The Liberty Theatre consists of an auditorium facing 41st Street and a lobby facing 42nd Street. Thefacade on 42nd Street is largely hidden but was designed in theneoclassical style, similar to the neighboringNew Amsterdam Theatre, designed by the same architects. The lobby from 42nd Street led to the auditorium in the rear, as well as men's and women's lounges in the basement. The auditorium, designed in theArt Nouveau style, contains two balconies cantilevered above ground-level orchestra seating. The theater has a steel frame and was designed with advanced mechanical systems for its time. The original design included depictions of theLiberty Bell andbald eagles, which have since been removed.
The Liberty opened on October 10, 1904, and in its early years hosted several hit productions, which largely consisted of comedies, dramas, or musicals.D. W. Griffith briefly screened movies at the theater in the 1910s. After Klaw and Erlanger ended their partnership in 1919, Erlanger continued to operate the theater until 1931; the Liberty was leased the next year to Max Rudnick, who presented movies andvaudeville. The Liberty hosted its lastlegitimate show in 1933, and the Brandt family took over the venue, operating it as amovie theater until the 1980s. The city and state governments of New York acquired the theater as part of the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project in 1990. Forest City Ratner developed an entertainment and retail complex on the site in the 1990s, but the Liberty Theatre remained largely abandoned until the early 21st century, when it became a restaurant space and event venue.
The Liberty Theatre is at 234 West42nd Street, on the south side betweenSeventh Avenue andEighth Avenue near the southern end ofTimes Square, in theTheater District ofMidtown Manhattan inNew York City. The theater is part of an entertainment and retail complex at 234 West 42nd Street, which includes theMadame Tussauds New York museum and theAMC Empire 25 movie theater.[1][2] The complex'sland lot covers 54,060 sq ft (5,022 m2) and extends 200 ft (61 m) between its twofrontages on 41st and 42nd Streets,[1] with a frontage of 270 ft (82 m) on 41st Street and 350 ft (110 m) on 42nd Street.[3] Originally, the theater occupied its own land lot; the main frontage on 42nd Street measured only 20 ft (6.1 m) wide, while the 41st Street frontage measured 100 ft (30 m) wide. This is because the developers,Abraham L. Erlanger andMarcus Klaw, wanted the more prominent 42nd Street frontage as the main entrance.[4]
The surrounding area is part ofManhattan's Theater District and contains manyBroadway theaters.[6] In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues forlegitimate theater were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.[7][8] The New Amsterdam,Harris, Liberty, Eltinge (now Empire), andLew Fields theaters occupied the south side of the street. The originalLyric andApollo theaters (combined into the current Lyric Theatre), as well as the Times Square, Victory, Selwyn (now Todd Haimes), andVictoria theaters, occupied the north side.[8] These venues were mostly converted to movie theaters by the 1930s, and many of them had been relegated to showing pornography by the 1970s.[8][9]
The Liberty Theatre was designed by architectsHerts & Tallant and developed forKlaw and Erlanger in 1904.[10][11] It was built by the Murphy Construction Company.[11] Herts and Tallant designed the theater in theArt Nouveau style, similar to their earlier projects in New York City (namely the New Amsterdam,Lyceum, and German theaters), although the Liberty's architectural detail was smaller in scale than in the other theaters.[12]
The Liberty Theatre originally had a three-story-tallneoclassical facade on 42nd Street, similar to the neighboring New Amsterdam Theatre (also designed by Herts and Tallant). The entrance was through an arch, which was flanked by sign boards and topped by an electric sign.[13] On either side of the main entrance werecaryatids representing comedy and song.[14] The second and third floors, which contained the theater's offices,[15] were spanned by a large archway. Above the arch was a stone shield, with a relief of theLiberty Bell carved into it. The facade was capped by a statue of abald eagle with spread wings.[13] There was an ornamental cornice above the top story.[15] By the 1990s, most of the facade had been obscured or heavily modified,[16] and the third story had been completely stripped of ornamentation.[17] The 42nd Street facade is no longer visible above the first floor.[18]
The rear facade on 41st Street remains intact,[18] andThe New York Times described it in 1996 as being in "good condition".[17] Images indicate that the 41st Street facade is made of plain brick and has no windows. Projecting brickpiers divide the facade into fivebays. There are loading docks within three of the bays, as well as globe-shaped lanterns affixed to the piers. The facade does not have any other decoration.[18]
