| Casino Theatre | |
|---|---|
 Casino Theatre, 1900 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Moorish Revival |
| Location | Manhattan,New York City |
| Opened | 1882 |
| Closed | 1930 |
| Demolished | 1930 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect(s) | Francis Hatch Kimball and Thomas Wisedell |
TheCasino Theatre was aBroadway theatre located at 1404 Broadway and West39th Street inNew York City. Built in 1882, it was a leading presenter of mostly musicals and operettas until it closed in 1930.[1]
The theatre was the first in New York to be lit entirely by electricity, popularized thechorus line and later introduced white audiences to African-American shows. It originally seated approximately 875 people, however the theatre was enlarged in 1894 and again in 1905, after a fire, when its capacity was enlarged to 1,300 seats. It hosted a number of long-running comic operas, operettas and musical comedies, includingErminie,Florodora,The Vagabond King andThe Desert Song. It closed in 1930 and was demolished the same year.[2]
The Casino Theatre, designed inMoorish Revival style by architectsFrancis Hatch Kimball and Thomas Wisedell, was the first theatre in New York to be lit entirely by electricity.[3] It was built in 1882 more than 15 blocks north of where the theatre district was then centered, 23rd Street.[2] In 1890, New York's first roof garden was added to the theatre.[4] It originally seated approximately 875 people, however the theatre was enlarged in 1894 and again when it was rebuilt in 1905 after a fire in 1903. The redesigned Casino seated 1,300.[3]
The theatre opened with productions by theMcCaull Comic Opera Company. It was first managed by producer and composerRudolph Aronson, and later by Canary &Lederer from 1894 to 1903, and from 1903 by theShuberts. As the center of the Broadway theatre district moved uptown, north of 42nd Street, the Casino closed in 1930. It was demolished the same year, along with the nearbyKnickerbocker Theatre, to make way for the expandingGarment District.[3]
The Casino hosted a series of successful operettas and other musical theatre pieces in the 1880s and 1890s, including the extraordinarily successfulErminie.[5] In 1891, it premieredCavalleria Rusticana in America, and in 1894 it presented the first Broadwayrevue,The Passing Show. In 1898, it was host to the premiere ofClorindy, or The Origin of the Cake Walk, the first African-American musical to be presented before a white audience.[2]
The theatre is perhaps best remembered, however, as having been the home of the 1900 production of theEdwardian musical comedy,Florodora. In that show, it became the first theatre in New York to feature a chorus line, the "Florodora Sextet". The sextet's original lineup included a number of ladies who would later achieve fame and fortune. The production "elevated the chorus girl into ... an attraction in its own right."[4]Evelyn Nesbit was a chorus girl in the show in 1901.[3] Over the decades, the theatre also became known for its free Christmas presentations for New York children.[2]
Over the next decade, the theatre continued to present musicals and operettas, some of the most successful beingA Chinese Honeymoon (1902),The Earl and the Girl (1905) andThe Chocolate Soldier (1909). During World War I, it hosted transfers of several of thePrincess Theatre musicals, among other musicals, such asThe Blue Paradise (1915) andSometime (1918). In the 1920s, the theatre was the home of several hit operettas, particularlyThe Vagabond King andThe Desert Song.[1] Although the Casino had led themove uptown by the Broadway theatre district,[6] by 1930, most of the theatres had moved even further north, to the West 40s.[7] The last performance was the operaFaust presented by the American Opera Company on January 18, 1930 with tenorCharles Kullman in the title role and sopranoNancy McCord as Marguerite.[6] The theatre was demolished a month later.[1]
40°45′13″N73°59′14″W / 40.75362°N 73.9871°W /40.75362; -73.9871