The Princess Theatre was a joint venture between the Shubert Brothers, producer Ray Comstock, theatrical agent

Elisabeth Marbury Elisabeth "Bessie" Marbury (June 19, 1856 – January 22, 1933) was a pioneering American theatrical and literary agent and producer who helped shape business methods of the modern commercial theater, and encouraged women to enter that industry. ...

and actor-director

Holbrook Blinn Holbrook Blinn was an American stage and film actor. Early years Blinn was the son of Civil War veteran Col. Charles Blinn and actress Nellie Holbrook-Blinn. He was born in San Francisco and attended Stanford University before he began a career ...

. Built on a narrow slice of land located at 104–106 West 39th Street, just off

Sixth Avenue Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...

in New York City, and seating just 299 people, it was one of the smallest

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''T ...

s when it opened in early 1913. The architect was William A. Swasey, who designed the

Winter Garden Theatre The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre at 1634 Broadway in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It opened in 1911 under designs by architect William Albert Swasey. The Winter Garden's current design dates to 1922, when ...

two years earlier. Kenrick, John
"Demolished Broadway Theatres: Princess"
Musicals101.com, accessed November 12, 2015 Though small, the theatre had a profound effect on the development of American

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

. After producing a series of plays, the theatre hosted a famous series of sophisticated musicals by the team of

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in ove ...

Guy Bolton Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred ...

and P. G. Wodehouse, between 1915 and 1918 that were believable, humorous and musically innovative, and integrated their songs with their stories. These were considered an artistic step forward for American musical theatre, inspiring the next generation of writers and composers. Afterwards, the theatre hosted more plays and later served as a movie theatre and a recreation center. It was torn down in 1955.Mroczka, Paul
"Broadway History: The Princess Musicals, Bigger Was NOT Better"
BroadwayScene.com, July 8, 2013, accessed November 12, 2015

Theatre building

Though fairly drab on the outside, looking like a six-story office building, except for its marquees and gaudy electric sign over the main entrance, the Princess was elegant inside. A blend of Georgian and

French Renaissance The French Renaissance was the cultural and artistic movement in France between the 15th and early 17th centuries. The period is associated with the pan-European Renaissance, a word first used by the French historian Jules Michelet to define th ...

styles, the auditorium contained fourteen rows of seats, twelve boxes off the proscenium arch, and was hailed for its excellent acoustics and sight-lines. The decor included neoclassical inspired plasterwork and antique French tapestries hung from the side walls.

1910s

Originally planned as a venue for short dramatic plays, the early shows at the Princess failed to attract an audience.Bloom and Vlastnik, pp. 230–31 Even so, some of these plays found success elsewhere. For example, ''

Hobson's Choice A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one thing is actually offered. The term is often used to describe an illusion that multiple choices are available. The most well known Hobson's choice is "I'll give you a choice: take it or leav ...

'' (1915) played well in London the following year and became a success on film. Theatre agent

was tasked with booking the theatre to improve its fortunes and approached young

, who suggested a collaboration with

, to write a series of musicals specifically tailored to its smaller setting, with an intimate style and modest budgets. She and Comstock asked for meaningful, modern, sophisticated pieces that would provide an alternative to the star-studded

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own dur ...

s and extravaganzas of Ziegfeld and others or the thinly-plotted, slapdash, gaudy

Edwardian musical comedies Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the Ame ...

and

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 ...

imports from Europe.Bordman, Gerald. "Jerome David Kern: Innovator/Traditionalist", ''The Musical Quarterly'', 1985, Vol. 71, No. 4, pp. 468–73 Kern and Bolton's first "Princess Theatre musical" was ''Nobody Home'' (1915), an adaptation of a 1905 London show by Paul Rubens called ''Mr. Popple (of Ippleton)''. The show was notable for Bolton's realistic take on courtship complications and Kern's song "The Magic Melody", the first Broadway showtune with a basic

