New Amsterdam Theater
214 W 42 Street
between 7th & 8th Avenues
Completed 1903
Architect Herts & Tallant
Along with the New Victory, Lyceum
and Hudson theaters one of the oldest surviving legitimate
theaters on Broadway. In 1902 impresarios Marc Klaw and Abraham
Erlanger followed Oscar Hammerstein to 42nd Street. But just
barely. The theater they commissioned Herts & Tallant to build
across from Hammerstein's Republic has a narrow entry on 42nd
Street with, the bulk of the house on 41st Street. The 42nd Street
Beaux-Arts entrance opens into the finest Art Nouveau theater
interiors in NYC. Carved and painted plaster, carved stone, carved
wood, murals and tiles—all combine to evoke what it was like
going to the theater at the turn of the century. A production of
Shakespeare's Midsummer Nights Dream opened the theater on
Nov 2, 1903. Florenz Ziegfeld staged his Follies at the New
Amsterdam from 1913 through 1927, along with various editions of
his other revues, known under various names including The
Midnight Frolic and The Nine O'Clock Revue, on the
theater's rooftop stage
As were many other legitimate
theaters during the Depression years, the New Amsterdam was
converted to a movie house in 1937. The Nederlander Organization
purchased the theater in 1982 and, planning to piggyback on the
proposed redevelopment of the Times Square area, started on a
problem plagued reconstruction program to return the theater to
legitimate use. Major structural problems, combined with the
uncertainty of the City's economic health (which had the Times
Square redevelopment project in fits and starts), repeatedly
delayed the reconstruction. New York State purchased the New
Amsterdam in 1992 and subsequently resold it to the Walt Disney Co
for $29 million. The complete reconstruction of the theater
between 1995 - 1997 signaled Disney's confidence in Times Square
and anchored the further redevelopment of the area
1906 Victor Moore, Fay Templeton and
Donald Brian star in Forty-five Minutes from Broadway, with
a book by George M Cohan, music by George M Cohan and lyrics by
George M Cohan. George M Cohan did not star
1907 A production of Franz Lehar's The
Merry Widow runs for 416 performances
1910 The Otto Harbach-Karl Hoschna musical
Madame Sherry runs for 231 performances and stars Jack
Gardner, Ralph Herz and Lina Arbarbanell
1911 Hazel Dawn is The Pink Lady in
her Broadway debut. The show, with music by Ivan Caryl and lyrics
by CMS McLellan runs for 312 performances
1913 Flo Ziegfeld produces the first of
his Follies revues at the New Amsterdam. This installment
features Leon Errol, Frank Tinney and Ann Pennington
1913 Victor Herbert's musical Sweethearts
stars Christie MacDonald
1914 Ziegfeld's Follies are back
along with Leon Errol and Ann Pennington, this time joined by Bert
Williams and Ed Wynn, in his very first Follies
1914 The great husband and wife dance team
Vernon and Irene Castle make their last Broadway appearance in
Irving Berlin's first musical Watch Your Step
1915 to 1920 Ziegfeld starts his Midnight
Frolics on the rooftop stage of the New Amsterdam in 1915.
Ziegfeld's Follies fly high through the late teens, with
performers such as Bert Williams, Ed Wynn, May Murray, George
White, Leon Errol, Fanny Brice, Theda Bara, Ina Claire, Ann
Pennington and Lillian Lorraine sharing the bill. WC Fields makes
his Follies debut in 1915, Will Rogers makes his in 1916,
Eddie Cantor in 1917 and Marilyn Miller bows in 1918. After
Prohibition goes into effect in 1920, the Midnight Frolics,
which depended on after-theater drink sales, become the Nine
O'Clock Revue, a show sustained by admission charges
1920 Ed Wynn stars in a revue of his own, The
Ed Wynn Carnival, with Marion Davis
1920 Marilyn Miller, Leon Errol, Walter
Catlett and Helen Morgan star in the Guy Bolton-Jerome Kern
musical Sally. The show runs for 570 performances
1925 Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II
and Jerome Kern collaborate on the musical Sunny. The show
stars Marilyn Miller and Clifton Webb. A young Pert Kelton has a
bit part; in the 50s she becomes not at all well-known as Alice
Cramden in the first few episodes of the Honeymooners, later
replaced by Audrey Meadow
1928 Sigmund Romberg and the Gershwin
brother's combine for the musical Rosalie, starring Marilyn
Miller, Jack Donahue and Frank Morgan
1931 Fred Astaire is in on his way out to
Hollywood and The Band Wagon is his and sister Adele's last
show together
1932 Even the best have a dry spell.
Irving Berlin has not had a show on Broadway in 5 years. Face
the Music has a book by Moss Hart, is directed by George S
Kaufman and stars Mary Boland. It limps through 165 performances
1933 The Otto Harbach-Jerome Kern musical Roberta
stars Bob Hope, Tamara Drasin, Sidney Greenstreet, Fay Templeton
and George Murphy
1997 After a 60-year hiatus, the New
Amsterdam reopens as a legitimate venue with a musical production
of King David
1998 Destined for a long run delighting
children of all ages, The
Lion King opens to glowing reviews and glowing audiences.
Critics doubted the Disney organization had the right stuff for
Broadway, but the show takes the Tony
for best musical, as do Julie Taymor for direction and Garth Fagan
for choreography
2003 This show doesn't stop
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