Interior of the theater in 2021, after it had been converted into an event space
The theater was mechanically advanced for its time, with heating, cooling, ventilation, and fire-suppression systems. The structural frame was made of skeletal steel, while the floors were made of concrete and tile. The theater's sprinkler system was supplied by a 15,000 US gal (57,000 L) water tank on the roof.[19][14] All of the air in the theater could be changed within five minutes.[19] In addition, there were 21 emergency exits within the theater building, excluding thefire escapes outside the dressing rooms, which allegedly allowed the theater to be cleared within two minutes.[13][14] These emergency exits led to courtyards on either side of the theater, running between 41st and 42nd Streets.[14] The structural frame and emergency exits may have been added in response to theIroquois Theatre fire in 1903, where hundreds of people died in a Chicago theater that was allegedly fireproof.[13]
The auditorium is at the south end of the building and originally measured 72 ft (22 m) wide, with a depth of 60 ft (18 m) between the stage and the rear wall.[4] The auditorium's seats were spread across the orchestra level and two balconies.[4][17] The theater had 1,055 seats.[20][21][a] Unusually for theaters of the time,[22] the balconies are cantilevered from the structural framework, which eliminated the need for columns that blocked sightlines.[14][19] The orchestra level had 546 seats,[19] arranged in 15 rows.[4] The balcony levels were smaller; the upper balcony only had 264 seats.[14] At the rear of the auditorium, a wide staircase led from the lobby to the two balcony levels, while promenades ran behind the seating areas on all three levels.[14][19] The promenades were decorated in amber, white, and gold, a color scheme that was also used on the auditorium's seats, carpets, and other fabrics.[14]
The original design included eightboxes, four on either side of the stage.[4] The boxes were painted in ivory and gold. Above each set of boxes was a motif of a bald eagle, which in turn flanked a depiction of the Liberty Bell.[13][14] The proscenium opening is 36 ft (11 m) wide and 32 ft (9.8 m) high. Unlike in other theaters, the proscenium arch was not topped by asounding board; as a result, audiences at the rear of the auditorium did not receive amplified sound from the stage.[13] By the 21st century, the rear walls of both balcony levels had been shifted forward significantly.[18]
The stage was designed to accommodate comedies and large musicals, measuring about 35 ft (11 m) deep and 72 ft (22 m) wide. The top of thefly loft was 70 ft (21 m) above the stage.[13] The Liberty'sstage curtain was made ofasbestos, as at many other theaters at the time, and contained a mural ofHalf Moon, the ship belonging to Dutch explorerHenry Hudson.[13][16] The curtain, measuring 35 by 25 ft (10.7 by 7.6 m), was probably designed by F. Richards Anderson and was decorated in blue, green, and brown hues. With the deterioration of the theater in the late 20th century, parts of the asbestos curtain began to flake off.[16]
The theater's lobby led from 42nd Street. It consisted of a vestibule with aluminum and gold decorations, as well as an ivory-and-white hallway that acted as a foyer.[14][19] The vestibule had a domed ceiling measuring 30 ft (9.1 m) across, and the foyer was 50 ft (15 m) long. The two spaces were separated by doors covered in leather.[14] The original lobby has been heavily modified.[18]
At the rear of the orchestra-level promenade were stairs, which led to men's and women's lounges in the basement.[13] The men's lounging and smoking room was decorated in the English style, with weathered-oak paneling as well as furniture covered with Spanish leather.[14][19] The women's lounge was painted green, gold, and ivory.[13][14]
Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and theGreat Depression.[23] Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift fromUnion Square andMadison Square during the first decade of the 20th century.[24] At the beginning of that century, Klaw and Erlanger operated the predominant theatrical booking agency in the United States.[25] They decided to relocate to 42nd Street after observing that theMetropolitan Opera House, theVictoria Theatre, and the Theatre Republic (now New Victory Theater) had been developed around that area.[26] Klaw and Erlanger hired Herts and Tallant to design the New Amsterdam Theatre at 214 West 42nd Street, which opened on October 26, 1903.[27] Klaw and Erlanger then decided to build a second theater on the block, also designed by Herts and Tallant,[4] which would host musicals bythe Rogers Brothers.[14] By early 1904, the Murphy Construction Company was constructing the theater's steel frame.[11]
