TheBijou Theatre was a former Broadway theater in New York City that opened in 1878 asTheatre Brighton and was demolished in 1915. It also served as an opera house and silent movie venue throughout its history.[1][2]
Located at 1239 Broadway, between30th and31st Streets, the building had been converted from a drinking and gambling establishment into a theatre for variety, and opened August 26, 1878, withJerry Thomas as proprietor.[3] The house had many changes and names untilJohn A. McCaull, a Baltimore lawyer, and Charles E. Ford took charge of it. Considerable money was spent and when they reopened the house on March 31, 1880, as theBijou Opera-house, it looked like a modern and well-regulated theatre.[3][4] In 1881 and 1882,Lillian Russell appeared in three different operettas.[5][6][7][8]
But the house proved too small to be profitable, so after the performance of July 7, 1883, preparations for tearing it down began.[9] R. E. J. Miles and Gen. W. B. Barton leased the premises for five years from its owner, Edward F. James. They agreed to advance sufficient funds to erect a new house, which was designed byJ. B. McElfatrick & Son and opened December 1, 1883, as the Bijou Theatre.[10] The first production wasOrpheus and Eurydice, an adaption byMax Freeman ofJacques Offenbach'sOrfée aux enfers."[3][11][12]
Adonis, starringHenry E. Dixey, played its record-breaking run of 603 performances at the Bijou beginning September 4, 1884. Another long run wasThe Music Master, starringDavid Warfield, transferred from theBelasco Theatre on January 9, 1905,[13] and playing 511 performances, for a total at the two theaters of 635, before closing September 29, 1906.
The next big hit wasA Gentleman from Mississippi, starringThomas A. Wise andDouglas Fairbanks, which opened September 29, 1908.[14] From June 29 to August 7, 1909, it played at the Aerial Gardens atop theNew Amsterdam Theatre, with new scenery and costumes,[15] moving back to the Bijou August 9. After giving its 400th performance (counting the Aerial Gardens) on August 25, the play closed on September 18.[16][17]
The Bijou was later used as a silent movie house. It was demolished in 1915 and replaced by the present high-rise office building, which opened in 1917.[18]
^IBDB reports the performance count ofNancy Brown on Broadway as 112 performances. This number was arrived at by adding the 104 performances at the Bijou Theatre to a later return engagement at Broadway'sGrand Opera House in October–November 1903 when eight further performances were given; making a total of 112 performances of the work given in Broadway theaters collectively.[20][21]
