 1916 when architect R. Thomas Short made alterations. It became a Yiddish theatre in the 1920’s.

By 1930 it was a movie theatre and was still operating in 1941. It was demolished in 1945.

Contributed by William Gabel, Joe Vogel

Recent comments (view all 5 comments)

Astyanax
Astyanax on April 30, 2005 at 1:34 am

The BLVD is part of a newly constructed high-irse, an example of the rampant gentrification of the Bowery and the rest of the Lower East Side.

Ken Roe
Ken Roe on April 30, 2005 at 1:42 am

The Film Daily Yearbook,1930 edition gives a seating capacity of 1,612.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on January 16, 2010 at 12:49 am

The Peoples operated at least from 1930 to 1941.

Al Alvarez
Al Alvarez on January 23, 2010 at 1:37 am

This theatre, along with the Eltinge (Empire), Gaiety, and Irving Place, was temporarily shut down during the 1937 crackdown on Burlesque.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 7, 2018 at 12:33 am

This PDF from The Theatre Historical Society contains index cards (possibly from library files, though it doesn’t specify) with information about Manhattan’s theaters. This is the contents of the card for the People’s Theatre on the Bowery:

“199-201 BOWERY e/s n of DELANCEY ST PEOPLE’S THEATRE, Was HOYM’s (1858), then TONY PASTOR’S OPERA HOUSE (1865-75), Became PEOPLE’S Sep 3, 1883, ALTS 692/1883, $12,000, acht Wm Graul, Owner: Henry Miner, Seats: 1454 (PHOTO: Lin Center MWEZ 7229), ALTS 1908, archt: Louis Maurer, ALTS, Sep 1916, $5000 archt: R. Thomas Short Yiddish plays presented 20’s, opera GABEL, Demolished 1945.”
A far more detailed history of the house, with several illustrations, can be found on this web page from Mapping Yiddish New York, though it doesn’t mention the period when the house ran movies (which it must have been doing when it was listed in The Film Daily Yearbook.)

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