The Liberty Theatre opened on October 10, 1904, with the revueThe Rogers Brothers in Paris.[28][29] This was followed the next month byLittle Johnny Jones,[30][31] the first large musical written byGeorge M. Cohan.[28] The Liberty hosted several hit productions in its early years,[32] largely consisting of comedies, dramas, or musicals.[28] The Liberty's second season includedThe Rogers Brothers in Ireland in late 1905,[28][32] as well as the comedy-dramaThe Clansman,[28][33] the Christmas musicalThe Gingerbread Man,[34] and the musicalLincoln in early 1906.[35][36] During the 1906–1907 season,Eleanor Robson produced several plays at the Liberty,[37][38] and the theater also hostedThe Follies of 1907, the first edition of the annualZiegfeld Follies revue.[39][40] The Rogers Brothers presentedThe Rogers Brothers in Panama in 1907,[41] but, amid decreasing popularity, the brothers never performed at the Liberty again.[42]Margaret Mayo's playPolly of the Circus opened in December 1907[43] and was a hit, running for 160 performances.[28][44] Other shows in the Liberty Theatre's early years includedThe Redskins in 1906 withTyrone Power Sr., as well asWildfire in 1908 withLillian Russell.[38]
The musicalThe Arcadians opened at the Liberty in 1910,[45][46] followed at the end of the same year by the operettaThe Spring Maid,[47] which stayed for six months.[48][49] The theater's other productions in the early 1910s included the playThe Fascinating Widow in 1911,[50] the playMilestones in 1912,[51][52] and the operettaRob Roy[53][54] and the musicalSweethearts in 1913.[55] Around the same time, Klaw and Erlanger had become involved in the film industry; in 1913, they signed an agreement with theBiograph Company that allowed Biograph to produce two features weekly at the syndicate's theaters.[28][56] Klaw and Erlanger leased the Liberty to movie-theater operatorD. W. Griffith in February 1915, on the condition that movie tickets be sold at $2, the same price as tickets for plays.[57][58] The next month, Griffith presentedThe Birth of a Nation, the first film to be screened at the theater.[59][60] Griffith screenedThe Birth of a Nation over 750 times during the next nine months.[61]
The Liberty again hosted live shows in early 1916, when it presented a week of variety performances byThe Blue Pierrots troupe,[62][63] as well as the musicalSybil.[64][65] In August of that year, Griffith leased the Liberty Theatre again, this time for his filmIntolerance.[66][67] TheJerome Kern musicalHave A Heart opened at the Liberty in January 1917,[68][69] followed the same year by the revueHitchy-Koo of 1917[70][71] and the playThe Wooing of Eve withLaurette Taylor andLynn Fontanne.[38][72] At the end of the year,George M. Cohan andSam H. Harris's musicalGoing Up opened at the Liberty,[73][74] running for 351 performances.[48][75] Following the success of theZiegfeld Follies at the nearby New Amsterdam, Klaw and Erlanger presented two revues at the Liberty in 1919:[38][69]George White's Scandals of 1919[76] andHitchy-Koo of 1919.[77][78] By then, Klaw and Erlanger'sTheatrical Syndicate no longer had a monopoly on theatrical shows, and they had dissolved their partnership. A. L. Erlanger continued to produce shows at the Liberty Theatre, while Marcus Klaw developed his own venue on 45th Street, theKlaw Theatre.[38]
The Kern musicalThe Night Boat opened at the Liberty in February 1920[79] and ran for several months.[38][80] It was followed byGeorge White's Scandals of 1921[81][82] and theOtto Harbach musicalThe O'Brien Girl.[38][83] During 1922, the Liberty Theatre hosted the comedyTo the Ladies withHelen Hayes,[84][85] as well as Cohan's musicalLittle Nellie Kelly.[86][87] The theater's shows the next year included the playMagnolia withLeo Carrillo andThe Magic Ring withJeanette MacDonald.[38] The firm of Mandelbaum & Lewine, along with Max N. Natanson, bought the Liberty and Eltinge theaters in November 1923[88][89] and immediately resold the theaters to Maximilian Zipkes.[90] The Liberty hosted another Cohan musical at the end of that year,The Rise of Rosie O'Reilly,[91][92] although Cohan's musicals had begun to decline in popularity by then.[69]George andIra Gershwin's musicalLady, Be Good! opened at the theater in December 1924[93] and lasted 330 performances.[94][95] This was followed in December 1925 by another Gershwin musical,Tip-Toes,[96] which lasted for 194 performances.[97][98]
Erlanger announced in April 1926 that the Liberty Theatre would be completely renovated afterTip-Toes ended that June,[99] and the theater reopened that September.[100]Lew Fields's revueBlackbirds of 1928, featuring an all-Black cast, premiered in May 1928[97] and had 518 total performances over two theaters.[101][102] It was one of several revues with Black casts to be presented at the Liberty Theatre in the late 1920s and early 1930s.[69][97]Blackbirds relocated to the Eltinge Theatre in October 1928[103] to make way for the comedyMr. Moneypenny,[104][105] which lasted 61 performances.[103][105] The Liberty then hostedSubway Express, which premiered in October 1929[106] and ran for 270 performances.[103][107] By then, increasing competition between producers had resulted in manyflops.[97] Furthermore, with the onset of theGreat Depression, many Broadway theaters were impacted by declining attendance.[108][109]
