Erlanger Theatre

E.L. Statler of Statler Hotels, Inc. commissioned the Erlanger Theatre in Buffalo seating 1,416 at the corner of Delaware Avenue and E. Mohawk Street across the street from his hotel. The million-dollar theatre was designed by architects Whitney Warren & Charles Wetmore whose design borrowed heavily from its New York City Erlanger Theatre (later, turned St. James Theatre). It was said to be of Renaissance Revival style though has also been labeled as Beaux Arts style and Georgian style in some sources. Designed primarily for stage plays, the Erlanger Theatre was outfitted with motion picture projection equipment at its outset and was wired for sound films in 1929.

A number of high profile film events and openings took place at the Erlanger Theatre including “Romeo & Juliet", “Cavalcade", “The Great Ziegfeld” and a road show of Erlanger’s pick-up film, “Hunting Tigers in India". However, the opening event for the Erlanger Theatre was a live stage musical, “Criss Cross” on October 23, 1927. Originally programmed by Abraham Lincoln Erlanger, his bankruptcy early in the Depression and subsequent death in 1930 changed the course of the theatre subtly.

That said, the Erlanger Theatre’s legacy was in try-out shows that hit big on Broadway as well as booking so many notable performers live on its stage during its nearly 30 years of operation that it would be nearly impossible to name them all. Stars performing on Buffalo’s Erlanger Theatre stage included Judith Anderson, Orson Welles, the Marx Brothers, Tallulah Bankhead, Katharine Hepburn, Edward G. Robinson, Paul Roberson, Ethel Waters, Maurice Evans, Jack Benny, the Barrymores, Lillian Gish, Boris Karloff, Gloria Swanson, and Sydney Poitier.

Despite the lustre appearing on its stage, the Erlanger Theatre was not beloved due to its subpar acoustics and its perceived inferiority to the Teck Theatre which also ran legit shows until being gutted in 1940. After Erlanger’s death, the Shubert’s took over programing for ten years. When Nikitas D. Dipson of Dipson Theatrical Enterprises Circuit took it on early in the 1940’s, many presumed the theatre would gravitate to full-time films. Though Dipson played more films in 1941, the circuit decided the house was not suitable as a full-time movie theatre.

As the theatre was having its worst economic conditions in the TV age, the venue was more like a piece of meat that would either be torn down or converted for other purposes. By the mid-1950’s, it was clear that the money losing property would discontinue its theatrical operations.

Dipson decided to sell the venue to Rochester realtor Isaac Gordon who announced in 1955 he would tear the Erlanger Theatre down just after the June 30, 1955 final curtain, for a parking structure. Gordon, however, received complaints about the demolition plans and sold the building to John J. Boland and Edward H. Kanvinoksy who, in turn, would sell Darwin R. Martin in 1959. Martin retained most of the theatre’s exterior choosing to gut the theatre’s interior for a conversion into commercial and office use venue. The successful project lasted all the way to 2005 when the final tenant left the building. To celebrate the theatre’s 80th Anniversary, it was razed in favor of a federal court house.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.