 World War I soldiers and sailors attend a free show at the 44th Street Theatre in 1918 | |
 Interactive map of 44th Street Theatre | |
| Former names | Weber and Fields' Music Hall |
|---|---|
| Address | 216 West 44th Street |
| Location | Manhattan, New York City |
| Owner | Shubert Organization |
| Type | Broadway theatre |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 21 November 1912 (1912-11-21) |
| Closed | 1945 |
| Architect | William A. Swansea |
The44th Street Theatre was aBroadway theater at 216 West 44th Street in theTheater District ofManhattan inNew York City from 1912 to 1945. It was originally namedWeber and Fields' Music Hall when it opened in November 1912 as a resident venue for the comedy duoWeber andFields, but was renamed to the 44th Street Theatre in December 1913 after their tenure at the theatre ended. It should not be confused with theWeber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall, often referred to as simply Weber and Fields' Music Hall and also known as Weber's Music Hall or Weber's Theatre, which was used by both Weber and Fields or just Weber from 1896 through 1912.
The 44th Street Theatre's rooftop theatre, theNora Bayes Theatre, named for the singerNora Bayes, presented many productions of theFederal Theatre Project in the mid-1930s. Its basement club became theStage Door Canteen duringWorld War II.
The 44th Street Theatre was located at 216 West 44th Street inNew York City. The architect wasWilliam Albert Swasey, who designed the theatre in an 18th Century Georgian style.[1]
The 44th Street Theatre was first named Weber and Fields' Music Hall. Built byThe Shubert Organization in 1912, the theatre was initially intended to be a new resident theatre for the recently reconciled comedy duoJoe Weber andLew Fields who had not performed together for years.[2] The pair had previously been successful on Broadway at the formerWeber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall from 1896 through 1904.[3] However, the theatre was deemed to be too large of a space for theburlesque type comedy of Weber and Fields to be successful,[2] and the partnership with the Schuberts and their theatre was dissolved after just seven and a half weeks of performances.[4]The theatre was renamed the 44th Street Theatre on December 29, 1913.[1]
A theatre on the roof of the building,Lew Fields' 44th Street Roof Garden, opened on June 5, 1913 with the premiere of theE. Ray Goetz musicalAll Aboard; a work produced by and starring Lew Fields.[5] It later became the Nora Bayes Theatre in 1918.[6][7] In the mid-1930s it presentedFederal Theatre Project shows.[8]
In the basement of the 44th Street Theatre, the original rathskeller, became a small nightclub named the “Little Club” duringProhibition.[6][9]
In 1940 the building was purchased by The New York Times Company, which leased it back toLee Shubert. When theAmerican Theatre Wing requested the basement club as an entertainment venue for servicemen, Shubert gave them the property without charge. In March 1942 the 40-by-80-foot club space became the originalStage Door Canteen, which operated throughoutWorld War II, became the subject of a popular film, and inspired other canteens throughout the United States.[10]
In 1930, the Film Daily Yearbook listed 44th Street Theatre as a movie theatre. The theatre showed films for a brief period of time before returning to stage productions. For movie screenings, the theatre had 1,468 seats, and 1 screen.[1]
The most notable film screening of 44th Street Theatre was of the German lesbian film “Maedchen in Uniform” in 1931. The movie played for a season twice daily and three times on Sundays and holidays. The theatre boasted that they had ‘Lower prices than any other two-a-day movie on Broadway’.[1]
In 1940,The New York Times purchased the 44th Street Theatre. After Shubert's lease expired in June 1945, the building was demolished. A New York Times printing plant was built in its place, part of the newspaper's postwar expansion of its229 West 43rd Street headquarters.[1] The printing plant was later abandoned, but a plaque remains to mark the location of the Stage Door Canteen.[10]
Productions staged at the 44th Street Theatre are listed at theInternet Broadway Database.[6]
Media related to44th Street Theatre at Wikimedia Commons| National | |
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