The theater hosted a series of short-lived plays and musicals in early 1930,[20] including theTheatre Guild's revival of the playVolpone.[110][111] The musical comedyBrown Buddies opened at the Liberty that October,[112] running for 113 performances.[103][113] Although Erlanger died in March 1930, the executors of his estate continued to operate the theater.[114] The executors were unable to manage the theater, and most of the estate was ultimately given away to various creditors.[103] 234 West 42nd Street Inc., which Klaw and Erlanger had formed to manage the Liberty Theatre, was evicted from the theater in 1931 after failing to pay rent.[115] The theater hosted another all-Black revue in 1931,Singin' the Blues, which was unsuccessful.[69] Max Rudnick leased the theater in February 1932 for three years[116][117] and presented the Black revueBlackberries of 1932 that April.[118] Rudnick also presented movies in the theater,[103][119] and he began showingvaudeville as well in mid-1932, when he presented a 20-act revue entitledFolies Bergere.[120][121] The theater presented only two legitimate shows during the 1932–1933 season.[20]Masks and Faces, which closed on its opening night in March 1933,[122][123] was the last legitimate show staged at the Liberty until the 1990s.[103]
AfterMasks and Faces closed, the Liberty continued to operate as a movie theater.[103] This was part of a decline in the Broadway theater industry in the mid-20th century; from 1931 to 1950, the number of legitimate theaters decreased from 68 to 30.[124][125] The Liberty's owner, the Daniel Holding Corporation, agreed to lease the theater to William Brandt in 1933. That lease was not officially recorded until 1938, when Brandt leased the Liberty to 229 West 42nd Street Inc.[126] The Liberty Theatre's operators screenedsecond runs ofWarner Bros. films that had premiered at the Times Theatre, on Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street.[127]
The Brandt family acquired the Liberty Theatre, along with the neighboring Eltinge (now Empire) Theatre, in December 1944.[128] By the mid-1940s, the ten theaters along 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues were all showing movies; this ledVariety to call the block the "biggest movie center of the world".[129] The Brandt family operated seven of these theaters, while the Cinema circuit operated the other three.[129][130] The Brandt theaters included theSelwyn,Apollo,Times Square,Lyric, andVictory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street,[131][132] as well as the Eltinge and Liberty theaters on the south side.[130] The Liberty Theatre screened films that had previously been shown at the Selwyn.[129] Several producers offered to stage legitimate productions in the Brandt theaters, but none of the offers were successful.[133]
William Brandt said in 1953 that any of his 42nd Street theaters could be converted to legitimate houses within 24 hours' notice, but producers did not take up his offer.[134] By the late 1950s, the Liberty was classified as a "reissue house", displaying reruns of films and changing its offerings twice a week. Tickets cost 25 to 65 cents apiece, the cheapest admission scale for any theater on 42nd Street. The Liberty and the other 42nd Street theaters operated from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with three shifts of workers. The ten theaters on the block attracted about five million visitors a year between them.[135]
The 42nd Street Company was established in 1961 to operate the Brandts' seven theaters on 42nd Street.[136][137] By the early 1960s, the surrounding block had decayed, but many of the old theater buildings from the block's heyday remained, including the Liberty.[138] Martin Levine and Richard Brandt took over the 42nd Street Company in 1972.[136][137] At the time, the Liberty was presenting "subrun action fare", showingsecond runs of action films that had premiered at other theaters.[139] The other six theaters showed a variety of genres, though Levine said none of the company's 42nd Street theaters showedhardcore porn. The Brandts' theaters had a combined annual gross of about $2 million and operated nearly the entire day.[139] However, the area was in decline; the Brandts' theaters only had three million visitors by 1977, about half of the number in 1963.[140] The Brandts' movie theaters on 42nd Street continued to operate through the mid-1980s, at which point the Liberty was showing horror films.[141]
The Liberty's modern facade, seen here in 2021, is obscured behind several billboards.
