The Lafayette Theatre (1912–1951), known locally as "the House Beautiful", was one of the most famous theaters in Harlem. It was an entertainment venue located at 132nd Street and 7th Avenue in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

. The structure was demolished in 2013.

Early years

The Lafayette Theatre was a 1,500-seat two-story theater built by banker Meyer Jarmulowsky that opened on November, 1912. Located at 132nd Street and 7th Avenue, it was designed in the

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

by architect Victor Hugo Koehler, who also designed the two three-story buildings flanking the theater on the corners of 131st and 132nd Streets."Lafayette Theatre. 2227 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, New York, NY 10027."
''www.cinematreasures.org.'' Retrieved June 19, 2019. In 1913 the Lafayette became the first major theater to

desegregate Desegregation is the process of ending the separation of two groups, usually referring to races. Desegregation is typically measured by the index of dissimilarity, allowing researchers to determine whether desegregation efforts are having impact o ...

. African-American theatergoers were allowed to sit in

orchestra seats A theater, theatre or playhouse, is a structure where theatre, theatrical works, performing arts and musical Concert, concerts are presented. The theater building serves to define the performance and audience spaces. The facility usually is orga ...

instead of the

balcony A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Maltese balcony is ...

, to which they were relegated in other New York theaters.

The Lafayette Players A number of theatre companies are associated with the Harlem Renaissance. Lafayette Players (1916–1932) Anita Bush, a pioneer in African American theater, began an acting company after seeing a show at the Lincoln Theater in Harlem. She wante ...

, the resident stock company, played before almost exclusively African-American audiences both in plays from white theater

repertory A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation. United Kingdom Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawing ...

and in the classics. The theater presented such

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

hits as ''

Madame X ''Madame X'' (original title ''La Femme X'') is a 1908 play by French playwright Alexandre Bisson (1848–1912). It was novelized in English and adapted for the American stage; it was also adapted for the screen twelve times over sixty-five ...

'' and ''

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

''. The show that became known as ''

Darktown Follies ''The Darktown Follies'' were a series of musical revues staged in Harlem at the Lafayette Theatre from 1913 through 1916. All of the revue's creators were black, and it was one of the earliest musical revues to feature an all-black cast. Most of ...

'' was staged in 1913 helping popularize at least two dances and helping bring white theatergoers uptown.

Management

Arts critic, producer and Broadway composer

Lester Walton Lester Aglar Walton (April 20, 1882 – October 16, 1965) was a St. Louis-born Harlem Renaissance polymath and intellectual, a well-known figure in his day, who advanced civil rights in significant and prescient ways in journalism, entertainm ...

worked as manager and dramatic lyricist for the theater from 1914 to 1916 and from 1919 to 1921. From 1916–1919, the theatre was managed by Quality Amusement, an entertainment business owned by producer Robert Levy. The theater drew large audiences of both Blacks and whites with his sophisticated productions and groundbreaking work with Black actors.

Jazz performers

In 1923,

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based ...

made his New York debut while performing in

Wilbur Sweatman Wilbur Coleman Sweatman (February 7, 1882 – March 9, 1961) was an American ragtime and dixieland jazz composer, bandleader and clarinetist. Sweatman was one of the first African-American musicians to have fans nationwide. He was also a trail ...

's band at the Lafayette, and later performed with his own group at the venue. This was all due to producer/director Leonard Harper who Ellington lived with as a boarder in his larger Harlem apartment at the time. Ellington and his

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola, c ...

also appeared at the Lafayette in October 1927 with the singer

Adelaide Hall Adelaide Louise Hall (20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer. Her long career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death and she was a major figure in the Harlem Renaissance. Hal ...

in the show ''Jazz Mania''. It was in this show that the song ''

Creole Love Call "Creole Love Call" is a jazz standard, most associated with the Duke Ellington band and Adelaide Hall. It entered the '' Billboard'' USA song charts in 1928 at No. 29.Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musi ...

Bennie Moten Benjamin Moten (November 13, 1893 – April 2, 1935) was an American jazz pianist and band leader born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. He led his Kansas City Orchestra, the most important of the regional, blues-based orchest ...

Chick Webb William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader. Early life Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. ...

, and

Zutty Singleton Arthur James "Zutty" Singleton (May 14, 1898 – July 14, 1975) was an American jazz drummer. Career Singleton was born in Bunkie, Louisiana, United States, and raised in New Orleans. According to his ''Jazz Profiles'' biography, his unusual ...

. Harlem Renaissance playwright

Eulalie Spence Eulalie Spence (June 11, 1894 – March 7, 1981) was a writer, teacher, director, actress and playwright from the British West Indies. She was an influential member of the Harlem Renaissance, writing fourteen plays, at least five of which were pu ...