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

progression. Their second show, with Philip Bartholomae and lyrics by Schuyler Green, was an original musical called '' Very Good Eddie'' (1915). The little show ran for 341 performances on a modest budgetKenrick, John.
"History of The Musical Stage 1910–1919: Part I", ''Musicals 101.com: The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film''
accessed November 12, 2015 then toured into the 1918–19 season.Slonimsky, Nicholas and Laura Kuhn (ed)
Kern, Jerome (David)"
''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', Volume 3 (Schirmer Reference, New York, 2001), accessed May 10, 2010 (requires subscription) British humorist and lyricist/playwright P. G. Wodehouse had supplied some lyrics for ''Very Good Eddie'' but now joined the team and collaborated with Kern and Bolton at the theatre for '' Oh, Boy!'' (1917), which ran for 463 performances and was one of the first American musicals to have a successful London run. According to Bloom and Vlastnik, ''Oh, Boy!'' represents "the transition from the haphazard musicals of the past to the newer, more methodical modern musical comedy ... the libretto is remarkably pun-free and the plot is natural and unforced. Charm was uppermost in the creators' minds ... the audience could relax, have a few laughs, feel slightly superior to the silly undertakings on stage, and smile along with the simple, melodic, lyrically witty but undemanding songs". Next, the team wrote ''

Oh, Lady! Lady!! ''Oh, Lady! Lady!!'' is a musical with music by Jerome Kern, a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse and lyrics by Wodehouse. It was written for the Princess Theatre on Broadway, where it played in 1918 and ran for 219 performances. The story ...

'' (1918). Two other shows, '' Leave It to Jane'' and ''Have a Heart'', were written by the three in 1917 for the Princess but presented elsewhere. They also wrote several musicals for other theatres, such as ''

Miss 1917 ''Miss 1917'' is a musical revue with a book by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, music by Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern and others, and lyrics by Harry B. Smith, Otto Harbach, Henry Blossom and others. Made up of a string of vignettes, the show fea ...

''. The Princess Theatre shows featured modern American settings and simple scene changes (one set for each act) to more aptly suit the small theatre, eschewing operetta traditions of foreign locales and elaborate scenery. According to historian

Gerald Bordman Gerald Martin Bordman (September 18, 1931 – May 9, 2011) was an American theatre historian, best known for authoring the reference volume ''The American Musical Theatre'', first published in 1978.Simonson, Robert (12 May 2011)Gerald Bordman, Th ...

, writing in ''

The Musical Times ''The Musical Times'' is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom and currently the oldest such journal still being published in the country. It was originally created by Joseph Mainzer in 1842 as ''Mainzer ...

'',

The collaboration among Kern, Bolton and Wodehouse was much praised. An anonymous admirer (believed by some critics to be the young

Lorenz Hart Lorenz Milton Hart (May 2, 1895 – November 22, 1943) was an American lyricist and half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart. Some of his more famous lyrics include "Blue Moon", " The Lady Is a Tramp", "Manhattan", " Bewitched, B ...

),Steyn, Mark. "Musical debt to a very good Guy", ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', November 28, 1984, p 12 wrote a verse in praise of the trio that begins: :This is the trio of musical fame, :Bolton and Wodehouse and Kern. :Better than anyone else you can name :Bolton and Wodehouse and Kern. In February 1918,

Dorothy Parker Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles. From a conflicted and unhap ...

wrote in ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'': ''Oh, Lady! Lady!!'' was the last successful "Princess Theatre show". Kern and Wodehouse disagreed over money, and the composer decided to move on to other projects. Kern's importance to the partnership was illustrated by the fate of the last musical of the series, ''

Oh, My Dear! ''Oh, My Dear!'' was a Broadway musical comedy in two acts with book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, and music by Louis A. Hirsch. The play was produced by William Elliott and F. Ray Comstock and opened under the direction of Robert ...