The 42nd Street Development Corporation had been formed in 1976 to discuss plans for redeveloping Times Square.[142] The same year, theCity University of New York'sGraduate Center hosted an exhibition with photographs of the Liberty and other theaters to advocate for the area's restoration.[143][144] One plan for the site, in 1978, called for razing several buildings in the area, including the Liberty, to create a park.[145][146] The New York City government announced the City at 42nd Street plan in December 1979 as part of a proposal to restore the section of West 42nd Street around Times Square.[147][148] Under the plan, five theaters would be converted back to legitimate use, and the facades of three other theaters, including the Liberty, would be restored.[147][149] The Liberty's large stage made it suitable for dance companies.[149] MayorEd Koch wavered in his support of the plan, criticizing it as a "Disneyland on 42nd Street".[150][151]
Subsequently,Hugh Hardy conducted a report on 42nd Street's theaters in 1980. His report, in conjunction with a movement opposing the demolition of the nearbyHelen Hayes andMorosco theaters, motivated theNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to survey fifty of Midtown Manhattan's extant theaters in the early 1980s.[152] Hardy's firmHardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA) determined that the Liberty's superstructure and the decorative plasterwork were still intact. However, the stage facilities were extremely rundown, and HHPA estimated that the theater required at least $2 million worth of restoration. In addition, the facade was deteriorating; the Liberty Bell and bald-eagle decorations had been removed from the facade, and a plain marquee had been placed in front of the theater's facade.[103]
The LPC started to consider protecting theaters, including the Liberty Theatre,[153] as landmarks in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years.[154] While the LPC granted landmark status to many Broadway theaters starting in 1987, it deferred decisions on the exterior and interior of the Liberty Theatre.[155] Further discussion of the landmark designations was delayed for several decades.[156] In late 2015, the LPC hosted public hearings on whether to designate the Liberty and six other theaters as landmarks.[157] The LPC rejected the designations in February 2016 because the theaters were already subject to historic-preservation regulations set by the state government.[158]
TheUrban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981.[159][160] The plan centered around four towers that were to be built at 42nd Street's intersections withBroadway and Seventh Avenue, developed byPark Tower Realty and thePrudential Insurance Company of America.[161][162][b] The Brandt family planned to submit a bid to redevelop some of the theaters they owned on 42nd Street.[163][164] In June 1982, the Brandts' five theaters on the north side of 42nd Street were added to the redevelopment plan. Despite the Brandts' insistence that the Empire and Liberty theaters also be included in the redevelopment, the two theaters were leased to New York Mart Inc. as part of a separate plan.[165] Ultimately, the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project was delayed for several years due to lawsuits and disputes concerning the towers.[166]
The New York Mart plan consisted of a garment merchandise mart on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets, opposite Port Authority Bus Terminal.[167][168] The project was to be completed by the Times Square Redevelopment Corporation, comprising members of the New York state and city governments.[169] Under this plan, the Empire and Liberty theaters would be renovated, with the Liberty Theatre likely becoming a nonprofit theater, although the extent of the renovations was unclear.[169][170] David Morse and Richard Reinis were selected in April 1982 to develop the mart,[168][169] but they were removed from the project that November due to funding issues.[169][171] Subsequently, the state and city disputed over the replacement development team, leading the city to withdraw from the partnership in August 1983.[172][160] The state and city reached a compromise on the development team that October, wherein the mart would be developed byTishman Speyer, operated byTrammell Crow, and funded byEquitable Life Assurance.[160][173]
The Brandts leased all their movie theaters on 42nd Street, including the Liberty, to the Cine 42nd Street Corporation in 1986.[174] The Liberty Theatre was still part of the mart project in 1987.[175][176] Though the theater was tentatively slated to be used as a nonprofit performing-arts theater,[176] the city and state governments had not reached an agreement with private developers regarding the mart.[175] The merchandise mart was ultimately never built; the northern part of the site became 11 Times Square, while the southern part became the New York Times Building.[160] A committee of theatrical experts recommended in 1987 that the Victory and Liberty theaters be restored for nonprofit use; they estimated that it would cost between $7 million and $7.8 million to renovate the Liberty.[177][178] City and state officials announced plans for the Liberty Theatre, along with five theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, in September 1988.[179] The UDC opened arequest for proposals for the six theaters that October. The Liberty and Victory were to be converted into performing-arts venues for nonprofit organizations, while the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square were to be converted to commercial use.[180] By the end of the year, the plans were threatened by a lack of money.[181]
