Chase's Theater And Riggs Building
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Chase's Theater and Riggs Building, also known as the Keith-Albee Theater and the Keith-Albee Building, was a historic building located at 1426 G Street and 615-627 15th Street,
Northwest, Washington, D.C. Northwest (NW or N.W.) is the northwestern quadrant of Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and is located north of the National Mall and west of North Capitol Street. It is the largest of the four quadrants of the city (NW, NE, S ...
, in the city's
Downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...
area.


History

The Beaux-Arts theater was originally designed by
Jules Henri de Sibour Jules Gabriel Henri de Sibour (December 23, 1872 – November 4, 1938) was a French architect who worked in Washington, DC. Early life He was born in Paris, France, to Vicomte Gabriel de Sibour and Mary Louisa Johnson of Belfast, Maine. He mov ...
, and built in 1912, for Plimpston B. Chase. He sold the theater to B.F. Keith in 1913. It was a part of the B.F. Keith
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...
circuit, which became a part of the
Keith-Albee-Orpheum The Keith-Albee-Orpheum Corporation was the owner of a chain of vaudeville and motion picture theatres. It was formed by the merger of the holdings of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II and Martin Beck (vaudeville), Martin Beck's ...
chain, and then
RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...
.
William Howard Taft William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
attended the opening in 1912, and
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...
regularly attended. Entertainers included:
Will Rogers William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahoma ...
,
Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...
,
Rudy Vallée Hubert Prior Vallée (July 28, 1901 – July 3, 1986), known professionally as Rudy Vallée, was an American singer, saxophonist, bandleader, actor, and entertainer. He was the first male singer to rise from local radio broadcasts in New York Ci ...
,
Laurel and Hardy Laurel and Hardy were a British-American double act, comedy duo during the early Classical Hollywood cinema, Classical Hollywood era of American cinema, consisting of Englishman Stan Laurel (1890–1965) and American Oliver Hardy (1892–1957) ...
, and
ZaSu Pitts ZaSu Pitts (; January 3, 1894 – June 7, 1963) was an American actress who, in a career spanning nearly five decades, starred in many silent film drama film, dramas, such as Erich von Stroheim's 1924 epic ''Greed (1924 film), Greed'', along wi ...
. In 1956, RKO sold the building, to
Morris Cafritz Morris Cafritz ( - June 13, 1964) was a Washington, D.C. real estate developer, and philanthropist. As CEO of the Cafritz Company, he was Washington, D.C.'s largest private developer from the late 1920's to the early 1960's. Early life and educa ...
for $1.55 million. In 1959, he offered to sell the building to the city as a performing arts center, but the city would not assume the $1.5 million mortgage. The movie theater closed in 1978; it was placed on the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
. In March 1978, the
United States Commission of Fine Arts The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (CFA) is an independent agency of the federal government of the United States, and was established in 1910. The CFA has review (but not approval) authority over the "design and aesthetics" of all construction wit ...
recommended saving the facade of the Keith-Albee Theater and National Metropolitan Bank. In 1979, the D.C. Superior Court halted demolition of the Keith Albee building, but then allowed demolition of the interior. The developer said he would preserve the historic facade of the Keith-Albee theater building, if he could demolish
Rhodes' Tavern Rhodes Tavern is the site of a historic tavern in the early history of Washington, D.C. It was located at 15th Street and F Street, Northwest, Washington, D.C. History It was built in 1799 by Bennett Fenwick on land he had purchased in 1797. It ...
. It is now the Metropolitan Square office building.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in the District of Columbia This is a list of properties and historic district, districts in Washington, D.C., on the National Register of Historic Places. There are more than 600 listings, including 74 National Historic Landmarks of the United States and another 13 places o ...
* Theater in Washington D.C.


References


External links

* http://www.streetsofwashington.com/2010/05/vaudeville-and-other-high-drama-at-15th.html * http://www.wikimapia.org/4468154/Metropolitan-Square {{Registered Historic Places Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Art Deco architecture in Washington, D.C. Theatres in Washington, D.C. Theatres completed in 1938 Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington, D.C. Individually listed contributing properties to historic districts on the National Register in Washington, D.C.