The Vanderbilt Theatre was a

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 ...

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 ...

, designed by architect Eugene De Rosa for producer Lyle Andrews. It opened in 1918,"Vanderbilt Theatre (Built: 1918 Demolished: 1954 Closed: 1954"
''Internet Broadway Database'' (Retrieved on February 22, 2008) located at 148 West 48th Street. The theatre was demolished in 1954.

History

The 780-seat theatre hosted the long-running musical ''

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'' from 1919 to 1921. In the mid-1920s, several

Rodgers and Hart Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart' ...

musicals played at the theatre. Andrews lost the theatre during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, and in 1931 it was briefly renamed the Tobis to show German films. The experiment was a failure, and the theatre returned to legitimate use. No new shows played at the theatre from 1939 until 1953, as it was used as a radio studio, first by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, then by ABC, until 1952.

Irving Maidman Irving may refer to: People *Irving (name), including a list of people with the name Fictional characters * Irving, the main character's love interest in Cathy (comic strip) * Lloyd Irving, the main protagonist in the ''Tales of Symphonia'' video ...

purchased the theatre and began to produce new shows in 1953, but the theatre was demolished after only a year, being replaced by a 6-story parking garage.Information from the World-theatres website
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Notable productions

*1919: ''

'' *1926: ''

The Girl Friend ''The Girl Friend'' is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields. This was the longest running show for the trio to that date.Secrest, Meryle. ''Somewhere for me:a biography of Richard Rodgers ...

'' *1926: ''

Peggy-Ann ''Peggy-Ann'' is a musical comedy with music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Lorenz Hart and book by Herbert Fields, based on the 1910 musical '' Tillie’s Nightmare'' by Edgar Smith. Production The musical opened on Broadway at the Vanderbilt The ...

'' *1927: '' A Connecticut Yankee'' *1935: ''

Mulatto (, ) is a racial classification to refer to people of mixed African and European ancestry. Its use is considered outdated and offensive in several languages, including English and Dutch, whereas in languages such as Spanish and Portuguese ...

'' by

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, H ...

References

External links

Former Broadway theatres Demolished theatres in New York City Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan 1918 establishments in New York City 1954 disestablishments in New York (state) Theatres completed in 1918 Buildings and structures demolished in 1954 {{Manhattan-struct-stub