 The outer lobby of the old Embassy Theater, now a store entrance | |
 Interactive map of Embassy Theatre | |
| Former names | Embassy I Theatre |
|---|---|
| Address | 1560 Broadway Manhattan, New York United States |
| Coordinates | 40°45′31″N73°59′04″W / 40.75860°N 73.98447°W /40.75860; -73.98447 |
| Owner | GFP |
| Operator | SL Green |
| Type | Former cinema |
| Capacity | 598 (historical) |
| Construction | |
| Opened | August 26, 1925 (1925-08-26) |
| Renovated | 1998, 2019 |
| Closed | 1997 (as theater) |
| Years active | 1925–1997 |
| Architect | Thomas W. Lamb |
| Designated | November 17, 1987[1] |
| Reference no. | 1330[1] |
| Designated entity | Lobbies and auditorium interior |
TheEmbassy Theatre, also known as theEmbassy 1 Theatre, is a formermovie theater at 1560Broadway, alongTimes Square, in theMidtown Manhattan neighborhood ofNew York City, New York, U.S. Designed byThomas W. Lamb, the theater opened in 1925 on the ground floor of 1560 Broadway, the headquarters of theActors' Equity Association. While no longer in use as a theater, the space is preserved as aNew York City designated landmark, and it continues to operate as a store.
Within the former theater, an entrance vestibule connects to an outer lobby with marble trim and acoved ceiling. The inner lobby, decorated with woodwork and mirrors, was originally used to sell tickets; it was designed in a similar manner to the outer lobby. The auditorium originally had 598 seats, which were arranged on a singleraked floor, facing aproscenium arch with a movie screen. The side walls of the auditorium containpiers with lighting fixtures, behind which are murals byArthur Crisp. The ceiling contains plasterwork decoration and lighting fixtures by theRambusch Decorating Company, including a central recessed dome. These design details remain intact except for the removal of the original seats and movie screen.
The theater opened on August 26, 1925, and was originally operated byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Its first manager,Gloria Gould, staffed the theater almost exclusively with young women. After Guild Enterprises began operating the Embassy in 1929, the theater became the firstnewsreel theater in the United States. The decline of the newsreel format forced the Embassy to revert to showing films in 1949. TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the theater as an interior landmark in 1987, and the Embassy showed its last film in 1998. The Times Square Business Improvement District renovated the theater into a visitor center, which operated from 1998 to 2014. Following another renovation, the Embassy reopened in 2019 as a store themed to soccer starPelé.
The Embassy Theatre is part of the Actors' Equity Building at1560 Broadway.[2] The building is on the east side ofSeventh Avenue between 46th and47th Streets, in theTheater District ofMidtown Manhattan inNew York City, New York, U.S. It facesDuffy Square, the northern end ofTimes Square. The Actors' Equity Building abuts theI. Miller Building to the south, as well asTSX Broadway and thePalace Theatre to the north.[2] The land under the building is owned byActors Equity, while the building itself is owned by GFP. The theater is part of the building's retail space, whichSL Green leases from GFP.[3]
The theater was completed in 1925 and was designed byThomas W. Lamb, with decorations by theRambusch Decorating Company.[2][4][5] It is housed in what was originally a retail space for men's clothes. The theater retains the floor plan of the original retail space; the floor and the ceiling are both at the same height as the original retail space.[5] As of 2019[update], the old Embassy Theatre itself is a retail space.[3]
The theater's entrance vestibule has been modified several times since it opened.[6] There are two lobbies: an outer lobby with marble trim and an inner lobby with woodwork.[4][7] The outer lobby measures 40 feet (12 m) long and connects the theater's entrance vestibule and inner lobby. The inner lobby leads further inward into what was originally the auditorium. The lobby spaces are similar in design details.[8]
Two sets of double doors lead from the entrance to the outer lobby. Each door is made of bronze with 20 glass panes; atransom window runs above the doors. The outer lobby's floor consists of black tile squares, separated by a grid of white marble.[8] The space includes veined marble walls[8][9] withwainscoting and illuminated sign displays.[8][10] As of 2019[update], the walls contain freestanding and wall-mounted truss structures[10] with displays of sport wear.[3] A plasterworkfrieze, containing motifs ofmedallions andswags, runs at the top of the walls. Thecoved ceiling is surrounded by a molded band and contains two overhanging brass-and-crystal chandeliers, as well as ceiling vents for air conditioning. The outer and inner lobbies are separated by two brass-and-glass double doors, similar to those between the entrance and the outer lobby.[8]