In early 1989, several dozen nonprofit theater companies submitted plans to the UDC for the takeover of six theaters.[182][183] Most of the bids were for the Liberty and Victory, but the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square theaters received 13 bids between them.[184] That year,The Durst Organization acquired the leases to eight theaters in Times Square, including the Victory. It subsequently announced plans to renovate the eight theaters in February 1990.[185][186] The New York state government acquired the theater sites that April viaeminent domain.[182][187][188] The city had planned to buy out the theaters' leases[189] but withdrew after the 42nd Street Company indicated it would lease the theaters to another developer.[190] Although Durst protested the move, aNew York Supreme Court judge ruled that the sites could be acquired bycondemnation.[191]
A nonprofit organization,New 42nd Street, was formed in September 1990 to restore six theaters, including the Liberty, and find uses for them.[188][192][193] Government officials hoped that development of the theaters would finally allow the construction of the four towers around 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue.[194] In 1992, New 42nd Street received $18.2 million for restoring the six theaters[195] as part of an agreement with Prudential and Park Tower.[196][197] Meanwhile, the Liberty continued to deteriorate, leading theatrical criticMel Gussow to write in 1990 that the orchestra level had been "almost entirely reduced to rubble".[9][198] The interior of the theater caught fire the same year and was nearly destroyed.[198] The asbestos curtain was still intact but was extremely rundown, asThe New York Times observed: "The bottom part [of the curtain] trails on the stage and is damaged by trash and plywood stacked there."[16] Even as the estimated renovation cost increased to $16 million,[199] theTimes still predicted in 1992 that the Liberty and Victory were "most likely to be renovated".[200]
AfterDisney committed to restoring the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1994, most of the other theaters around 42nd Street were quickly leased.[201] By 1995, real-estate development firmForest City Ratner was planning a $150 million entertainment and retail complex on the site of the Empire, Harris, and Liberty theaters.[202] Madame Tussauds and AMC leased space in the complex that July.[203][204] Madame Tussauds would occupy the eastern section of the site, using the entrance of the former Harris Theatre, while AMC would occupy the western section, with the Empire's facade being relocated westward.[205] Forest City Ratner leased the Liberty from New 42nd Street, although the development company did not use the theater itself.[206] Though the theater was not protected as a city landmark, the city and state governments had required that significant portions of the facade be preserved.[17] The Liberty was used for astaged reading ofT. S. Eliot's poemThe Waste Land, a solo performance byFiona Shaw, in late 1996.[207][208] The same year,GameWorks negotiated with Forest City Ratner to open a virtual-reality arcade in the theater,[17] although the Liberty remained empty through the late 1990s.[209][210] Forest City Ratner erected aHilton hotel above the theater.[211]
The Liberty Theatre remained largely abandoned in the 2000s, and its facade and auditorium were hidden behind Madame Tussauds' entrance.[199][212] The theater was briefly used forDeborah Warner's site-specific art installationThe Angel Project in 2003; at the time, Warner called it the city's "most hidden, anchorite-like, beautiful, walled-upped" building.[212] The Liberty's facade was integrated into theRipley's Odditorium museum in the mid-2000s, while the auditorium was used by an adjacentFamous Dave's restaurant.[213] The theater was renovated in 2011.[214] The auditorium was converted to a rental event space,[213][214] and the restaurant portion along 42nd Street became the Liberty Diner.[215] Parts of the auditorium were still visible from the restaurant.[216] During 2015,Cynthia von Buhler staged the immersive playSpeakeasy Dollhouse: Ziegfeld's Midnight Frolic, whose storyline investigates the death of actressOlive Thomas, at the theater.[217][215] The Liberty Diner and the auditorium closed after the operators lost the lease in 2015.[18]
Brookfield Asset Management took over Forest City's properties at the end of 2018.[218] Ripley's closed permanently in 2021 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, and real-estate agencyCushman and Wakefield was marketing the Liberty Theatre for lease.[219] During late 2022, the Terror Haunted House operated within the space formerly used for Ripley's.[220] The theater was then leased in October 2024 to Broadway 4D for an entertainment attraction.[221][222]
Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. This list only includes Broadway shows; it does not include films screened there.[20][21]
^abc"Real Estate Notes".The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide. Vol. 73, no. 1887. May 14, 1904. p. 1116.Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. RetrievedOctober 1, 2022 – viacolumbia.edu.
