The Circle Theatre was a

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 ...

, concert hall, movie theatre, and venue 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

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

located at the corner of Broadway and West 60th Street. It was the first theatre built in the

Columbus Circle Columbus Circle is a traffic circle and heavily trafficked intersection in the New York City borough of Manhattan, located at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South ( West 59th Street), and Central Park West, at the so ...

area of Manhattan. Its address was 1825 Broadway.

History

The Circle Theatre was initially envisioned by Charles Evans and W.D. Mann to be a theatre for

and

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

entertainments. They hired architect Charles Cavenaugh to design the theatre and it was built in 1901. Moral opposition from the nearby St. Paul the Apostle Church, however, forced Evans and Mann to change the offerings of the theatre to one of more refined entertainment. Accordingly, the theatre opened as the Circle Music Hall and served as a venue for orchestra concerts in its early years. After losing money as a venue for classical music, the Circle Theatre began to present

entertainments in 1902 under the name the Circle Theatre. In 1905 it became a

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

house operated by the

Columbia Amusement Company The Columbia Amusement Company, also called the Columbia Wheel or the Eastern Burlesque Wheel, was a show business organization that produced burlesque shows in the United States between 1902 and 1927. Each year, about four dozen Columbia burlesque ...

. It was later re-designed by architect

Thomas W. Lamb Thomas White Lamb (May 5th, 1870 – February 26th, 1942) was a Scottish-born, American architect. He was one of the foremost designers of theaters and cinemas in the 20th century. Career Born in Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom, Thomas W. La ...

in 1906 and converted into a legitimate theater for

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

. It operated as a theatre for Broadway musicals for the next several years with its last legitimate staging being a revival of '' The Chocolate Soldier'' in October 1910. After this, the theatre was used for vaudeville and burlesque before it was purchased by the Loews movie theatre chain and converted into a movie theatre. It operated as a movie theatre until 1935 when it was bombed in a labor dispute. In 1939 the building was converted into the Columbus Circle Roller Rink. The building was demolished in 1954 to make way for the

New York Coliseum The New York Coliseum was a convention center that stood at Columbus Circle in Manhattan, New York City, from 1956 to 2000. It was designed by architects Leon Levy and Lionel Levy in a modified International Style, and included both a low b ...

Notable productions

*''

The-Merry-Go-Round ''The-Merry-Go-Round'' was a musical vaudeville production that ran at the Circle Theatre on Broadway in 1908. The music was by Gus Edwards, with a book by Edgar Smith and lyrics by Paul West; it featured skits including "Stupid Mr. Cupid" by T ...

'' (1908) *''

Lonesome Town "Lonesome Town" is a song written by Baker Knight. A version sung by Ricky Nelson became a hit single in the United States, reaching #7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and #15 on the R&B chart in 1958. The song was featured on his 1959 album, ''R ...

'' (1908) *'' In Hayti'' (1909)

References

External links

Circle Theatre
at the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade assoc ...

{{Coord, 40, 46, 8, N, 73, 58, 57.5, W, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=inline,title 1901 establishments in New York City Former Broadway theatres Cinemas and movie theaters in Manhattan Former theatres in Manhattan Demolished theatres in New York City Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Buildings and structures demolished in 1954 Thomas W. Lamb buildings