The woodwork of the inner lobby was intended to give an intimate feeling.[11] The space originally contained a ticket booth,[9] and the renovated inner lobby contains a counter near the north wall.[12] The walls contain blond-wood paneling with square mirrors;[12][13] while these mirrors still exist, they are covered with vinyl stickers.[12] Above the square mirrors areentablatures with friezes made ofburled walnut, as well as gold-coloredbas-relief panels withputti and vases. The square mirrors are separated by projecting, wood-paneledpiers on each wall. The piers contain circular mirrors surrounded by carvedwreaths. The coved ceiling is surrounded by a plasterwork frieze. The center of the ceiling has a gilded medallion, from which hangs a brass-and-crystal chandelier.[13]
The inner lobby's south wall included entrances to lounges for men and women.[14] The lounge was decorated in a Francois I style, while the women's lounge was designed in a "Chinese Chippendale" style.[11][15] Public telephones were placed in both rooms.[16] These spaces have since been redecorated.[11]
The former auditorium is accessed from the inner lobby and was designed with a single level of seating. There was neither a balcony norboxes.[5][13][15] Originally, the auditorium had 598 seats,[17][18] later cited as 582.[19] The original seats contained tapestry coverings; lacqueredcarmine-colored arms; and lacquered black-and-gold seat backs.[14] Aisles ran along each side of the auditorium.[9] The room has a slightlyraked floor that slopes down toward theproscenium arch on the east wall.[20] The Pele Soccer store's floor is largely a flat surface placed on footings above the raked floor, which is still extant.[21] The store's raised floor is designed to resemble a soccer field.[3][22] To the north and south of the raised floor are ramps that are actually part of the original raked floor.[21]
On the north and south walls of the auditorium are four piers.[13][23] Each pier contains oval marble panels surrounded by floral designs, as well as gilded lighting fixtures above the marble panels.[24] These piers were originally decorated with gilded details, anddamask curtains were draped between the piers.[11] The piers are topped by arches containinggrotesque heads.[13] The lighting fixtures were designed so they appeared to be resting on mermaids' backs.[4][11] Air vents were placed within the bottoms of each pier.[16] This created whatExhibitor's Trade Review magazine called "the latest and most effective heating and ventilation system".[25] The walls are topped by acornice withbrackets and paneling; this cornice contains some air-conditioning grilles.[24] There were formerly "gilded Hermes" above some of the piers.[11][26]
Behind the piers are six murals painted byArthur Crisp.[4][9][27] The six murals are decorated with architectural subjects.[9] Two additional murals formerly existed near the proscenium, flanking the organs there.[9][11] The organ itself was a three-manual console, leased for two years fromM. P. Möller from 1925 to 1927.[28] By the late 1980s, the two murals near the proscenium had been removed, while the remaining murals were in poor condition. The two murals near the rear of the auditorium were visually divided by a sound wall, although they remained physically intact.[11] The remaining murals were restored in 2019 as part of the Pele Soccer store's construction.[23] The westernmost mural on the north wall had been damaged, so a freestanding sign describing the theater's history was placed in front of the damaged mural.[29]
The east wall of the auditorium contains the proscenium arch.[30] In front of the arch, there was originally a stage measuring about 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, as well as an orchestra pit and a motion-picture screen.[30] The screen was removed in 1997 and replaced with a mural by artistJessica Daryl Winer. EntitledCurtain Call, the mural depicted 200 notable Broadway personalities.[18][31][32] The modern Pele Soccer store has anLED display within the proscenium opening, measuring 13 feet 2 inches (4.01 m) tall by about 22 feet (6.7 m) wide.[33]
