Academy of Music
125 E. 14th Street,
New York,
NY
10003
125 E. 14th Street,
New York,
NY
10003
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42ndStreetMemories – You’re on the wrong page – this page is for the first Academy of Music which was demolished in 1926. There is a seperate page for the second Academy, which is the one you remember. -CT theatre # 1301. There are a ton of comments there.
Visited this theater a lot when my RKO 23rd Street closed in 1960. Saw my first concert here in 1964. Dave Clark 5 and The Kinks. In the 70s, it would become a rock concert hall.
Renewing link.
A large scale photo of this theater taken during a blizzard in January of 1908 is shown at this site:
http://www.shorpy.com/node/2950?size=_original
The first Academy of Music was the most prestigious theatre for opera in New York prior to the opening of the first Metropolitan Opera House. It’s listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. At that time it was under the direction of E.G. Gilmore and Eugene Tompkins. The latter was also director of the Boston Theatre on Washington Street in Boston. Admission prices ranged from 25 cents to $1.50. Seating capacity: Orchestra- 498; Orchestra Circle- 436; Balcony- 508; Second Balcony- 150; Gallery- 518; Total: 2,110. The theatre had both gas and electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 44 feet wide X 40 feet high, and the stage was 66 feet deep. There were 15 in the house orchestra. In Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper of Feb. 21, 1880, there is an interior drawing made during the Masquerade Ball of the Liederkranz. That drawing, showing the very elaborate interior, plus an exterior photo shot around 1865, are in the book “The Liederkranz of New York, 1848-1948” published in NY in 1948.