Casino Theatre (New York City)
Casino Theatre | |
---|---|
Francis Hatch Kimball and Thomas Wisedell |
The Casino Theatre was a
The theatre was the first in New York to be lit entirely by electricity, popularized the chorus line and later introduced white audiences to African-American shows. It originally seated approximately 875 people, however the theatre was enlarged in 1894 and again in 1905, after a fire, when its capacity was enlarged to 1,300 seats. It hosted a number of long-running comic operas, operettas and musical comedies, including Erminie, Florodora, The Vagabond King and The Desert Song. It closed in 1930 and was demolished the same year.[2]
History
The Casino Theatre, designed in
The theatre opened with productions by the
The Casino hosted a series of successful operettas and other musical theatre pieces in the 1880s and 1890s, including the extraordinarily successful
The theatre is perhaps best remembered, however, as having been the home of the 1900 production of the Edwardian musical comedy, Florodora. In that show, it became the first theatre in New York to feature a chorus line, the "Florodora Sextet". The sextet's original lineup included a number of ladies who would later achieve fame and fortune. The production "elevated the chorus girl into ... an attraction in its own right."[4] Evelyn Nesbit was a chorus girl in the show in 1901.[3] Over the decades, the theatre also became known for its free Christmas presentations for New York children.[2]
Over the next decade, the theatre continued to present musicals and operettas, some of the most successful being
Notable productions
- 1882: The Queen's Lace Handkerchief
- 1883: The Beggar Student
- 1884: Nell Gwynne
- 1885: Die Fledermaus
- 1886: Erminie
- 1888: The Yeomen of the Guard
- 1890: The Grand Duchess[8][9]
- 1891: Cavalleria Rusticana
- 1894: The Passing Show
- 1895: The Wizard of the Nile
- 1896: The Lady Slavey
- 1896: In Gay New York
- 1897: The Belle of New York
- 1897: The Wedding Day
- 1898: Clorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk
- 1900: Little Red Riding Hood[10]
- 1900: Florodora
- 1900: The Casino Girl
- 1900: The Belle of Bohemia[11]
- 1901: The Little Duchess
- 1902: A Chinese Honeymoon
- 1903: The Runaways
- 1904: Piff! Paff!! Pouf!!!
- 1904: Baroness Fiddlesticks
- 1905: The Earl and the Girl
- 1909: Havana
- 1909: The Chocolate Soldier
- 1912: The Firefly
- 1912–13: Seasons of Gilbert and Sullivan
- 1914: High Jinks
- 1915: The Blue Paradise
- 1916: Very Good Eddie
- 1917: Oh, Boy!
- 1918: Oh, Lady! Lady!!
- 1918: Sometime
- 1921: Tangerine
- 1922: Sally, Irene and Mary
- 1923: Wildflower
- 1924: I'll Say She Is – Marx Brothers
- 1925: The Vagabond King
- 1926: The Desert Song
- 1928: My Maryland
- 1929: The New Moon
- 1930: American Opera Company's Madama Butterfly and Faust
References
- ^ a b c "Casino Theatre (Built: 1882 Demolished: 1930 Closed: 1930)" Internet Broadway Database (Retrieved on December 31, 2007)
- ^ a b c d Miller, Tom. "The Lost 1882 Casino Theatre – 39th Street and Broadway", Daytonian in Manhattan, June 3, 2013, accessed October 21, 2014
- ^ a b c d Casino Theatre. World Theatres – Broadway and Off Broadway Theatres, accessed May 24, 2011
- ^ ISBN 1135871175
- ^ IBDB entry for the original New York run, accessed October 21, 2014. See also Stone, David. Violet Melnotte (1855–1935) Archived 2014-10-21 at the Wayback Machine, Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, Boise State University, accessed October 21, 2014
- ^ a b "Casino Theatre, Landmark, Passes: Playhouse That Opened 48 Years Ago Was Scene of Success of Many Celebrities. Once Farthest North". The New York Times. 19 January 1930. p. 31.
- ^ Eaton, Walter Prichard (1907). "Oscar Hammerstein: A Boy Who Never Grew Up". American Magazine. Colver Publishing House. p. 31.
- ^ Digital Collections, The New York Public Library. "(still image) Lillian Russell in "The grand duchess", (1894)". The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations. Retrieved June 28, 2020.
- OCLC 608173307.
- ISBN 9781538150283.
- ^ Franceschina, John. Harry B. Smith: Dean of American Librettists, Routledge (2003), p. 169 via Google Books
External links
- Casino Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database
- Photos of the theatre and its stars