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The auditorium's ceiling is mostly flat but is designed with plasterwork in low relief.[13] The center of the ceiling has a wide recessed dome, which is surrounded by eight smaller brass-and-crystal lighting panels.[24] The central dome is surrounded by gildedfiligree decorations, which were subsequently painted cream to match the surrounding ceiling.[30] Rambusch Studio designed the lighting fixtures.[4][30] According toExhibitor's Trade Review, the lighting fixtures were designed specifically for the theater, with a mixture of direct and indirect lighting.[16]
Movie palaces became common in the 1920s, between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression.[34][35] In the New York City area, only a small number of operators were involved in the construction of movie palaces. These theaters' designers included thelegitimate-theater architectsThomas W. Lamb,C. Howard Crane, andJohn Eberson.[17] In particular, many movie palaces were built around the Times Square area in the early 20th century.[36]
Billboard magazine reported in April 1925 that Joel Weinstock would operate the 600-seat Embassy Theatre adjacent to thePalace Theatre, a vaudeville house. The Embassy was planned to be the first movie house in New York City to operate 24 hours a day, charging 25 cents for admission at all hours.[37] In July 1925, it was announced that socialiteGloria Gould had signed a contract to manage the new theater,[38][39][40] which would be operated byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.[40] Nineteen years old at the time,[41][42] Gould was described inExhibitors' Trade Review as "the youngest person, either male or female, to have ever achieved the distinction of directing a modern motion picture theatre, and that in the great metropolis of the world".[42] Also unusual was that Gould had no previous experience managing a cinema.[42] The Embassy Theatre officially opened on August 26, 1925, with the filmThe Merry Widow.[43][44][45] Opening-night tickets were $5.50 each (equivalent to $99 in 2024);[46] about half the audience were "local or national celebrities", protected by a police reinforcement.[47]
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When the theater opened, Gould said the theater would not host any comedies ornewsreels.[41][48] All seats were reserved and cost $2 each (equivalent to $36 in 2024),[42][49][a] as Gould wanted the theater to cater to impatient "society people", rather than the general public.[4][30] Furthering the Embassy's exclusive nature, "beggars, vagrants, peddlers, bootleggers and blind persons" were not allowed to enter.[30] Gould also announced that all of the Embassy's staff would be women, from the ushers to the musicians,[39][40] in the belief that women could work more efficiently than men;[19][30][51] she said MGM vice presidentMajor Bowes supported the effort.[39] Gould's ushers had to be blondes in their late teens or early twenties,[b] at most 5 feet 4 inches (1.63 m) tall, with white teeth and the "ability to wear clothes with dignity".[47][50][18] Almost four hundred women applied for staff positions, including a "white-haired widow" and a "daughter of a Russian general", according to Gould.[51] According to theAmerican Guild of Organists, there were still four men on staff: a porter and three operators.[28]
The Embassy initially only had two screenings daily:[30][49] one at 2:45 p.m. and the other at 8:45 p.m.[49] By October 1925, the popularity ofThe Merry Widow had prompted the theater's management to add a third screening on weekends at 6 p.m.[52] Six weeks after the theater opened, Gould traveled to Paris, claiming she needed to "rest" from her "interesting theatrical work";[47][53] however, she subsequently sought legal residence there.[54] The Embassy's film offerings in 1926 includedMare Nostrum,La Bohème,Ben-Hur, andTell It to the Marines.[55] Ticket prices had dropped to $0.50 or $1.00, as the concept of reserved seats was no longer novel nor in high demand, especially with the development of larger movie houses.[47] Other films shown at the Embassy in its early years includedSlide, Kelly, Slide,Annie Laurie,Hula, andLove in 1927;[56]Submarine,The Cavalier, andThe Viking in 1928;[57] andBellamy Trial andFather and Son in 1929.[58]
In October 1929,William Fox took over the Embassy, with plans to use the theater exclusively for displayingMovietone newsreels.[59][60] The theater was the first of its kind to feature newsreelswith sound[61] (although the first sound newsreel had been created in 1927 at theSam H. Harris Theatre[62]), and it was the first exclusivenewsreel theater in the U.S.[63][64][c] The Embassy incurred a relatively high cost of $500 per week for one reel, a price no one was willing to pay.[61] The first newsreel was screened on November 2, 1929, with footage of news items such as thecity's 1929 mayoral election debates and theWall Street Crash.[62][64][67] There was a ticket price of 25 cents (equivalent to $5 in 2024) for an hour-long show.[68][69] Screenings took place every hour from 10 a.m. to midnight.[62] As part of an opening-week promotion, the Embassy distributed tickets to thousands of residents.[62]
The renamed Embassy Newsreel Theatre saw six or seven thousand visitors per day in its first two weeks as a newsreel theater.[69] The newsreels were completely changed every week,[70] and the theater was on the heavily traveled Times Square, adding to the Embassy's popularity.[62] By 1930, Movietone's editor E. L. Harvey said the Embassy had "far outgrown its original plans" of being "a show window on Broadway for Fox News".[71] The Embassy's newsreels included the first sound reel of a whale being captured;[72] a tribute to U.S. presidentCalvin Coolidge;[73] the rise ofAdolf Hitler;[74] appearances byPope Pius XI[75] andJ. P. Morgan Jr.[76] and the trial and sentencing of several men who kidnapped oil magnateCharles F. Urschel.[77] Fox Movietone published advertisements saying, "The Embassy Newsreel grossed more than $11,000 in a 550-seat house showing only Fox Movietone News."[61]
The Embassy Theatre's lease expired in January 1934,[78][79] and the theater was dark for several weeks because of conflicts over the lease.[62][80] In early February 1934, the Bethlehem Engineering Corporation leased the theater to Newsreel Theatres Inc., managed by Francis C. Wood Jr.[81] Newsreel Theatres Inc. announced plans to reopen the Embassy for newsreel use,[82] and the theater reopened on February 12, 1934, as the Embassy Pathé News Theatre, showing newsreels fromPathé News.[83] The theater had 9,000 visitors in the first four days after it reopened.[62][80] Among the newsreel stories shown at the Embassy under Pathé News' operation wereBruno Richard Hauptmann's trial in 1935,[84] as well as a 1938 film on theNazi Party.[85] William French Githens, who helped run Newsreel Theatres Inc. with Francis Carter Wood Jr., recalled that U.S. presidentFranklin D. Roosevelt was "the greatest single attraction", with patrons flocking by the hundreds to watch Roosevelt'sfireside chats.[61]
The Embassy Newsreel continued into the 1940s despite the growing popularity of the television.[6][61] The Embassy Newsreel Theatre grew into a chain with locations on 50th and 72nd Street as well as the original theater on Times Square. As a whole, the newsreel industry was impacted negatively by World War II, when studios began sharing footage with each other to reduce costs, which consequently resulted in a decrease in competition between newsreel studios (and thus less content). Furthermore, there was growing criticism of the newsreels' tendencies to dramatize factual events, as well as the fact that newsreels discussed stories in a decreasing order of importance.[6] In November 1949, it was announced that the Embassy would revert to showing feature films.[86][87][88] Githens said he had decided to return the Embassy to cinematic use specifically because newsreels could no longer compete with television.[88]
Norman Elson, a son-in-law of prolific theater architectHerbert J. Krapp,[36] took over the Embassy in 1950.[89] When the Embassy was revived as a feature-film theater, it was renamed the "Broadway-Embassy",[88] with the filmsQuartet[90] andThe Hidden Room.[90][91] The Broadway Embassy had only showed films for two months when it returned to showing newsreel clips during the daytime in January 1950.[90][92] Under the new policy, the newsreels were changed every Wednesday and Sunday, with a 25-cent admission price between 5 p.m.[90] That April, the Embassy's management considered showing feature films that had wonAcademy Awards.[93][94] Under the reinstated newsreel policy, the Embassy showed the documentaryCassino to Korea in 1950.[95] The Embassy was often used for showing short documentaries, which were advertised on the outer lobby's signs, during the early 1950s.[96]
By December 1952, the theater had again returned to showing feature films because newsreels were facing greater competition from television.[97] The Embassy's features in the 1960s included numerous French and Italian films.[98] During this decade,Alfie ran at the Embassy for over six months in 1966, being the longest-running English-language film to be shown at the theater.[99] This was followed in the 1970s by films such asTake a Girl Like You (1970)[100] andBattle for the Planet of the Apes (1973).[101] In its later years, the Embassy Theatre on Times Square was also called the Embassy I to distinguish it from similarly named theaters in Manhattan.[89][d]
By the 1980s, many of Times Square's cinemas had closed and had been modified or demolished, but the Embassy I remained active, with its architectural details being largely preserved.[36] TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had started considering protecting the Embassy as an official city landmark in 1982,[104] with discussions continuing over the next several years.[105] Norman Elson's son Peter favored the designation,[36] and the LPC designated the theater as an interior landmark on November 17, 1987.[106] This was part of the commission's wide-ranging effort in 1987 to grant landmark status to theaters in Midtown Manhattan. The Embassy was one of the few movie theaters being considered as a landmark; most of the other theaters were Broadway houses whose facades and interiors were both being considered as landmarks.[107] TheNew York City Board of Estimate ratified the designation in March 1988.[108]
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By February 1997, the Times SquareBusiness Improvement District was planning to open a visitors' center in the theater. At the time, the visitor center was housed in theSelwyn Theatre, which was planned to be renovated as part of the42nd Street redevelopment project. Guild Enterprises' lease on the Embassy was also about to expire, and the single-screen cinema faced competition from two upcomingmultiplexes in Times Square: theAMC Empire 25 and a 13-screen Sony Theaters house.[19] The Embassy Theatre closed in December 1997,[50] the same month that the Selwyn Theatre's facade collapsed, rendering that building unusable.[31] In February 1998, the Times Square BID announced that it would spend $1 million to turn the Embassy into a visitor center.[50] Ronnette Riley designed the renovation,[19][31] whileEverGreene Architectural Arts was hired to restore the decorative finishes.[109] Most of the former seats were removed and sold to churches inBrooklyn.[31] The project cost $1.1 million.[18][31]
A press preview for the Times Square Information Center took place on September 1, 1998, and the center was opened to the public the next day.[31] The Times Square Information Center's inner lobby had restrooms, acurrency exchange, and a booth selling memorabilia from the New York City government.[18][32] There was an information booth below the auditorium's central light fixture, as well as 21 restored theater seats.[31][110] The visitor center featured six internet terminals, which were installed as part of a collaboration withYahoo!,[110][111] There was a newsstand, fourFleet Bank ATMs, and ticket booths operated by theLeague of American Theatres and Producers,Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the New York City government, andCircle Line Sightseeing Cruises.[18][31][112] The center also contained a display about Times Square's history, narrated by then-mayorRudy Giuliani and television personalityDick Clark, as well as Winer's mural.[18][31]
Subsequent additions to the visitor center included a concierge service for Broadway andoff-Broadway shows, which opened in 2008.[113] The visitor center was renovated in 2010. An exhibit about Times Square's oldpeep shows, aTimes Square Ball, a photo booth, and a collection of hats used in Broadway shows were added to the visitor center during this time.[114]
In July 2013, the Actors Equity Building's owners proposed adding an escalator from the outer lobby to the basement, as well as relocating the inner lobby wall.Manhattan Community Board 5 opposed this plan.[26][115] The owners subsequently made another proposal in October 2013, which involved modifying the basement escalators and leveling the raked auditorium floor; Community Board 5 also opposed this plan.[26][116] The community board approved a third proposal made byCarlton Architects, who represented Braziliansoccer playerPelé, a prospective retail tenant for the space. Carlton proposed that the theater's layout be retained "to respect the space".[26] The Times Square BID closed its information center in June 2014.[26][117]
In November 2019, a Pelé Soccer store opened within the former Embassy Theatre space.[3][22] Prior to the store's opening, the marquee above the theater's entrance was modified with the store's name. Television screens were installed in the theater's entrance vestibule, displaying soccer games, and the outer and inner lobbies were arranged with soccer memorabilia. The auditorium itself was used sell to soccer gear and footwear, and the auditorium floor was modified to look like a soccer field.[3]
Gloria Gould threw open the doors of her new Embassy Theater last evening...
Media related toEmbassy Theatre (New York City) at Wikimedia Commons
