49th Street Theatre explained

49th Street Theatre
Mapframe:no
Former Names:Cinema 49 (1938–1940)
Address:235 West 49th Street
City:Manhattan, New York City
Country:United States
Coordinates:40.7616°N -73.9856°W
Type:Broadway theatre
Capacity:750
Closed:1940
Demolished:December 1940
Architect:Herbert J. Krapp

The 49th Street Theatre (later renamed Cinema 49) was a Broadway theater at 235 West 49th Street in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. The 750-seat neo-Renaissance style theater was designed by the architect Herbert J. Krapp for the Shubert Organization.[1] It opened on December 26, 1921, with a performance of Face Value, a comedy by Laurence Grass. Although it had some popular productions, such as the revue La Chauve-Souris and the Aaron Hoffman play Give and Take, the venue was one of the Shuberts' less successful locations.[2] They lost control of the property during the Great Depression. It continued to operate as a playhouse until April 1938. The final theatrical performance at the venue was a production of Henrik Ibsen's The Wild Duck. The venue was then converted to show movies and reopened as Cinema 49. The cinema was also unsuccessful and closed in 1940; the building was demolished that December.[3]

Notes and References

  1. 49th Street Theatre, New York . Architecture and Building . 54 . 2 . February 1922 . 19 .
  2. 78.
  3. Book: Van Hoogstraten, Nicholas . Lost Broadway Theatres . Princeton Architectural Press . 1991 . 978-1-878271-06-8 . 207.