Ambassador Theatre
215 W. 49th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
215 W. 49th Street,
New York,
NY
10019
7 people
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This is a very wide theater so I’m surprised it showed hit movies. It’s too wide even for stage productions. Unless of course you’re not on the side. It’s where I saw the original production of Ain’t Misbehavin after it moved from off Broadway. I was to see it many more times at the Plymouth when it was revived with the original cast. I think it is no longer considered politically correct. But that’s because today people find everything incomprehensively politically incorrect.
Promo flyer for The Straw Hat Revue", the 1939 show where Danny Kaye would meet his wife Sylvia Fine.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvia_Fine#/media/File:Straw_hat_revue_1939.jpg
David, “Germany, Year Zero” may have done well at its opening but died a quick death everywhere immediately thereafter. Few cities played it. Spelling: Rossellini.
I’ve just added a much brighter and clearer image of a photo already uploaded, showing the American premiere of Roberto Rosselini’s classic 1947 film “Germany Year Zero”, held at the Ambassador on Monday, September 19th, 1949. A very popular film at the time, going by the huge crowd outside waiting to get in.
morally. heard the St Malachy Church had problems due to the area
they fixed up the 8th Ave area around the Ambassador really nice. just curious, say like 30 years ago was the corner of 49th and 8th a bad corner?
Did Godspell play here in 1977? Was there a prostitution problem around the theater and the Ramada or was it decent?
Renewing link.
It’s interesting that this Broadway theater once played movies.
I originally submitted the Ambassador about a year before it was actually posted. I suspect someone at CT felt it did not qualify due to its more significant legit history and wanted to review it further.
Either that or I sent them on a tail-spin looking up THE WHITE LADY and YIDL MITN FIDL.
The movie in question is Lilian Gish’s THE WHITE SISTER, not THE WHITE LADY and it played at the Ambassador for over six months. The introduction I am credited for has been somewhat altered with new information since I first submitted material for this theatre over a year ago.
Cine Roma was a moving cinema company that went from venue to venue booking their product and changing the venue’s name. The Colony/ Broadway (53rd) and the Ambassador were two of them.
Two other film titles come up for opening at the Cine Roma.
“Allegri masndieri” (The Make Believe Pirates) opened Oct. 19th, 1939
“Dottor Antonib, II” (Doctor Antonio) opened Dec. 1939.
The Internet Broadway Database does not give a complete history of the theatres. It based more on the Boardway shows then the movies.
It should be pointed out that the Ambassador is “built on a bias”, the center axis of the auditorium and stage are at an angle to the street. The rear of the auditorium is in the southeast corner and the stage is in the northwest corner of the lot. It shares this characteristic with the Beacon Theatre on Broadway, and the late Roxy Theatre. One of the big musical hits here in 1921 was the Shubert’s Schubert/Romberg musical “Blossom Time” whose road companies continued to cross America right up into the early 1950s. I had no idea that it had any cinema history.
Alive and well and playing CHICAGO live.
http://www.ibdb.com/VenueImages.asp?Id=1036