Shubert Alley
40°45′29.2″N 73°59′13.0″W / 40.758111°N 73.986944°W

Shubert Alley is a pedestrian alley in the
The alley was built along with the Shubert and Booth theaters in 1913. The
Description
Shubert Alley runs parallel to
The alley was built along with the Shubert and Booth theaters in 1913 as a 15-foot-wide (4.6 m) walkway.[8] At the time, fire laws required that there be room for equipment in an emergency.[3][9][10] The alley not only allowed the theaters to meet fire regulations[11][12] but also enabled the structures to be designed as corner lots, with curved corners facing the alley.[13] Henry Beaumont Herts, the architect of the Shubert and Booth theaters, designed the Shubert Alley facades of both theaters with a full decorative scheme. This was a departure from typical theater designs of the time, in which the side facades were blank walls.[14] There is also a plaque outside the Shubert Theatre's entrance at the corner of 44th Street and Shubert Alley, which contains the text "Dedicated to all those who glorify the theatre and use this short thoroughfare".[15]
Brothers Lee and Jacob J. Shubert, who were the city's most powerful theater owners and producers in the 20th century, both had offices overlooking Shubert Alley.[16] At the alley's northern end was a brownstone house, which until 1945 served as the residence of Frederick A. Muschenheim, the operator of the Hotel Astor. Before it was demolished around 1948, it was the only private house in the immediate area.[17][18] Shubert Alley continues to serve as a theater fire exit and often is filled with audience members during show-times and intermissions.[2][19] The alley has also served as a filming location, such as for Act One in 1963[20] and Mister Buddwing in 1966.[21]
Events
Shubert Alley has hosted several events over its history.
Influence
The alley is often perceived in the Broadway theatrical industry as the center of Broadway theatre.[28][8] Twelve theaters immediately surround it on 44th and 45th Streets, including eight on the same block.[8][a] According to a 1942 New York Herald Tribune article, theatrical strategists would sometimes use pedestrian traffic, rather than box-office sales, as an indicator of whether Broadway theaters were successful.[29] In 1948, a writer for The New York Times said that Shubert Alley was "the feverish heart of Broadway" and "a world of its own";[30] at the time, the most popular theaters were on 44th and 45th Streets.[31] Theater scholar and professor Richard Hornby wrote in 1991: "In New York, the desirability of a theatre is inversely proportional to its distance from Shubert Alley."[32]
Several media works and at least one venue have been named for Shubert Alley. It was reported in 1939 that the actor Raymond Massey built a bowling alley in his London home and called it Shubert Alley "to make it feel like little old New York".[33] Toward the end of Lee Shubert's life, he planned to make a television show called Shubert Alley, but Lee died before it could be produced.[34] A play entitled Shubert Alley was written by Mel Dinelli in 1943.[35] In November 1959, a one-hour musical entitled Music from Shubert Alley was recorded in the alley and broadcast on TV.[36][37] The next year, singer Mel Tormé released an album of show tunes entitled Mel Tormé Swings Shubert Alley, which was arranged by Marty Paich.[38] An award for press agents, the Shubert Alley Memorial Trophy, was also issued during the 1940s.[39]
History
Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and
Development
The first part of the alley was constructed in 1904, when the Hotel Astor was built with a small private driveway to its west.
In April 1912, Winthrop Ames and Lee Shubert decided to lease the site of the new New Theatre from the Astor family.[47][48] Two theaters were planned for the site, along with a private alley to their east.[47][48] Shubert's venue on 44th Street was named in memory of his late brother Sam S. Shubert, while Ames's venue on 45th Street was named after actor Edwin Booth.[49] The entire site was owned by the Astor family at the time,[50] but Shubert and Ames signed a long-term lease for the land under the theaters in 1912.[51][52] The Shubert and Booth theaters both opened in 1913.[16][53] At the time, there were just two other theaters on the surrounding blocks: the Little Theatre and the now-demolished Weber and Fields' Music Hall.[8] The first use of the alley for its intended purpose occurred in 1914, when a minor fire forced patrons out of the Shubert Theatre.[54] In its early years, the alley was relatively narrow since the Hotel Astor extended much further back into its land lot than the modern-day One Astor Plaza.[55]
Early popularity
The Shubert/Booth alley was used during World War I for charitable and wartime fundraisers. These events often featured the casts of shows that were playing at the Shubert and Booth theaters.[54] The Shubert brothers also parked their cars in the alley, which at the time was gated and locked at night.[53][54] The alley became more prominent after additional theaters were completed on 44th and 45th Streets in the 1910s and 1920s.[56] The Broadhurst and Plymouth (now Schoenfeld) theaters were built to the west in 1917,[14][57] with a parallel private alley of their own.[58] These were followed by the Music Box in 1921; the Imperial in 1923; the Martin Beck (now Al Hirschfeld) in 1924; and the Majestic, Masque (Golden), Royale (Jacobs), and Erlanger's (St. James) in 1927. Sardi's restaurant on 44th Street, across from Shubert Alley, became a popular meeting place in the Broadway theatrical community.[56]
The first use of the name "Shubert Alley" for the Shubert/Booth passageway was in 1924, when the New York Sun reported that the Shuberts were considering "changing the name of Shubert Alley to Paradise Alley".[14] The next year, Shubert Alley hosted what The New York Times dubbed "the first theatrical block party in Broadway's history":[59] a series of competitions judged by Al Jolson.[60][61] During the late 1920s and early 1930s, an old woman nicknamed "The Rose of Shubert Alley"[14][62] or "Rosie of Shubert Alley" frequently sold goods within the alley.[63]
In the 1930s, the alley was bisected by a metal fence.