'' (1918), to which he did not contribute. It was composed by Louis Hirsch, and ran for 189 performances: "Despite a respectable run, everyone realized there was little point in continuing the series without Kern." Musicals by other teams followed at the theatre, but without especial success.

1920s

In 1922, drama returned to the Princess for another seven years, but success did not. The theatre's most popular plays in this decade were ''Diff'rent'' by

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of realism, earli ...

(1921) and a production of ''

Six Characters in Search of an Author ''Six Characters in Search of an Author'' ( it, Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore, link=no ) is an Italian play by Luigi Pirandello, written and first performed in 1921. An absurdist metatheatric play about the relationship among authors, the ...

'' (1922). After a brief stint as the Lucille La Verne Theatre in 1928, the Shuberts sold the theatre. In 1929, the ''New York Theatre Assembly'' took over the Princess, and renamed it the Assembly Theatre. However, within half a year, the theatre was closed, and remained unused until 1933, when it reopened as the Reo Theatre, and was, like so many other former legitimate houses, now being used as a movie theatre. A year later, the

International Ladies Garment Workers Union The International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union (ILGWU), whose members were employed in the women's clothing industry, was once one of the largest labor unions in the United States, one of the first U.S. unions to have a primarily female memb ...

(ILGWU) acquired the theatre, and used it as a recreation center for neighborhood workers.

1930s to 1950s

However, in 1937, legitimate theatre returned to the theatre, now called the Labor Stage, with a surprise hit. The

Pins and Needles ''Pins and Needles'' (1937) is a musical revue with a book by Arthur Arent, Marc Blitzstein, Emmanuel Eisenberg, Charles Friedman, David Gregory, Joseph Schrank, Arnold B. Horwitt, John Latouche, and Harold Rome, and music and lyrics by Rome. ...

'' became the longest-running Broadway show of the day, running for 1,108 performances. When the show moved to the Windsor Theatre, the ILGWU reclaimed the Labor Stage briefly as its recreation hall. On October 5, 1947,

Elia Kazan Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...

Cheryl Crawford Cheryl Crawford (September 24, 1902 – October 7, 1986) was an American theatre producer and director. Biography Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation in 1925, she moved to New York City and ...

, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow met in a rehearsal space at the Labor Stage to form what would become the

Actors Studio The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founde ...

.Carnicke, Sharon Marie
''Stanislavsky in Focus''
Routledge (1998), p. 47 The same year, movies returned to the theatre, now renamed the Cinema Dante, screening foreign features. A year later, it got another name change, The Little Met, and in 1952, yet one final name, the Cine Verdi. By the mid-50s, the old Princess was on the outskirts of the theatre district, which had migrated north, and in 1955, the little theatre was torn down, replaced by an office building.

Selected productions

*''Fear'' (1913) *'' The Critic'' (1915) *''

'' (1915) *''Nobody Home'' (1915) *'' Very Good Eddie'' (1915) *''

Oh, Boy! (musical) ''Oh, Boy!'' is a musical in two acts, with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse. The story concerns befuddled George, who elopes with Lou Ellen, the daughter of Judge Carter. He must win over her parents and h ...

'' (1917) *''

'' (1918) *''

'' (1918) *'' Diff'rent'' (1921) *''

'' (1922) *''Mister Malatesta'' (1923) *''

'' (1937)

Notes

References

*Bloom, Ken and Vlastnik, Frank. ''Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of all Time.'' Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York, 2004. *Green, Benny. ''P. G. Wodehouse – A Literary Biography'', Pavilion Books, London, 1981. *Jasen, David. ''P. G. Wodehouse – Portrait of a Master'', Garnstone Press, London, 1974.

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Theatre New York City 1913-1955 Former Broadway theatres Former theatres in Manhattan Theatres completed in 1913 Buildings and structures demolished in 1955 1913 establishments in New York City 1955 disestablishments in New York (state) Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan