Since 1878, there have been two

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

s that have carried the name the Bijou Theatre during their histories.

1239 Broadway

The first theatre to carry the Bijou name was the Theatre Brighton, which also served as an opera house and silent movie venue throughout its history. Located at 1239 Broadway between 30th and 31st Streets, had been converted from a drinking and gambling establishment into a theatre for variety, and opened August 26, 1878, with Jerry Thomas as proprietor. The house had many changes and names until John A. McCaull, a Baltimore lawyer, and Charles E. Ford took charge of it. Considerable money was spent and when they reopened the house on March 31, 1880, as the Bijou Opera-house, it looked like a modern and well-regulated theatre. In 1881 and 1882,

Lillian Russell Lillian Russell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922), was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for her beauty ...

appeared in three different operettas. But the house proved too small to be profitable, so after the performance of July 7, 1883, preparations for tearing it down began. R. E. J. Miles and Gen. W. B. Barton leased the premises for five years from its owner, Edward F. James. They agreed to advance sufficient funds to erect a new house, which was designed by J. B. McElfatrick & Son and opened December 1, 1883, as the Bijou Theatre. The first production was ''Orpheus and Eurydice,'' an adaption by

Max Freeman Max Freeman (c. 1852 – March 27 or March 28, 1912) was a German actor, theater director, theater manager, playwright, and producer who was primarily active in the United States. After beginning his career in his native city of Berlin in 1868, Fre ...

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera '' ...

's '' Orfée aux enfers.''" ''

Adonis In Greek mythology, Adonis, ; derived from the Canaanite word ''ʼadōn'', meaning "lord". R. S. P. Beekes, ''Etymological Dictionary of Greek'', Brill, 2009, p. 23. was the mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite. One day, Adonis was gored by ...

'', starring

Henry E. Dixey Henry E. Dixey (born Henry E. Dixon; January 6, 1859 – February 25, 1943) was an American actor and theatre producer. Dixey was born on January 6, 1859, in Boston, Massachusetts. He made his stage debut in Boston in 1868, joining the variety ...

, played its record-breaking run of 603 performances at the Bijou beginning September 4, 1884. Another long run was '' The Music Master'', starring

David Warfield David Warfield (November 28, 1866 – June 27, 1951) was an American stage actor. Life and career Warfield was born David Wohlfeld in San Francisco, California, to German-Jewish parents, Louise and Sigmund Wohlfeld. His first connection wit ...

, transferred from the

Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York Ci ...

on January 9, 1905, and playing 511 performances, for a total at the two theaters of 635, before closing September 29, 1906. The next big hit was ''A Gentleman from Mississippi'', starring

Thomas A. Wise Thomas Alfred Wise (March 23, 1865 - March 21, 1928) was an American actor and president of The Lambs from 1926 to 1928. Biography Wise was born on March 23, 1865, in Faversham, England. He emigrated to the United States at the age of three, and m ...

and

Douglas Fairbanks Douglas Elton Fairbanks Sr. (born Douglas Elton Thomas Ullman; May 23, 1883 – December 12, 1939) was an American actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. He was best known for his swashbuckling roles in silent films including '' The Thie ...

, which opened September 29, 1908. From June 29 to August 7, 1909, it played at the Aerial Gardens atop the

New Amsterdam Theatre The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater on 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the New Amsterdam was built from ...

, with new scenery and costumes, moving back to the Bijou August 9. After giving its 400th performance (counting the Aerial Gardens) on August 25, the play closed on September 18. The Bijou was later used as a silent movie house. It was demolished in 1915 and replaced by the present high-rise office building, which opened in 1917.

Selected shows

* ''

'' (1884–86; 603 perf.) * ''

A Midnight Bell ''A Midnight Bell'' is a 1921 American silent comedy film. The film was directed and produced by its star, Charles Ray. His brother, Albert, is thought to have co-directed some scenes. The film is believed to be lost.Soister, John T. ''American ...

'' (1889; 136 perf.) * ''

The Widow Jones ''The Widow Jones'' was an 1895 New York City stage musical comedy. Thomas Edison hired the play's stars, May Irwin and John Rice, to recreate the kiss seen in act 1 of the play for the 1896 short film, '' The Kiss'', made in Edison's Kinetoscop ...

'' (1895), basis for 1896 Edison short film '' The Kiss'' * '' Courted Into Court'' (1896–97; 140 perf.) * ''Sister Mary'' by

Glen MacDonough Glen MacDonough (1870 – March 30, 1924) was an American writer, lyricist and librettist. He was the son of theater manager Thomas B. MacDonough and actress/author Laura Don. Glen MacDonough married Margaret Jefferson in 1896 in Buzzard's Bay, ...