Stylized clocks were installed at either end of the alley in 1948.
Renovations
The Shuberts bought the site of the Broadhurst, Plymouth, Booth, and Shubert theaters from the Astors in 1948,[31][50][75] including their half of Shubert Alley.[31] As part of this sale, the Shuberts and the Astors agreed to jointly renovate Shubert Alley,[75] the first major modification to the alley in its history.[17] A brick annex to the east, containing a carpentry shop and fire escapes for the Hotel Astor, was demolished during July and August 1949.[70][76] The brick annex was replaced by a rear entrance to the Hotel Astor, as well as stores on either end.[67][70] Kenneth B. Norton designed the two-story-high stores with glass and tile facades.[70][77] The fence between Shubert and Astor alleys was also demolished,[67][54][55] and Shubert Alley was doubled in width from 15 to 30 feet (9.1 m).[17][70][76][b] The posters were moved to the side walls when the fence was removed,[53][74] and the buses were relocated to Port Authority Bus Terminal.[68] Actress Irene Dunne noted in 1950:
I got a shock when I found that Shubert Alley is now a smart lane of elegant small shops, instead of being the empty alley where there used to be only a couple of stage doors, parking space for producer Lee Shubert's elegant limousine, and a place where actors met to discuss which offices were casting a new show that day.[78]
From October 1950 to May 1952, the United Nations operated an unofficial information center in Shubert Alley,[79] staffed solely by women.[80] The Shuberts allowed the UN to use the alley without paying rent.[79] In 1959, a cooling plant was installed under the western half of Shubert Alley at a cost of $250,000, serving the Shuberts' seven theaters on the block. The cooling plant, at the time the largest of its kind, could hold 650 short tons (580 long tons; 590 t) of ice at any given time. Prior to the installation of the cooling plant, the seven theaters were cooled using 350-pound (160 kg) slabs of ice, on which the Shuberts spent $6,000 a week; the theaters had often gone dark during the summer because of a lack of air conditioning.[81][82] The project also involved building a condenser atop the Shubert Theatre.[82] A portable box office was opened in Shubert Alley in April 1963.[83]
For Shubert Alley's 50th anniversary, the Shubert family embedded a plaque in a corner of the Shubert Theatre during a ceremony on October 2, 1963.
Late 20th century to present
After One Astor Plaza was completed, a northward extension of the alley was proposed in 1969 as part of what would become the
Two bronze markers measuring 12 by 18 inches (300 by 460 mm) were embedded in the alley's sidewalk in March 1973.[21] Executives with both the Shubert Organization and Minskoff & Sons continued to park in the alley. In 1977, Maggie Minskoff tried to prevent producer Alexander H. Cohen, who worked in the Shubert Theatre, from parking there because of a personal dispute;[96] the argument continued for several months and nearly led to a lawsuit.[97][98] A gift shop called One Shubert Alley opened between the Shubert and Booth theaters in 1979, within three of the Booth's former dressing rooms.[53][99][100] Numerous annual events were hosted in the alley starting in the 1980s.[21] By the late 1990s, Times Square was seeing high amounts of pedestrian traffic, but relatively few pedestrians used Shubert Alley as an alternative route.[101][102]
During the 2000s, Shubert Organization president
References
Notes
- ^ On the same block, the Majestic, Broadhurst, Shubert, Golden, Jacobs, Schoenfeld, and Booth are to the west and the Minskoff is in One Astor Plaza to the east. In addition, the Hayes and St. James are to the south and the Imperial and Music Box are to the north.
- ^ One source erroneously cited this as 20 feet (6.1 m)[67]
Citations
- ISBN 9780425221396.
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- ^ ISBN 9780823006373.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
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- ^ "Alley Oops". Daily News. August 11, 1952. p. 280. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c d e Chach 2014, p. 46.
