Elsie Leslie as Little Lord Fauntleroy cph

The Broadway Theatre near 41st Street was a

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 ...

theatre in operation from 1888 to 1929.(6 January 1929)
The Broadway Theatre Passes; Playhouse Built by James Bailey, Partner of P.T. Barnum, Over Forty Years Ago Witnessed the Last Engagements of Booth and Irving and the Premiere of Ben Hur
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The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' It was located at 1445 Broadway.

History

James Anthony Bailey James Anthony Bailey (July 4, 1847 – April 11, 1906), born James Anthony McGinnis, was an American owner and manager of several 19th-century circuses, including The Barnum and Bailey Greatest Show on Earth. Early life James Anthony McGinn ...

, a circus manager and owner (the "Bailey" in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus) started building the theatre in 1887 on the site of what had been the "Metropolitan Concert Hall" built in 1880. Bailey pulled out, and the project was completed by Frank Sanger, T.H. French, and E. Zborowski, with seating for about 1,800 and standing room for 500 more. The American premiere of ''

La Tosca ''La Tosca'' is a five- act drama by the 19th-century French playwright Victorien Sardou. It was first performed on 24 November 1887 at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin in Paris, with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role. Despite negative ...

'' was performed on the theatre's opening night, March 3, 1888, featuring Fanny Davenport. It was not a great success, due in part to the Great Blizzard of 1888 hitting New York ten days later, and it closed on April 28.(28 April 1888)
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''

The Sun (New York) ''The Sun'' was a New York newspaper published from 1833 until 1950. It was considered a serious paper, like the city's two more successful broadsheets, ''The New York Times'' and the ''New York Herald Tribune''. The Sun was the first successfu ...

'' (advertisement for last show on April 28, 1888 - Bloom book incorrectly says March 28; '' The Queen's Mate'' set to start on May 2) The first successful run was ''

Little Lord Fauntleroy ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' is a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It was published as a serial in ''St. Nicholas Magazine'' from November 1885 to October 1886, then as a book by Scribner's (the publisher of ''St. Nicholas'') in 1886. The ill ...

'', with the title role alternately played by Elsie Leslie and Tommy Russell, which hit 100 showings on March 21, 1889. Lawrence Barrett's final performance was at the theatre in March 1891, when he became ill during a performance of ''Richelieu''. Edwin Booth's last New York performance occurred at the theatre that same month. ''

El Capitan El Capitan ( es, El Capitán; "the Captain" or "the Chief") is a vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park, on the north side of Yosemite Valley, near its western end. The granite monolith is about from base to summit along its talles ...

'',

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...

's most enduring operetta, opened here in 1896 before tours, revivals and a successful London run.''El Capitan''
The Guide to Light Opera and Operetta, accessed December 4, 2015 The highly successful '' Ben-Hur'' debuted in November 1899, the greatest production which the theatre ever hosted.

Mrs. Leslie Carter Caroline Louise Dudley (June 10, 1857 – November 13, 1937) was an American silent film and stage actress who found fame on Broadway through collaborations with impresario David Belasco. She was a strikingly beautiful and vivacious performer ...

, who later obtained fame with '' The Heart of Maryland'', made her stage debut at the Broadway Theatre in 1890 in ''The Ugly Duckling''. Starting around 1903, the theatre featured almost all musical productions. In 1913, after the closing of ''The American Maid'', the theatre was used for

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and motion picture shows.

Demise

The last performance was a vaudeville show called ''Broadway Fever'' in January 1929, and the theatre was soon after demolished.(3 January 1929)
Final Curtain Rung on Broadway Theatre; To Be Demolished for a Skyscraper, With Keith Vaudeville House, After 40 Years' Career
''

''Bloom, Ken
Broadway: Its History, People, and Places : an Encyclopedia 2d ed.
p. 84-85 (2004) The site is now occupied by the 33-story Bricken-Textile Building, built in 1929.New York Then and Now
p. 19 (2012) In 1930, the former Colony Theatre on 53rd Street was renamed the

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 ...

, which name it still retains.

Notable productions

* ''

'' (1888) * '' The Oolah'' (1889, 154 perf.) (starring Francis Wilson)(6 October 1889)
Francis Wilson, Manager; The Career of "The Oolah" and its Coming Tour in the Country
''

'' * ''Castles in the Air'' (1890, 106 perf.) (starring

DeWolf Hopper William DeWolf Hopper (March 30, 1858September 23, 1935) was an American actor, singer, comedian, and theatrical producer. A star of vaudeville and musical theater, he became best known for performing the popular baseball poem "Casey at the Bat" ...

) * ''

The Merry Monarch The Merry Monarch (1842 – after 1859) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a career that lasted from July 1844 to May 1846 he ran four times and won only one race. That race, however, was the 1845 Epsom Derby, in which he reco ...

'' (1890, return in 1891 after ''Wang'') (starring Francis Wilson) * ''

Wang Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname * Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname * Titles in Chinese nobility * A title in Korean nobility * A title in Mongolian nobility Places * Wang River in Thai ...

'' (1891, 151 perf.) (starring

) * ''

Panjandrum Panjandrum, also known as The Great Panjandrum, was a massive, rocket-propelled, explosive-laden cart designed by the British military during World War II. It was one of a number of highly experimental projects, including Hajile and the Hedgehog ...

'' (1893, 156 perf.) (starring

) * ''Utopia Limited'' (1894) * ''

Tabasco Tabasco (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco), is one of the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa. It is located in ...

'' (1894) (Starring Thomas Q. Seabrooke) * '' Dr. Syntax'' (1894, 78 perf.?)(4 November 1894)
Notes of the Stage
''

'' (article notes 75th performance would be on November 15, play closed on Saturday November 17) * '' Madame Sans-Gêne'' (1895, American premiere) * ''

'' (1896, 112 perf.) * ''The Highwayman'' (1897, 144 perf.) * '' Ben-Hur'' (1899) (194 perf.) * ''The Sleeping Beauty and the Beast'' (1901, 241 perf.) * ''The Silver Slipper'' (1902, 168 perf.) * ''The Prince of Pilsen'' (1903, 143 perf.) * ''The Yankee Consul'' (1904, 115 perf.) * '' Veronique'' (1905, 81 performances; American premiere) * ''The Vanderbilt Cup'' (1906, 143 perf.) * ''

A Parisian Model ''A Parisian Model'' is a 1906 Edwardian musical comedy with music by Max Hoffman, Sr. to a book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith. The story concerns a dressmaker's model who comes into a fortune. It opened on Broadway in 1906, ran with success and ...

'' (1906, 179 perf.) * ''

A Waltz Dream ' (''A Waltz Dream'') is an operetta by Oscar Straus with a German libretto by and , based on the novella ' (''Nux, the Prince Consort'') by Hans Müller-Einigen from his 1905 book ' (''Book of Adventures''). The young Jacobson presented Stra ...

'' (1908, 111 perf.) * '' The Midnight Sons'' (1909, 257 perf.) * ''The Jolly Bachelors'' (1910, 165 perf.) * ''The Summer Widowers'' (1910, 140 perf.) * ''The Hen-Pecks'' (1911, 137 perf.) * ''Hokey Pokey'' and ''Bunty Bulls and Strings'' (1912, 108 perf.) * ''Hanky Panky'' (1912, 104 perf.)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Broadway Theatre Former Broadway theatres Demolished theatres in New York City Buildings and structures demolished in 1929 Broadway (Manhattan) Midtown Manhattan