The 49th Street Theatre (later renamed Cinema 49) was a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

theater at 235 West 49th Street in the

Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres. Places *Theater District, Manhattan, New York City *Boston Theater District *Buffalo Theater District *Cleveland Theater ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The 750-seat neo-Renaissance style theater was designed by the architect

Herbert J. Krapp Herbert J. Krapp (1887, New York City, - 1973, Florida) was a theatre architect and designer in the early part of the twentieth century. Krapp was an apprentice with the Herts & Tallant firm until 1915. Between 1912 and 1916 Krapp began working d ...

for the

Shubert Organization The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters ...

. 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 A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

La Chauve-Souris ''La Chauve-Souris'' (French: ''The Bat'') was the name of a touring revue during the early 1900s. Originating in Moscow and then Paris, and directed by Nikita Balieff, the revue toured the United States, Europe, and South Africa. The show consist ...

'' and the

Aaron Hoffman Aaron Hoffman (October 30, 1880, in St. Louis, Missouri – May 27, 1924) was an American writer and lyricist, whose work was in wide use among vaudeville comedians. He wrote material for numerous performers, including Lew Dockstader and Weber and ...

play ''Give and Take'', the venue was one of the Shuberts' less successful locations. They lost control of the property during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

. It continued to operate as a playhouse until April 1938. The final theatrical performance at the venue was a production of

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

's ''

The Wild Duck ''The Wild Duck'' (original Norwegian title: ''Vildanden'') is an 1884 play by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It is considered the first modern masterpiece in the genre of tragicomedy. ''The Wild Duck'' and ''Rosmersholm'' are "often t ...

''. 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.

References

External links

* * {{US-theat-struct-stub 1921 establishments in New York City 1940 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 1940 Cinemas and movie theaters in Manhattan Former Broadway theatres Former cinemas in the United States Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Demolished theatres in New York City Shubert Organization Theater District, Manhattan Theatres completed in 1921