Building
What would be called the "Home of Burlesque De Luxe" was built on the northeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street in Manhattan.{{sfn, Columbia Theatre, MCNY A photograph from May 1909 before construction began shows the site was occupied by typical four- and five-story brownstone buildings.{{sfn, Columbia Theater, Gary 2013 Construction by the Thompson–Starrett Co. took seven months from the start of demolition to completion of the job.{{sfn, Thompson-Starret company (ad) 1911 The building had ten stories above ground and was {{convert, 39, m high.{{sfn, 701 Seventh Avenue, Emporis It held the headquarters of the Columbia Amusement Company, or Columbia Circuit, one of the largest of the burlesque circuits.{{sfn, Columbia Theater, Gary 2013 The theater was designed by William H. McElfatrick and had a capacity of 1,385.{{sfn, Columbia Theatre, MCNY It occupied the ground floors of the new office building. The decor was a form of Beaux Arts. There was a mural painted by Arthur Thomas above the proscenium arch called "The Goddesses of the Arts." There were two balconies, as was common with theaters designed by McElfatrick. The theater was one of the first to have a ventilation system that partially cleaned the air of tobacco smoke.{{sfn, Columbia Theater, Gary 2013Opening
The Columbia Amusement Company opened the Columbia Theatre on 10 January 1910.{{sfn, Columbia Theatre, MCNY The opening was well publicized and was attended by various dignitaries.{{sfn, Wagenknecht, 1982, p=268 The opening was also attended by actors and managers from the worlds of vaudeville and legitimate theater.{{sfn, Goldman, 1992, p=41 The Columbia Circuit was a leader in offering clean burlesque, family-style entertainment that resembled vaudeville.{{sfn, Gewirtz, Kolb, 2004, p=190 The main difference was that burlesque shows had an overall theme, a carry-over from the oldShows
Later history
The theater was sold toReferences
{{reflist , colwidth=30emSources
{{refbegin *{{cite web , ref={{harvid, 701 Seventh Avenue, Emporis, url=http://www.emporis.com/building/701-seventh-avenue-new-york-city-ny-usa , archive-url=https://archive.today/20140607140358/http://www.emporis.com/building/701-seventh-avenue-new-york-city-ny-usa , url-status=dead , archive-date=June 7, 2014 , title=701 Seventh Avenue, work=Emporis, access-date=2014-06-07 *{{cite book, last=Allen, first=Robert Clyde, title=Horrible Prettiness: Burlesque and American Culture, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IoXcZyKKJoC&pg=PA249, access-date=2014-05-14 , year=1991, publisher=Univ of North Carolina Press, isbn=978-0-8078-4316-1 *{{cite news , first=Rich , last=Bockmann , title=Lender forecloses on Maefield’s billion-dollar Times Square project , url=https://therealdeal.com/2019/12/09/lender-forecloses-on-maefields-billion-dollar-times-square-development/ , work= The Real Deal , date=December 9, 2019 , access-date=January 21, 2020 *{{cite book, last=Chilton, first=John, title=Sidney Bechet: The Wizard of Jazz , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TzQukIOsbvEC&pg=PA71, access-date=2014-06-06 , year=1996, publisher=Da Capo Press, isbn=978-0-306-80678-0 *{{cite web, ref={{harvid, Columbia Theater, Gary 2013, url=http://newyorktoursbygary.blogspot.ca/2013_08_31_archive.html , title=Columbia Theater, date=31 August 2013, work=New York Tours by Gary , access-date=2014-06-07 *{{cite web, ref={{harvid, Columbia Theatre, MCNY, url=http://collections.mcny.org/C.aspx?VP3=SearchResult_VPage&VBID=24UAYWD7248X&SMLS=1&RW=1856&RH=964 , title=Columbia Theatre, publisher=Museum of the City of New York, access-date=2014-05-14 *{{cite book, last1=Corio, first1=Ann, last2=DiMona, first2=Joseph, title=This Was Burlesque , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Dw1NYWLMOAC&pg=PT20 , date=2012-05-01, publisher=Premier Digital Publishing, isbn=978-1-937957-72-8 *{{cite book, last=Egan, first=Bill, title=Florence Mills: Harlem Jazz Queen , url=https://archive.org/details/florencemillshar0000egan, url-access=registration , pagExternal links
*Photograph: {{NYPL Digital Gallery keyword, 709811f, Columbia Amusement Co. Building, c. 1917, Digital ID: 709811f *Photograph