The International Theatre was a theatre located at 5 Columbus Circle, the present site of the Time Warner Center in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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History

Designed in 1903 by John H. Duncan, the architect of Grant's Tomb, it was built at a time that Columbus Circle was expected to become a theatre district. Initially named the Majestic Theatre, the venue seated about 1,355 and hosted original musicals and operettas, including '' The Wizard of Oz'' and '' Babes in Toyland'', and some plays. It was renamed Park Theatre in 1911, opening with '' The Quaker Girl'', and it again presented plays, musicals, and operettas. In early 1913 it showed the world's first full-length color drama feature film, '' The Miracle''. The

Shuberts The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...

, Florenz Ziegfeld, and Billy Minsky, in succession, owned the house but did not find success there. In 1923, it was purchased by

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

, renamed the Cosmopolitan Theatre, and played movies. The name was changed to the International Theatre in 1944."International Theatre"
Internet Broadway Database, accessed June 8, 2013 In 1949, NBC leased the theatre, and made it into a television studio rechristened as NBC International Theatre, with the ''

Admiral Broadway Revue ''Admiral Broadway Revue'' is an American live television variety show that ran from January 28 to June 3, 1949. The show was notable for being "television's first full scale Broadway type musical revue." Distribution The program was broadcast ...

'' being one of the first TV shows aired from this location. In 1953, the venue hosted a portion of the 25th Academy Awards, which was the first Academy Awards to be broadcast, as well as the first to be aired from both New York City and Los Angeles. The theater was demolished in 1954 to allow for wider sidewalks in front of 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 bui ...

, which in turn was torn down to make way for the Time Warner Center in 2000.

References

Former Broadway theatres 1903 establishments in New York City 1954 disestablishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 1954 Columbus Circle Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan {{Manhattan-struct-stub