B.S. Moss' Broadway Theatre
1445 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10018
1445 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10018
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There’s an old picture of the Broadway here: http://www.josephhaworth.com/broadway_theatre.htm
20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1916)
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The old Broadway Theatre is listed in the 1897-98 edition of Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide. The seating capacity is given as: Orchestra: 626, Balcony: 436, Gallery: 538, Total: 1,600 seats, plus boxes. The proscenium opening was 36 feet wide x 36 feet high. The stage was 48 feet deep. The theatre was on the ground floor and had both electric and gas illumination. The house orchestra had 24 members.
In 1908 it was acquired by B.S. Moss it was a film and vaudeville house until it was razed in 1929.
This theater was a “House of Hits” for the first 20 years or so of its existence – the site of many popular musical shows. It was a leading B'way theater during that period. When it became a vaude-filmer, it did not have the same cachet, because of newer and better theatres opening to the north. An interesting point about it is that its right exterior sidewall was very very similar to the left sidewall of the Tremont/ Astor Theatre in downtown Boston, also designed by McElfatrick, which opened in 1889 and which was demolished in 1983.