New Amsterdam Theatre
214 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
214 W. 42nd Street,
New York,
NY
10036
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PS I just attended the Broadway Backwards fundraiser here tonight, and the house looks as sensational as ever. I remember when I paid two dollars to come watch double features here.
Paul Baar might consider donating his collection of photographs and related materials to The Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at 40 Lincoln Center in New York City. More details here
A post script… Looks like the double S spelling as an AKA on the IBDB page may have originated with how Mr Casavant’s name was recorded (obviously in error) for the 1922 production of “Frank Fay’s Fables,” a revue that played at the long gone Park Theatre on Columbus Circle.
Hey Paul… I didn’t mean to offend. I typed the double S in his name in error – possibly because his IBDB listing lists that spelling as an AKA. I certainly did not mean to imply this was the correct spelling, or intend to call you out for not knowing how the name was spelled. In fact, the only intention of my comment was to point out the first and last credits attributed to him on that page. Apologies if it was taken in any other spirit! I don’t like to engage in the petty flame wars that often go on within these pages between certain users. I’m all about nailing down the history and sharing the memories! Anyway, seems you have a credit that predates the ones listed on IBDB for your grandfather… have you attempted any contact with the administrators of the website to get the history corrected?
The terrific website ibdb.com lists credits for Mr Cassavant going back to 1895 – when he appeared in a production called “The Wizard Of The Nile” at the Casino Theatre. The last credit listed is for a comedy called “Her Man Of Wax” that played at the Shubert in the fall of 1933.
This theatre is of particular interest to me because my grandfather Louis Casavant was in a play “The Riviera Girl” at the New Amsterdam, that opened on September 24,1917,he played Count Michael Lorenz. I never met him ,he died 20 years before I was born,and he was was 31 years older than my grandmother Madeline Brown(maiden name)second wife. His first wife was opera star Greta Risley.
The New Amsterdam became the first theatre on 42nd Street to present a feature in the CinemaScope process when “The Robe” opened there on December 31st, 1953. Ad for the saturation release which followed the Roxy Theatre premiere can be viewed here
I saw the 1964 re-release of PSYCHO at the New Amsterdam and part of the fun/horror was the audience.
In 1971 Bette Davis and Ernest Borgnine starred in “Bunny O'Hare” and here is an excerpt from the New York Times' review:
“Also on the bill with "Bunny O'Hare,” currently at neighborhood theaters, is “The Velvet Vampire,” which is almost as funny as “Bunny O'Hare,” though I doubt that it means to be. It has to do with a beautiful, 125-year-old woman, the mistress of a remote ranch in the southwest who stocks her own blood bank with tourists dumb enough to spend the night.
“It is to be recommended only if you can see it at the New Amsterdam on 42d Street, where audiences loudly, freely and obscenely associate with the action on the screen.”
Circa 1910’s photo added courtesy of the Duke University Collection.
1953 photo of the New Amsterdam marquee added, courtesy of Al Ponte’s Time Machine – New York Facebook page.
That is definitely a view looking east down W. 42nd Street from around Eighth Avenue. In that first pic, the marquee of the Anco Theatre is in the foreground on the right, with Bruce Li on the marquee – as Al points out. The marquee for the Empire can also be seen, just beyond the glimpse of the Roxy Burlesk and behind that the side board of the old billboard signage that used to be mounted on the facade above the Liberty marquee.
On the left (north) side of the block, Modells is indeed a sporting goods store that still dots the landscape in NYC (currently they occupy a site across the street from this old location). And the marquees of the Selwyn, Times Square and Lyric Theatres can be made out going off into the distance. The Apollo marquee is probably in the mix as well, but the image is a bit too murky to make out the detail.
I can’t really distinguish much of the New Amsterdam marquee or vertical, which would be on the right side of the street in this image, and off in the distance at the other end of the block.
Dave, the marquee on the front right is actually the Anco. Note that the Roxy and the Modells' both moved on 42nd street over the years.
Was just watching “The Incredible Hulk”, and during the closing credits they show what appears to be the marquee of the Amsterdam Theater. (photo: http://bit.ly/HjaOvS)
From “The Incredible Hulk” – S01E07 – 0.49.27 (Netflix: http://bit.ly/Hh3vd4)
There is a “Liberty” sign on the right, a “Modell’s” (sporting goods?) on the left, and a “Roxy Burlesk” sign on the right.
Google Street view: http://g.co/maps/r9gyt
Bigjoe59… The Harris was in fine condition. It was the longest surviving of the original theaters on the block, showing movies several years into the ‘90’s. I guess it was deemed insignificant compared to the six other houses that were “protected” by the New 42nd Street organization. We see where that has gotten the Liberty and Times Square Theatres.
was the Harris/Candler Theater torn down because it was in
such condition that it was unrepairable or because no one wanted
to spend the time and money to properly renovate it as they did with the New Amsterdam?
The McDonald’s marquee was built entirely new for the franchise over the main entrance to the Candler Building within the last 15 years. There was never a movie entrance at that exact spot. The Harris Theater had it’s entrance and marquee just to the right of where the McD’s entrance is today.
Ed, what theatre was where Mickey D is..good use of marquee..
Just checked â€" that photo of the fireplace in the lower lobby lounge from Ken Roe was taken in 1997 right after renovations. The image was re-posted above by HowardBHaas on Jan 4, 2008.
Took the kids to see Mary Poppins last May and snapped a few shots that I added to my New Amsterdam Theatre photobucket album.
Some of the shots are overviews that we’ve seen before – the balcony boxes, lower lobby lounge – but I tried to concentrate on some other details as well to mix it up a little.
That link should take you to the first new pic in the series. Just click “Next” to see the rest of them. I think there are 21 images from that day. The complete album has 57 images – most of which I either posted here already or purloined from this site.
If you click on the image once, it will enlarge it to full size. Click on it again and it will go back to the original size that opened. I don’t know when they added the concession stand to the lower lobby lounge – there are photos of this room by Ken Roe back in 2006, I believe, where the fireplace is unobstructed by any concessions.
The Harris was completely torn down and replaced by a new building. If you google map that stretch of West 41st Street, you can clearly see the old rear facade of the Liberty as well as the New Amesterdam (with its two sets of fire-escapes running all the way to the old roof-top theater space). Between these two is an entirely new green-colored structure that is nearly completely windowless. This is where the auditorium would have been.
i thank AlAlvarez for posting the street chart as to the situation
of which theaters were where. but it only prompts another question
on my part. so here goes. the Lew Fields/Anco Theater and the American were torn down, the Eltinge/Empire never went back to
41 St.,the Liberty auditorium is closed up,the New Amsterdam is
alive and well which leaves the Candler/Harris. now from the chart
the entrance/lobby of the theater ran alongside the Candler building and the body of the theater the auditorium was actually on
41 St. so when Madame Tussuad’s was built they completely torn
down not only the entrance/lobby area but the auditorium as well?
Let me try that again.
View link
i am confused now. i had read in a book on the 12 theaters that
once graced 42 St. between 7th and 8th Avenues that the auditorium
of the Liberty was closed up and located behind Madame Tussuad’s Wax Museum. now as you directed i looked up the listing for the
Candler Theater better known as the Harris. if i understood it
correctly the Harris Theater was torn down to build Madame Tussuad’s. but i thought the Candler/Harris Theater was in back
of the Candler Building not adjacent to it. i don’t see how the
Liberty auditorium could have been right behind the Candler/Harris
auditorium.