's play ''On Being Forty'' premiered at the Lafayette Theatre on October 15, 1924. Although the play was never published, the Lafayette performance was reviewed by

George S. Schuyler George Samuel Schuyler (; February 25, 1895 – August 31, 1977) was an American writer, journalist, and social commentator known for his conservatism after he had initially supported socialism. Early life George Samuel Schuyler was born in ...

, providing all that is presently known about the play, as no extant copies have been found. Schuyler would later become known as "the most prominent African American journalist and essayist of the early twentieth century."Miller, Henry D
''Theorizing Black Theatre: Art Versus Protest in Critical Writings, 1898-1965.''

Jefferson, NC Jefferson is a town in and the county seat of Ashe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,611 at the 2010 census. History The North Carolina General Assembly created a special commission in 1799 to found a county seat for ...

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its former ...

. . ''Google Books.'' Retrieved February 17, 2013.

Federal Theatre Project

The Lafayette Theatre reached the height of its fame with the Voodoo ''Macbeth'', a production of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', adapted and staged by

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 ...

that ran April 14–June 20, 1936. This show had an all African-American cast. It was a production of the

Federal Theatre Project The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United ...

which was part of the

Works Project Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

. The overture was by

James P. Johnson James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 – November 17, 1955) was an American pianist and composer. A pioneer of stride piano, he was one of the most important pianists in the early era of recording, and like Jelly Roll Morton, one of the key ...

and such notable actors as

Canada Lee Canada Lee (born Leonard Lionel Cornelius Canegata; March 3, 1907 – May 9, 1952) was an American professional boxer and then an actor who pioneered roles for African Americans. After careers as a jockey, boxer and musician, he became an actor ...

and

Rose McClendon Rose McClendon (August 27, 1884 – July 12, 1936) was a leading African-American Broadway actress of the 1920s. A founder of the Negro People's Theatre, she guided the creation of the Federal Theatre Project's African American theatre units n ...

were part of the program. The production was universally known in advance as the "Voodoo ''Macbeth''" because the setting was changed from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

to a fictional

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

island based on

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, and acquired its nickname due to its use of

voodoo Voodoo may refer to: Religions * African or West African Vodun, practiced by Gbe-speaking ethnic groups * African diaspora religions, a list of related religions sometimes called Vodou/Voodoo ** Candomblé Jejé, also known as Brazilian Vodu ...

imagery in place of the

witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have us ...

in the original play. In 1951 the building was acquired by Williams Institutional Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. The original facade was replaced in 1990, to the distress of advocates of

historic preservation Historic preservation (US), built heritage preservation or built heritage conservation (UK), is an endeavor that seeks to preserve, conserve and protect buildings, objects, landscapes or other artifacts of historical significance. It is a philos ...

. The building was demolished in 2013, replaced by an eight-story apartment building called the Lafayette.

WPA Federal Theatre posters

(Selection was limited by availability.) File:Poster-SS-Glencairn-Lafayette-Theatre.jpg File:Haiti-Poster-Lafayette.jpg File:Turpentine-poster-1936.jpg File:George Bernard Shaw's Androcles and the lion.jpg File:W.P.A. Federal Theatre Negro Unit in "Noah" a human comedy LCCN98516610.jpg File:Case-of-Philip-Lawrence-Poster.jpg

Opening night at the WPA's Voodoo Macbeth, 1936

(Selection was limited by availability.) File:Lafayette-Theatre-Macbeth-1936-1.jpg File:Lafayette-Theatre-Macbeth-1936-3.jpg File:Macbeth-43-4-McClendon.jpg File:Macbeth-Opening-Audience-1 (cropped).jpg File:Macbeth-Opening-Audience-1.jpg File:Macbeth-Costume-Workshop.jpg File:Macbeth-35-Palace.jpg File:Macbeth-21-Murderers-Ball.jpg

References

Bibliography

*Cullen, Frank; with Hackman, Florence; and McNeilly, Donald
"Lafayette Theatre in Harlem"
''Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America'' (New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2007):643 *Dunlap, David W
"Williams Institutional C. M. E. Church"
''From Abyssinian to Zion'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2004):294

External links

* *Google Street View
the church in 2011
*New York City Department of Records (Municipal Archives
"2225-27 Adam C Powell Blvd"
(photo from 1983-1988, showing theater facade)
Movie Theaters Designed by Victor Hugo Koehler.Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library
Emory University
New Lafayette Theatre collection, 1968-2008
{{African American topics Theatres completed in 1912 1912 establishments in New York City Buildings and structures demolished in 2013 Former theatres in Manhattan Demolished theatres in New York City Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Harlem Harlem Renaissance 2013 disestablishments in New York (state) Federal Theatre Project