^abcdefghijklmn"New Liberty Theatre: Another Playhouse to Open in Forty-second-st".New-York Tribune. September 25, 1904. p. A10.ProQuest571482776.
^ab"Of Interest to the Building Trades".The Real Estate Record: Real estate record and builders' guide. Vol. 74, no. 1907. October 1, 1904. p. 677.Archived from the original on October 1, 2022. RetrievedOctober 1, 2022 – viacolumbia.edu.
^"Theater District –".New York Preservation Archive Project.Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. RetrievedOctober 12, 2021.
^Pearson, Marjorie (October 23, 1979).New Amsterdam Theater(PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. p. 2.Archived(PDF) from the original on October 31, 2021. RetrievedOctober 1, 2022.
^"Motion Pictures at a $2 Scale is Plan in New York: Liberty Theater Leased With the Provision That Prices Are to Be Equal to Spoken Drama".The Christian Science Monitor. February 10, 1915. p. 4.ISSN2573-3850.ProQuest509338735.
^Turnbull, Hector (March 4, 1915). "A Stirring Film Drama Shown: "the Birth of a Nation" Presented at the Liberty Theatre Founded on Story of "the Clansman" Imposing Civil War Scenes, Followed by Exciting Ku Klux Raids the Cast".New-York Tribune. p. 9.ProQuest575381743.
^"English Turns at the Liberty: "Blue Pierrots" Proves to Be a Somewhat Stodgy Variety Performance".New-York Tribune. January 4, 1916. p. 11.ProQuest575546803.
^"Syndicate buys Two Theaters In 42d Street: Eltinge and Liberty Playhouses, Assessed at $1,105,000, Sold by Goodridge Family to Operators".New-York Tribune. November 21, 1923. p. 20.ProQuest1237308941.
^"The Bronx Market. Investor Buys New Apartment on the Concourse".The New York Times. November 21, 1923. p. 33.ISSN0362-4331.ProQuest103149218.
^"Three New York City Houses Change Hands".The Billboard. Vol. 35, no. 49. December 8, 1923. p. 7.ISSN2638-3853.ProQuest1505527262.
^ab"'Tip-Toes, 'With Gershwin Tunes, Is Frisky Show: Florida Is Again Called on tc Supply the Setting for Liberty Production".The New York Herald, New York Tribune. December 29, 1925. p. 13.ProQuest1112885502.
^Reilly, James F. (January 3, 1951). "Legitimate: the Disappearing Theatre".Variety. Vol. 181, no. 4. pp. 266, 268.ISSN0042-2738.ProQuest1505767801.
^Pihodna, Joe (January 21, 1951). "30 Theaters a Far Cry From Abundant Old Days: But They're Enough to Fill Our Needs, People Claim, Despite TV's Inroads".New York Herald Tribune. p. D3.ProQuest1291337111.
^"Test Suit to Halt Extended First Runs Planned by ITOA: Exhibs See Pact Adjustment Needed".The Hollywood Reporter. Vol. 48, no. 9. October 14, 1938. p. 14.ProQuest2297355113.
^abc"Pictures: Even 42d St., With Its Unique Films, Faces Shortages".Variety. Vol. 165, no. 12. February 26, 1947. p. 27.ISSN0042-2738.ProQuest1285899443.