(1889-1900; 120 perf.) * ''The Climbers'' by

Clyde Fitch Clyde Fitch (May 2, 1865 – September 4, 1909) was an American dramatist, the most popular writer for the Broadway stage of his time (c. 1890–1909). Biography Born in Elmira, New York, and educated at Holderness School and Amherst College (cl ...

(1901; 163 perf.) * ''The Auctioneer'' by

Charles Klein Charles Klein (January 7, 1867 – May 7, 1915) was an English-born playwright and actor who emigrated to America in 1883. Among his works was the libretto of John Philip Sousa's operetta, ''El Capitan''. Klein's talented siblings includ ...

(1901; 105 perf.) * ''Nancy Brown'' (1903; 112 perf.) * ''

A Gentleman from Mississippi ''A Gentleman from Mississippi'' is a 1908 comedic play by Harrison Rhodes and Thomas A. Wise.(1 August 1908)A New Political Play ''The New York Times'' It was popular when released, debuting on Broadway on September 28, 1908, and playing for 407 ...

'' (1908–09) * '' The Music Master'' (1905–06; 627 counting 124 shows at Belasco) * ''

The Lottery Man ''The Lottery Man'' is a comic play in three acts by Rida Johnson Young. Produced by the Shubert family, it premiered on Broadway at the Bijou Theatre on December 6, 1909, and was later adapted into a film twice; once in 1916 and again in 1919. It ...

'' (1909–10; 200 perf.)

209 West 45th Street

The second Bijou Theatre was built by the

Shubert family The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...

in 1917 at 209 W. 45th Street in

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 ...

, and was the smallest of the houses they operated with a capacity of 603. Although it did not keep the planned name of the ''Theatre Francais'', it retained its French decor. It was one of three theaters that hosted the premiere season of the musical ''

Fancy Free Fancy Free may refer to: Music * Fancy Free (Donald Byrd album), ''Fancy Free'' (Donald Byrd album) (1969) * Fancy Free (Richard Davis album), ''Fancy Free'' (Richard Davis album) (1977) * Fancy Free (The Oak Ridge Boys album), ''Fancy Free'' (Th ...

''—but primarily it presented plays by many writers, including

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French actor, Lucien Guitry, and follow ...

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize i ...

A. A. Milne Alan Alexander Milne (; 18 January 1882 – 31 January 1956) was an English writer best known for his books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh, as well as for children's poetry. Milne was primarily a playwright before the huge success of Winni ...

James M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succe ...

Herman J. Mankiewicz Herman Jacob Mankiewicz (; November 7, 1897 – March 5, 1953) was an American screenwriter who, with Orson Welles, wrote the screenplay for ''Citizen Kane'' (1941). Both Mankiewicz and Welles would go on to receive the Academy Award for Best Or ...

Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and '' Vanity Fair'' and was one ...

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

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 ...

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earlier ...

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''The ...

, and

Seán O'Casey Seán O'Casey ( ga, Seán Ó Cathasaigh ; born John Casey; 30 March 1880 – 18 September 1964) was an Irish dramatist and memoirist. A committed socialist, he was the first Irish playwright of note to write about the Dublin working classes. ...

. The Oscar-winning British film '' The Red Shoes'' played the Bijou for 107 weeks, from October 21, 1948, to November 13, 1950. Starting on November 16, 1950, as the Bijou, it hosted the film ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...

'', starring

José Ferrer José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime, w ...

.''The New York Times.'' November 17, 1950 In 1951, it became a

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

radio studio, thenas the

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...

Theatreit presented

art film An art film (or arthouse film) is typically an independent film, aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience. It is "intended to be a serious, artistic work, often experimental and not designed for mass appeal", "made primarily f ...

s, and was subsequently reduced in size due to the expansion of the adjacent Astor. It was reinstated as the Bijou Theatre in 1965, and was home to arguably its largest hit—

Mummenschanz __NOTOC__ Mummenschanz is a Switzerland, Swiss mask theater troupe who perform in a surreal mask- and prop-oriented style. Founded in 1972 by Bernie Schürch, Andres Bossard (August 9, 1944 – March 25, 1992), and the Italian American, Italian-Am ...

—but was demolished in 1982 to make room for the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

References

{{coord, 40.74721, -73.988584, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title Theatres completed in 1878 Former Broadway theatres Demolished theatres in New York City Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Former theatres in Manhattan Buildings and structures demolished in 1915 Buildings and structures demolished in 1982 Theatres completed in 1917