- ISBN 9781558623651.
- ISBN 9780312361822.
- ^ "The Booth and the Shubert Theatres". Architecture. Vol. 28. 1913. p. 111.
- ^ "Two More Playhouses: Work Begun on New Theatres in West 44th and 45th Streets". New-York Tribune. May 27, 1912. p. 3. ProQuest 574907446.
- ^ Shubert Theater (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. December 15, 1987. p. 15.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ Viagas, Robert (September 29, 2013). "Broadway's Shubert Theatre Turns 100 Sept. 29". Playbill. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ ISBN 9781557836137.
- ^ a b c d Chach 2014, p. 52.
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- ^ a b c d e Chach 2014, p. 53.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "Return of In-Person Broadway Flea Market Raises $750,000 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS". Playbill. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ a b "In-Person Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction to Take Place This October". TheaterMania. June 3, 2021. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ Gordon, David (May 5, 2014). "Phantom Star Norm Lewis Will Host Broadway's 2014 Stars in the Alley Concert". Theatermania.com. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
- ^ Donahue, Dick. "A New Tune for Bernadette Peters", Publishers Weekly, May 8, 2008
- ^ McNulty, Charles."Peters writes a new role for herself", Los Angeles Times, July 20, 2008
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- ^ "Shubert Alley Traffic Charts Shows' Success: Box-Office Trade Is Brisk When Broadway Strollers Throng in Tiny Street". New York Herald Tribune. July 12, 1942. p. E2. ProQuest 1264223023.
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- ^ a b c Sylvester, Robert (November 10, 1948). "Shuberts Balk Films, Buy 4 Theatres, Alley". Daily News. pp. 339, 417. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
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- ^ "White Mice Costume". The Pittsburgh Press. April 10, 1939. p. 9. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Google News Archive Search.
- ^ Bloom 2007, p. 240.
- ^ Dinelli, Mel (1943). Shubert alley: a play for women. Baker's.
- ^ Remington, Fred (November 16, 1959). "'Shubert Alley' an Imaginative, Bright Musical". The Pittsburgh Press. p. 18. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Google News Archive Search.
- ^ "Television Reviews: Music From Shubert Alley". Variety. Vol. 216, no. 12. November 18, 1959. p. 33. ProQuest 1014819861.
- AllMusic
- ^ "Legitimate: Shubert Alley Kudos". Variety. Vol. 147, no. 2. June 17, 1942. p. 51. ProQuest 1285802538.
- ^ Swift, Christopher (2018). "The City Performs: An Architectural History of NYC Theater". New York City College of Technology, City University of New York. Archived from the original on March 25, 2020. Retrieved March 25, 2020.
- ^ "Theater District –". New York Preservation Archive Project. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ Chach 2014, pp. 46–47.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ "New Theatre Abandoned: Founders Believe It Unwise to Proceed With Enterprise Had Bought New Site Founders Opened First Playhouse in 1909, and Many New Plays Were Produced There". New-York Tribune. December 21, 1911. p. 7. ProQuest 574855982.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ a b "Senator Williams, Lecturer". New-York Tribune. April 2, 1912. p. 7. ProQuest 574913550.
- ^ "New Theaters for New York: Last Year's Record Not Quite Equalled a Now Shubert House and One for Winthrop Ames "the Lure" and "the Fight" Continue in Limelight". The Hartford Courant. September 12, 1913. p. 7. ProQuest 556023582.
- ^ a b "Shuberts Buy Sites of Four of Their Theaters: Get Broadhurst, Plymouth, Shubert and Booth Land From W. W. Astor Estate". New York Herald Tribune. November 10, 1948. p. 14. ProQuest 1335171969.
- ISBN 9780307480668.
- ^ Chach 2014, p. 47.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Botto & Mitchell 2002, p. 79.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Simonson, Robert (December 2, 2011). "Ask Playbill.com: What About Shubert Alley?". Playbill. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ a b c Chach 2014, p. 50.
- ^ Bloom 2007, p. 37; Morrison 1999, p. 103.
- ^ Bloom 2007, p. 86.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ "Seven Shubert Companies Hold Novel Block Party". The Billboard. Vol. 37, no. 38. September 19, 1925. p. 8. ProQuest 1031773358.
- ^ "Police Handle Party Crowds". Daily News. September 12, 1925. p. 20. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ Swan, Gilbert (May 2, 1929). "In New York". The Journal. p. 14. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
- ^ Skolsky, Sidney (May 23, 1931). "Behind the News". Daily News. p. 166. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ISBN 9781579123901.
- ^ Barron, B. Mark (February 14, 1932). "Seen by a New Yorker at Large". Democrat and Chronicle. p. 10. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ Ross, George (May 12, 1936). "In New York". The Owosso Argus-Press. p. 4. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Google News Archive Search.
