Maxine Elliott's Theatre was originally 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 ...
at 109 West 39th Street in the
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
neighborhood of
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 ...
. Built in 1908, it was designed by architect Benjamin Marshall of the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
-based firm
Marshall and Fox
Marshall and Fox was a United States architectural firm based in Chicago from 1905 to 1926. The principals, Benjamin H. Marshall and Charles E. Fox, designed a number of significant buildings of many types in Chicago and other cities, but they wer ...
, who modeled the
façade
A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'.
In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...
after the
neoclassical Petit Trianon
The Petit Trianon (; French for "small Trianon") is a Neoclassical style château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. It was built between 1762 and 1768 during the reign of King Louis XV of France. T ...
in
Versailles
The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, u ...
. In later years, it was known as
WOR Mutual Radio Theatre (1941–1944),
CBS Radio
CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...
Playhouse No. 5 (1944–1948), and
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 Entertainm ...
Television Studio No. 44 or CBS Television Studio Studio 51 (1948–1956). The theater was demolished in 1960 to make way for the
Springs Mills Building
The Springs Mills Building is a 21-story office building at 104 West 40th Street in Manhattan, New York City, just west of Sixth Avenue and Bryant Park. The Modernist building sits on an L-shaped lot that extends back to 39th Street and rises to ...
.
History
The theatre was named for American actress
Maxine Elliott
Maxine Elliott (February 5, 1868 – March 5, 1940) was an American actress and businesswoman.
Early life
Born Jessie Dermott on February 5, 1868, to Thomas Dermott, a sea captain and Adelaide Hill Dermott, she had a younger sister, actress G ...
, who originally owned a 50 percent interest in it, in partnership with
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 ...
. Elliott was one of the few women theater managers of her time. She leased it to the
Federal Theatre in 1936; the following year, it was shut down by the government on the eve on the opening of
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
's production of ''
The Cradle Will Rock
''The Cradle Will Rock'' is a 1937 play in music by Marc Blitzstein. Originally a part of the Federal Theatre Project, it was directed by Orson Welles and produced by John Houseman. A Brechtian allegory of corruption and corporate greed, it ...
''.
In 1941, the theatre became a radio studio and in 1948 was converted for television production, where the very first episodes of
Ed Sullivan
Edward Vincent Sullivan (September 28, 1901 – October 13, 1974) was an American television personality, impresario, sports and entertainment reporter, and syndicated columnist for the ''New York Daily News'' and the Chicago Tribune New York ...
's ''
Toast of the Town
''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night ...
''
variety show
Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...
originated (from 1948 until 1953).
In 1956, Elliott's heirs sold her share to the Shuberts, who then sold the property. It was demolished in 1960 and the
Springs Mills Building
The Springs Mills Building is a 21-story office building at 104 West 40th Street in Manhattan, New York City, just west of Sixth Avenue and Bryant Park. The Modernist building sits on an L-shaped lot that extends back to 39th Street and rises to ...
was built on the site, being completed in 1963. The theatre, built in a thriving theatre district, was the last remaining Broadway house below 41st Street.
Maxine Elliott's Theatre seated approximately 935 patrons. Throughout its lifetime, it housed a multitude of plays, including original works by
George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
,
John Millington Synge
Edmund John Millington Synge (; 16 April 1871 – 24 March 1909) was an Irish playwright, poet, writer, collector of folklore, and a key figure in the Irish Literary Revival. His best known play ''The Playboy of the Western World'' was poorly r ...
,
Lady Augusta Gregory
Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory (''née'' Persse; 15 March 1852 – 22 May 1932) was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. With William Butler Yeats and Edward Martyn, she co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, ...
,
Lord Dunsany
Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...
,
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...
and
Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...
. Only nine of its dozens of productions were musicals, including one opera, ''
See America First
''See America First'' is a comic opera with a book by T. Lawrason Riggs and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The first work by Porter to be produced on Broadway, it was a critical and commercial flop.
Background
Porter and Riggs, classmates at ...
'', by
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter (June 9, 1891 – October 15, 1964) was an American composer and songwriter. Many of his songs became standards noted for their witty, urbane lyrics, and many of his scores found success on Broadway and in film.
Born to ...
.
Notable productions
* 1908: ''The Chaperon'' starring
Maxine Elliott
Maxine Elliott (February 5, 1868 – March 5, 1940) was an American actress and businesswoman.
Early life
Born Jessie Dermott on February 5, 1868, to Thomas Dermott, a sea captain and Adelaide Hill Dermott, she had a younger sister, actress G ...
(opening December 30, 1908)
* 1909: ''The Blue Mouse'' 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 ...
* 1911: ''
Riders to the Sea
''Riders to the Sea'' is a play written by Irish Literary Renaissance playwright John Millington Synge. It was first performed on 25 February 1904 at the Molesworth Hall, Dublin, by the Irish National Theater Society with Helen Laird playing Ma ...
''; ''
The Playboy of the Western World
''The Playboy of the Western World'' is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo (o ...
''
* 1916: ''
See America First
''See America First'' is a comic opera with a book by T. Lawrason Riggs and music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The first work by Porter to be produced on Broadway, it was a critical and commercial flop.
Background
Porter and Riggs, classmates at ...
''; ''
How He Lied to Her Husband''
* 1925: ''
Hay Fever
Allergic rhinitis, of which the seasonal type is called hay fever, is a type of inflammation in the nose that occurs when the immune system overreacts to allergens in the air. Signs and symptoms include a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, red, i ...
''; ''
The Master Builder
''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works.
Performance
The play was published ...
''
* 1926: ''
The Constant Wife
''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair.
A “sparkling comedy o ...
''
* 1934: ''
The Children's Hour''
* 1936: ''
Horse Eats Hat
''Horse Eats Hat'' is a 1936 farce play co-written and directed by Orson Welles (at the time 21 years of age) and presented under the auspices of the Federal Theatre Project. It was Welles's second WPA production, after his highly successful ''Voo ...
''
* 1937: ''
Doctor Faustus''
* 1947: ''
Life of Galileo
''Life of Galileo'' (), also known as ''Galileo'', is a play by the 20th century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and collaborator Margarete Steffin with incidental music by Hanns Eisler. The play was written in 1938 and received its first theatri ...
''
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maxine Elliott's Theatre
1908 establishments in New York City
1941 disestablishments in New York (state)
1941 establishments in New York City
1944 disestablishments in New York (state)
1944 establishments in New York City
1948 disestablishments in New York (state)
1948 establishments in New York City
1956 disestablishments in New York (state)
1960 in New York City
Arts organizations disestablished in the 20th century
Arts organizations established in 1908
Buildings and structures demolished in 1960
CBS Radio
CBS television studios
Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan
Demolished theatres in New York City
Federal Theatre Project
Former Broadway theatres
Former recording studios
Neoclassical architecture in New York City
Recording studios in Manhattan
Shubert Organization
Theatres completed in 1908