New Apollo Theatre, Academy Theatre, Bryant Theatre | |
_-_cropped.jpg) 42nd Street entrances to the Apollo and Times Square Theatres in 1922. The auditorium of the Apollo is behind the Times Square. | |
 Interactive map of Apollo Theatre | |
| Address | 223 W. 42nd Street[1] Manhattan,New York City United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°45′25″N73°59′16″W / 40.7569°N 73.9877°W /40.7569; -73.9877 |
| Type | Broadway theatre |
| Current use | Lyric Theatre |
| Construction | |
| Opened | November 17, 1920[2] |
| Demolished | 1996 |
| Years active | 1920–1990 |
| Architect | Eugene De Rosa |
TheApollo Theatre was aBroadway theatre whose entrance was located at 223 West42nd Street inManhattan,New York City, while the theatre proper was on 43rd Street. It was demolished in 1996 and provided part of the site for the new Ford Center for the Performing Arts, now known as theLyric Theatre.
The Apollo was built in 1920 by theSelwyn Brothers in tandem with theTimes Square Theatre, and both share a unified facade on West 42nd Street. Designed byEugene De Rosa, the theaters had entrances on 42nd Street, but the Apollo's auditorium was actually on 43rd Street.[3] The theater sat 1,200.
The Apollo was initially amusical theatre venue for such works as theGershwin 1927 musicalStrike Up the Band and several editions ofGeorge White's Scandals, featuringW. C. Fields,Bert Lahr andEd Wynn. As with many other legitimate playhouses of the 1920s, movies were also screened; in 1922, for example,Silver Wings,Around the World WithBurton Holmes, and twoD. W. Griffith films,Orphans of the Storm andOne Exciting Night, had engagements.[4]
In 1934 the Apollo became 42nd Street's third stockburlesque house, joiningMinsky's Republic three doors to the east and theEltinge Theater across the street. Max Wilner and Emmett Callahan (who was married to star strip teaserAnn Corio), along with producer Allen Gilbert, presented "Glorified Burlesque," which was more refined than their neighbors.Abbott and Costello,Joey Faye,Ann Corio,Gypsy Rose Lee,Georgia Sothern, Mike Sachs, andSteve Mills appeared in burlesque shows at the theater. But after a unified outcry against burlesque by religious, business, and real estate interests in the late 1930s, the Apollo and the other theaters on 42nd Street became film venues. The Apollo ran foreign films for decades. By the 1970s, like many theaters on 42nd Street, the Apollo ranX-rated films.
In 1978 the Apollo was refurbished and renamed the New Apollo. Starting in 1979 it housed productions ofOn Golden Pond,Bent,Fifth of July, andThe Guys in the Truck. But this venture failed in the early 1980s and the New Apollo ended its existence as a rock music venue called the academy. The building was neglected, fell into disrepair, and was condemned. In 1990 it was among several 42nd Street theatres repossessed by the City and State of New York, and in 1992 came under the protection of theNew 42nd Street organization.[5] It was demolished in 1996.
Some of the theatre's architectural features, including theproscenium arch, which were protected by landmark status, were removed and later incorporated into the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, now theLyric Theatre.
The exterior of the theatre is featured inHBO's seriesThe Deuce.
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Bibliography
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