- ^ a b c d Pihodna, Joe (August 21, 1949). "What Is Happening to Shubert Alley?: Bright Lights and Stores Will Change the Face of Broadway's Footpath". New York Herald Tribune. p. C1. ProQuest 1325370669.
- ^ a b c d Chach 2014, p. 51.
- ^ Chach 2014, pp. 50–51.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "A Plaque for Shubert Alley". New York Herald Tribune. June 14, 1949. p. 19. ProQuest 1326792316.
- ^ Allen, Kelcey (June 13, 1949). "Theatres: Amusements: To Unveil Shubert Plaque". Women's Wear Daily. Vol. 78, no. 114. p. 42. ProQuest 1565420625.
- ^ a b Sylvester, Robert (April 18, 1950). "A Stage Alley Named Shubert Gets Ready For a Big Time". Daily News. p. 17. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ a b "Demolition Nearing End In Shubert Alley Work". New York Herald Tribune. August 16, 1949. p. 13. ProQuest 1327249427.
- ^ Chach 2014, pp. 51–52.
- ^ "Irene Dunne Visits Broadway". Toledo Blade. December 2, 1950. p. 31. Retrieved February 9, 2022 – via Google News Archive Search.
- ^ a b "U. N. Information Center Moving to New Location". New York Herald Tribune. May 29, 1952. p. 11. ProQuest 1322204649.
- ^ Cook, Joan (April 28, 1952). "Shubert Alley Center Informs Public on U. N.: Run by Women Volunteers, Non-Profit Organization Ranks as Hit for 5 Years". New York Herald Tribune. p. 8. ProQuest 1322444374.
- ^ "Single Icing Plant to Cool 7 Theaters: $250,000 Unit To Be Under Shubert Alley". New York Herald Tribune. October 30, 1959. p. 10. ProQuest 1327277484.
- ^ .
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ "Shubert Alley Celebrates 50th". The Journal News. October 2, 1963. p. 35. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
- OL 1130718M.
- ^ "Extended Shubert Alley (To 46 St.) Stymied By Hotel Refusing to Sell". Variety. Vol. 256, no. 6. September 24, 1969. pp. 1, 67. ProQuest 1014851256.
- ^ "Legitimate: Extended Shubert Alley Idea Needs Strategic Piece of Hotel's Land". Variety. Vol. 258, no. 2. February 25, 1970. p. 69. ProQuest 962871266.
- from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
- ^ Green, Abel (May 6, 1970). "Legitimate: A Shubert Alley Up to 53d St.?". Variety. Vol. 258, no. 12. p. 97. ProQuest 964081877.
- from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- ^ a b "1535 Broadway - Marriott Marquis". Privately Owned Public Space (APOPS). March 31, 2016. Archived from the original on November 1, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
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- ^ "Legitimate: Much Ado About Shubert Alley; Minskoffs Bar Cohen's 2 Limos". Variety. Vol. 286, no. 9. April 6, 1977. pp. 119, 124. ProQuest 1401309466.
- ^ Smith, Liz (October 16, 1977). "The Candidate and the Columnist". Daily News. p. 241. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ^ "Legitimate: "Hellz" Flop Lives On In Feuds; Shubert Alley Parking Serial". Variety. Vol. 289, no. 2. November 16, 1977. p. 91. ProQuest 1401320594.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
- ^ Farrell, Bill (December 7, 1979). "Stage-door gifts". Daily News. p. 986. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ Feiden, Douglas (February 24, 1999). "Doodle Dandy". Daily News. p. 5. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ "Spamalot cast sets coconut record". BBC News. April 23, 2007.
- ^ "Shubert Alley temporarily closed after fallen debris". Broadway News. May 15, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ "Broadway Barks 2019 Canceled Due to Shubert Alley Renovations". Playbill. June 20, 2019. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ "Broadway Flea Market and Grand Auction Goes Virtual, Raises $316,282". Playbill. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
- ^ "Bernadette Peters Will Host 2nd Virtual Edition of Broadway Barks". Playbill. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
Sources
- Bloom, Ken (2007). The Routledge Guide to Broadway (1st ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-97380-9.
- Botto, Louis; Mitchell, Brian Stokes (2002). At This Theatre: 100 Years of Broadway Shows, Stories and Stars. New York; Milwaukee, WI: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books/Playbill. ISBN 978-1-55783-566-6.
- Chach, Maryann (2014). "The Heart of Broadway Still Beats Strong at 100". The Passing Show. Vol. 30. Shubert Organization. pp. 46–54.
- Morrison, William (1999). Broadway Theatres: History and Architecture. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-40244-4.
External links
- The Shubert Organization; Architecture Archived August 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine