Ziegfeld Theatre (1927)
Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. | |
Type | Broadway |
---|---|
Capacity | 1,638 |
Construction | |
Opened | February 2, 1927 |
Demolished | 1966 |
Architect | Joseph Urban and Thomas W. Lamb |
The Ziegfeld Theatre was a
. It was built in 1927 and despite public protests, it was razed in 1966.History
With a seating capacity of 1,638,
Due to the decline in new Broadway shows during the Great Depression, the theater became the Loew's Ziegfeld in 1933 and operated as a movie theater until showman Billy Rose bought it in 1944.
NBC leased the Ziegfeld Theatre for use as a television studio from 1955 to 1963. The Perry Como Show was broadcast from the theater beginning in 1956. It was also used to present the televised Emmy Awards program in 1959 and 1961.
In 1963 the Ziegfeld Theatre reopened as a legitimate Broadway theater. This was short-lived, however, as Rose began to assemble abutting properties for a new real estate project.
"The Ziegfeld was one of those buildings that went just a few years too soon," wrote architectural critic Paul Goldberger. "Had it been able to hold on just a bit longer, a later age would surely have seen its value and refused to sanction its destruction."[3]
A fragment of the Joseph Urban facade, a female head, can be seen in front of the private home at 52 East 80th Street.[4]
The box from the cornerstone and its contents are held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Notable Broadway premieres
- Rio Rita (1927)
- Show Boat (1927–29)
- Ziegfeld Follies of 1931 (1931)
- Brigadoon (1947–48)
- Kismet (1953–55)
- Foxy (1964)
Notable Broadway revivals
- The Red Mill (revised version) (1945)
- Show Boat (revised version) (1946–47)
- Of Thee I Sing (1951)
- Music in the Air (1951)
- Old Vic company, imported from London.)
- Porgy and Bess (1952) (The famous world tour production featuring Leontyne Price, Cab Calloway, and William Warfield.)
References
- ^ a b Calta, Louis (August 5, 1966). "Ziegfeld Theater Will Be Razed for a Skyscraper". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
- ^ "News of Realty: Rose Seeks Club". The New York Times. May 6, 1965. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
- ^ Goldberger, Paul (December 20, 1987). "At the Cooper-Hewitt, Designs of Joseph Urban". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-03-09.
- ^ Gray, Christopher (November 14, 2004). "An Architect's Evocative Legacy of Fantasy and Drama". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-02-15.