Pike's Opera House, later renamed the Grand Opera House, was a theater in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on the northwest corner of 8th Avenue and 23rd Street, in the

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. It was constructed in 1868, at a cost of a million dollars (equivalent to about

US dollars The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

in ), for distiller and entrepreneur Samuel N. Pike (1822–1872) of

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

. The building survived in altered form until 1960 as an RKO movie theater, after which it was replaced by part of

Penn South Penn South, officially known as Mutual Redevelopment Houses and formerly Penn Station South, is a limited-equity
on the ...

, an

urban renewal Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...

housing development.Pike was a German Jew, born in 1822 in

Schwetzingen Schwetzingen (; pfl, Schwetzinge) is a German town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim. Schwetzingen is one of the five biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and a medium-si ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

, Germany. His birth name was "Samuel N. Hecht"; his family changed the name in 1827 in the USA to "Pike". See: Rehs, Michael. ''Wurzeln in fremder Erde: Zur Geschichte der südwestdeutschen Auswanderung nach Amerika'' (Stuttgart: DRW-Verlag (de), 1984) ; .

History

Pike's Opera House was built on what had been the property of

Clement Clarke Moore Clement Clarke Moore (July 15, 1779 – July 10, 1863) was an American writer, scholar and real estate developer. He is best known as author of the Christmas poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas." Moore was Professor of Oriental and Greek Literature ...

, whose home, "Chelsea", has given its name to the neighborhood. The architect was Griffith Thomas. The grand auditorium was seventy feet from parquet to

dome A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...

, with six

proscenium A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...

boxes and two tiers. It could accommodate 1800 people, but over 3500 were known to have gained admittance at some popular performances. The first performance, on January 9, 1868, was ''

Il trovatore ''Il trovatore'' ('The Troubadour') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto largely written by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''El trovador'' (1836) by Antonio García Gutiérrez. It was García Gutiérrez's mos ...

'', after which seven

operettas Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach (, also , , ; 20 June 18195 October 1880) was a German-born French composer, cellist and impresario of the Romantic period. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s to the 1870s, and his uncompleted opera ' ...

were given in the space of four months. But the theater lost money initially, owing in part to competition from the Academy of Music on 14th Street.

Fisk and the Grand Opera House

Jim Fisk and

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him ...

bought Pike's theater in January 1869 and renamed it the Grand Opera House. Fisk extended the repertory to include more

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

—Offenbach's ''

La Périchole ''La Périchole'' () is an opéra bouffe in three acts by Jacques Offenbach. Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy wrote the French libretto based on the 1829 one act play ''Le carrosse du Saint-Sacrement'' by Prosper Mérimée, which was revived on 1 ...

'' had already received its American premiere there, January 4, 1869—and plays, like

Victorien Sardou Victorien Sardou ( , ; 5 September 18318 November 1908) was a French dramatist. He is best remembered today for his development, along with Eugène Scribe, of the well-made play. He also wrote several plays that were made into popular 19th-centur ...

's ''La Patrie'', expressly translated for the theater. Vehicles for his mistress

Josie Mansfield Helen Josephine Mansfield (December 15, 1847 – October 27, 1931) – known as "Josie" – was an American woman who became famous when one of her two wealthy lovers murdered the other. Early life Mansfield was a descendant of many colonial fa ...

are often reported, though her name does not appear in the detailed cast lists in Brown. It was also reported, that her house west of the theater on 23rd Street was connected to the theater by a tunnel.

Frances Farmer Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913August 1, 1970) was an American actress and television hostess. She appeared in over a dozen feature films over the course of her career, though she garnered notoriety for sensationalized accounts of her l ...

portrayed her in the wildly inaccurate film ''

The Toast of New York ''The Toast of New York'' is a 1937 American biopic directed by Rowland V. Lee and starring Edward Arnold, Cary Grant, Frances Farmer, and Jack Oakie. The film is a fictionalized account of the lives of financiers James Fisk and Edward S. St ...

'' (1937).

Fisk's murder

At the time when Fisk and Gould's failed attempt to corner the market in gold resulted in " Black Friday", September 1869, Fisk barricaded himself in his second-floor premises at the opera house, which served as headquarters for his

Erie Railway The Erie Railroad was a railroad that operated in the northeastern United States, originally connecting New York City — more specifically Jersey City, New Jersey, where Erie's Pavonia Terminal, long demolished, used to stand — with Lake Eri ...

. When he was shot by his partner, Edward S. Stokes, Fisk's body lay in state in the grand lobby. Grand Opera House, Manhattan

Poole and Donnelly

In 1876, when the authorities began cracking down on theatre fire safety, the Grand Opera House was the only theatre to pass inspection. A rapid series of managers were unable to make the house a financial success, its overhead swallowing profit. "The house was considered, in theatrical parlance, a 'Jonah', and it was almost impossible to find any respectable manager who would take it," according to theater critic Thomas Allston Brown. When John F. Poole (1833–1893) and Thomas Lester Donnelly (1832–1880) rented the theatre in the Autumn of 1876, with the proviso that "a small percentage of the profits should go to the Erie Railway company". The new management lowered the price of admission and catered to the popular tastes of New York's "west side": ''

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...

'' (in

blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...

) and

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years ...

were among the first season's attractions; theatrical productions were accompanied by "specialty acts". When Donnelly died in 1880, Poole, in partnership with Donnelly's widow, Sarah Donnelly ''(née'' Sarah D. Williams; 1840–1888), continued managing the theatre until May 31, 1882.

RKO cinema

For its conversion to the second RKO 23rd Street Theater, Thomas W. Lamb Associates converted it in modern style. It opened August 4, 1938 with a double bill of '' Having a Wonderful Time'' and ''

Sky Giant ''Sky Giant'', also known as ''Ground Crew'' and ''Northern Flight'', is a 1938 drama film directed by Lew Landers. The film stars Richard Dix, Chester Morris and Joan Fontaine. The plot revolves around a love triangle with two pilots in love with ...

''. It closed for demolition on June 15, 1960, in order to make way for the

Penn South Penn South, officially known as Mutual Redevelopment Houses and formerly Penn Station South, is a limited-equity
on the ...

housing development, and was gutted by fire June 29. RKO Pictures later constructed a new theater called Chelsea West Cinemas in Penn South just west of the old opera house, now used by the

School of Visual Arts The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

as the

SVA Theater The School of Visual Arts New York City (SVA NYC) is a private for-profit art school in New York City. It was founded in 1947 and is a member of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design. History This school was started by ...

References

Notes Sources

External links

*
"Grand Opera House"
''Internet Broadway Database'' website {{Coord, 40.745566, -73.998563, format=dms, type:landmark_region:US-NY, display=title Former music venues in New York City Former theatres in Manhattan 1868 establishments in New York (state) Buildings and structures demolished in 1960 Demolished theatres in New York City Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Chelsea, Manhattan Theatres completed in 1868 Music venues completed in 1868 23rd Street (Manhattan) Eighth Avenue (Manhattan)