The Erlanger Theatre was a live-performance theater at the northwest corner of 21st and

Market Street Market Street may refer to: *Market Street, Cambridge, England *Market Street, Fremantle, Western Australia, Australia * Market Street, George Town, Penang, Malaysia *Market Street, Manchester, England *Market Street, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia ...

s in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1927 by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the

Theatrical Syndicate Starting in 1896, the Theatrical Syndicate was an organisation that in the United States that controlled the majority of bookings in the country's leading theatrical attractions. The six-man group was in charge of theatres and bookings. Beginnin ...

. It was demolished in 1978.

History

The Erlanger, which opened on October 23, 1927, with the musical show Criss Cross, was equipped to facilitate multiple venues for both live

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...

and motion pictures. It was constructed to replace the entertainment gap left by the original Forrest Theatre (demolished in 1927) that was located about 20 blocks southeast on South Broad Street. Originally, Abraham Lincoln Erlanger and 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 ...

were working together, but the two theater operators went their separate ways and the Shubert Organization built a new

Forrest Theatre The Forrest Theatre is a live theatre venue at 1114 Walnut Street Center City area of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It has a seating capacity of 1,851 and is managed by The Shubert Organization.

on Walnut Street. Starting in 1968, the Erlanger Theatre was adapted for reuse as a restaurant, a night club, a venue for rock shows, and used for

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 ...

productions. The theatre, by then known as Café Erlanger, was successful socially but not financially, and was closed and quickly demolished in 1978. The site remained vacant until 2008, when the Murano, a condominium skyscraper, was built on the site.

Architecture

Philadelphia theater architects Hoffman-Henon designed the theater. The exterior embodied the Georgian architecture style. The interior had three lobbies, grand stairs, lounges, and a 1,890 seat auditorium. The interior design theme consisted of elaborated decorations, furnished with imported marble, gold leaf, murals, tapestries, crystal chandeliers, crystal mirrors, antique woodwork, hand-wrought ironwork, and elaborate Napoleonic French-inspired furniture. The designated lounge for smoking, known as the Spanish Lounge, was considered to be magnificent.

Productions

The Erlanger opened October 23, 1927 with the musical show '' Criss Cross''. The theater was also equipped to show movies.

RKO RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheu ...

began a lease on September 29, 1929 to show first-run movies. RKO’s first “talkie” motion picture, ''

Street Girl ''Street Girl'' is a 1929 pre-Code musical film directed by Wesley Ruggles and starring Betty Compson, John Harron and Jack Oakie. It was adapted by Jane Murfin from "The Viennese Charmer", a short story by William Carey Wonderly. While it was ...

'', had its premiere at this theatre. However, the Erlanger was most famous for pre-Broadway musical stage shows such as ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...

'', ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...

'', '' Man of La Mancha'', ''

My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...

'' and other productions.

References

http://www.philadelphiabuildings.org/pab/app/ho_display.cfm/60525 {{coord, 39.95387, -75.17514, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Theatres in Philadelphia Shubert Organization 1927 establishments in Pennsylvania 1978 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Theatres completed in 1927 Former theatres in the United States Demolished buildings and structures in Philadelphia Buildings and structures demolished in 1978