^"Extends Holdings in Times Sq. Area: Theatre Group Now Controls Half of Frontage in 42d and 43d Street' Blocks".The New York Times. April 9, 1944. p. RE1.ISSN0362-4331.ProQuest106913088.
^ab"Levine, Brandt Partners In the 42nd Street Co".Boxoffice. Vol. 101, no. 22. September 11, 1972. p. E1.ProQuest1476041465.
^ab"Levine & Brandt Top 42nd St. Co".The Independent Film Journal. Vol. 70, no. 7. September 4, 1972. p. 21.ProQuest1014665133.
^Reed, Henry Hope Jr. (October 28, 1962). "Beneath the Squalor, Yesterday's Glamor: the Names of the Astaires, of Barrymore and Belasco, Lawrence and Lillie, Cling to the Cheap Movie Houses of 42nd Street".New York Herald Tribune. p. SM2.ProQuest1325840251.
^abAlbarino, Richard (July 18, 1973). "'Main Drag' Of U.S.A.--42d Street; 5,000,000 Cheapie Tickets Yearly".Variety. Vol. 271, no. 10. pp. 1, 111.ISSN0042-2738.ProQuest963281987.
^McDonough, Jimmy (December 11, 1985). "New York Entertainment: 42d St. Grindhouses: Alternative Outlet For Dusty Subruns Facing Extinction".Variety. Vol. 321, no. 7. pp. 94, 116.ISSN0042-2738.ProQuest1438444052.
^Morehouse, Ward III (November 9, 1977). "A 'Little White Way' for tawdry 42nd St".The Christian Science Monitor. p. 1.ISSN2573-3850.ProQuest511943242.
^Stephens, Suzanne (March 2000)."Four Times Square"(PDF).Architectural Record. Vol. 188. p. 92.Archived(PDF) from the original on September 29, 2021. RetrievedOctober 1, 2021.
^Wellisz, Christopher (August 30, 1981)."Reality News".The New York Times.ISSN0362-4331.Archived from the original on April 10, 2022. RetrievedApril 10, 2022.
^Hummler, Richard (April 7, 1982). "Legitimate: Name Nederlander To Convert New Amsterdam, Harris, 42d St.; Brandt Firm Is Still Negotiating".Variety. Vol. 306, no. 10. pp. 85, 90.ISSN0042-2738.ProQuest1438352463.
^abDuVal, Herb (August 14, 1987). "W. 42nd Street Projects Beginning To Take Shape".Back Stage. Vol. 28, no. 33. pp. 1A, 4A, 10A, 16A.ISSN0005-3635.ProQuest962838257.
^Graves, Michael (October 3, 1987). "Times Square Nonprofit Theatres Plan Announced".Back Stage. Vol. 28, no. 40. pp. 1A, 3A, 4A.ISSN0005-3635.ProQuest962844091.
^"Legitimate: Bids Sought For 42d St. Theaters; 2 For Nonprofits, 4 Commercial".Variety. Vol. 333, no. 1. October 26, 1988. p. 61.ISSN0042-2738.ProQuest1438511816.
^"Legit: Nonprofit groups bid for 42d St., but Broadwayites take a pass".Variety. Vol. 335, no. 5. May 17, 1989. p. 73.ISSN0042-2738.ProQuest1438518205.
^Walsh, Thomas (February 9, 1990). "New Plans For 42nd St. Theatres Arrive, & So Does A New Battle".Back Stage. Vol. 31, no. 6. pp. 1A, 6A.ISSN0005-3635.ProQuest962907555.
^Walsh, Thomas (April 27, 1990). "42nd St. Project Earns OK For Condemnation And Restoration Of Area's Historic Theatres".Back Stage. Vol. 31, no. 17. pp. 1A, 33A, 37A.ISSN0005-3635.ProQuest1286158079.
^Walsh, Thomas (May 20, 1994). "It's a New Victory As 42nd St. Finally Breaks Its Ground".Back Stage. Vol. 35, no. 20. pp. 1, 39.ISSN0005-3635.ProQuest962860132.
^Lyons, Donald (November 21, 1996). "Leisure & Arts: Wondrous One-Woman Shows; Coward at His Best Theater".Wall Street Journal. p. A20.ISSN0099-9660.ProQuest1441184303.
