The Astor Theatre was located at 1537 Broadway, at the corner with 45th Street, on

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

Midtown Manhattan Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan, serving as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building, the ...

, New York City. It opened on September 21, 1906, with Shakespeare's ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' and continued to operate as 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#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

until 1925. It then operated as a

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

, showing first runs of films, until it closed in 1972.

History

The Astor was first managed by Lincoln A. Wagenhals and Collin Kemper, then by George M. Cohan and

Sam Harris Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, determinism, neuroscience, meditation ...

, and later by the Shubert Organization. The theater was designed by architect George W. Keister. Among the plays that debuted at the Astor were Cohan's '' Seven Keys to Baldpate'' (1913) and '' Why Marry?'' (1917) by

Jesse Lynch Williams Jesse Lynch Williams (August 17, 1871 – September 14, 1929) was an American author and dramatist. He won the first Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Why Marry?'' (1917). He was a journalist for three New York publications and co-founded ...

, the first winner of the

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

. In 1925, Loew's Theatres bought the Astor and converted it into a movie house in order to have a Times Square " road show" showcase for first-run films from the

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, commonly shortened to MGM or MGM Studios) is an American Film production, film and television production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered ...

film studio. '' The Big Parade'' (1925) was the first film shown at the Astor where it ran for a continuous 96-week engagement. Other films to make their Times Square debuts at the Astor include '' The Phantom of the Opera'' (1925), '' The Broadway Melody'' (1929), '' Grand Hotel'' (1932), ''

The Great Ziegfeld ''The Great Ziegfeld'' is a 1936 American musical film, musical drama film directed by Robert Z. Leonard and produced by Hunt Stromberg. It stars William Powell as the theatrical impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr., Florenz "Flo" Ziegfeld Jr., Lui ...

'' (1936) and ''

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'' (1939) for MGM;

Alfred Hitchcock Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English film director. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featu ...

's '' Spellbound'' (1945) and

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

in '' A Hard Day's Night'' (1964) for

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

; and

Walt Disney Walter Elias Disney ( ; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer, voice actor, and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the Golden age of American animation, American animation industry, he introduced several develop ...

's ''

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' () is a science fiction adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne. It is considered a classic within its genres and world literature. It was originally serialised from March 1869 to June 1870 i ...

'' (1954). It was demolished in 1982 to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

References

Notes Bibliography *

External links

*
Astor Theatre at Cinema Treasures
1906 establishments in New York City 1900s architecture in the United States Broadway (Manhattan) Former Broadway theatres Buildings and structures demolished in 1982 Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Demolished theatres in New York City Former theatres in Manhattan Theater District, Manhattan 1972 disestablishments in New York City 1982 disestablishments in New York (state) George Keister buildings {{US-theat-stub