Metropolis Theatre opened as a
theater
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The performers may communi ...
with 1,600 seats in 1893. It was converted to show
motion picture
A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, since ...
s by 1914 as competition from the
Bronx Opera House (1913) took hold. It was in the southwest of the area known as the
Hub.
[Richard Butsc]
For Fun and Profit
the transformation of leisure into consumption
The ''Spirit of the Times
The ''Spirit of the Times: A Chronicle of the Turf, Agriculture, Field Sports, Literature and the Stage'' was an American weekly newspaper published in New York City. The paper aimed for an upper class, upper-class readership made up largely ...
'' reported on the new theater, the only one above 125th Street in an area made newly accessible by elevated
An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train or el for short) is a railway with the Track (rail transport), tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concre ...
, cable, and trolley cars, in its September 4, 1897 issue noting it was managed by Mortimer Theiss with a Klaw & Erlanger
Klaw and Erlanger was an entertainment management and production partnership of Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger, Abraham Lincoln Erlanger based in New York City from 1888 through 1919. While running their own considerable and multi-faceted theatric ...
company performing ''In Gay New York
''In Gay New York'' is a musical revue with a script by C. M. S. McLellan, under his pseudonym Hugh Morton, and music by Gustave Kerker. The story revolves around two newlyweds from Maine who come to New York City, do some sightseeing, and see b ...
'' The theatre was decorated in "very rich and very artistic" green, gold, and pink. It had a proscenium arch
A proscenium (, ) is the virtual 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 itself, which serves as the frame ...
adorned with a picture "of" Giovanni Giovanni may refer to:
* Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname
* Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data
* ''Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend of ...
a depicting "a group of maids and lads dancing to sylvan pipe
Pipe(s), PIPE(S) or piping may refer to:
Objects
* Pipe (fluid conveyance), a hollow cylinder following certain dimension rules
** Piping, the use of pipes in industry
* Smoking pipe
** Tobacco pipe
* Half-pipe and quarter pipe, semi-circular ...
s and capturing kisses". The image was said to have exhibited at the Paris Salon
The Salon (), or rarely Paris Salon (French: ''Salon de Paris'' ), beginning in 1667 was the official art exhibition of the in Paris. Between 1748 and 1890 it was arguably the greatest annual or biennial art event in the Western world. At the ...
.
According to John McNamara, performers at the theater included Francis X. Bushman, Leo Dietrichstein
Leo is the Latin word for lion. It most often refers to:
* Leo (constellation), a constellation of stars in the night sky
* Leo (astrology), an astrological sign of the zodiac
* Leo (given name), a given name in several languages, usually masc ...
, Clara Kimball Young
Clara Kimball Young (born Edith Matilda Clara Kimball;
September 6, 1890 – October 15, 1960) was an American film actress who was popular in the early silent film era.
Early life
Edith Matilda Clara Kimball was born in Chicago on Septembe ...
and Pat Rooney. He wrote that the theatre basement was a Rathskeller
Ratskeller (German: "council's cellar", pl. ''Ratskeller'', historically ''Rathskeller'') is a name in German-speaking countries for a bar or restaurant located in the basement of a city hall (''Rathaus'') or nearby. Many taverns, nightclubs, b ...
while on top of the building there was a roof garden
A roof garden is a garden on the roof of a building. Besides the decorative benefit, roof plantings may provide food, temperature control, hydrological benefits, architectural enhancement, habitats or corridors for wildlife, recreational oppo ...
.
Robert W. Snyder
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, prais ...
's ''The Voice of the City: Vaudeville and Popular Culture in New York'' gives a brief history of the Metropolis on page 94, stating that Loew's never operated the Metropolis as a theater and previous owners hosted 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 ...
, films, Italian stage shows, and finally burlesque
A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects. (precipitating a shut down by the police in 1926).
The Metropolis closed in 1926 and Loews used it for storage of the chains scenery, curtains, and draperies used in vaudeville and stage shows (until they were phased out) as well as for a shop that produced the signs and posters displayed at the chain's theaters. It was mostly demolished in the 1940s, leaving behind only facade. It was located at the corner of Third Avenue and 142nd Street.[Ken Ro]
Metrolpolis Theatre
Cinema Treasures
References
External links
photo of the building's remaining facade
{{coord, 40, 48.77, 0, N, 73, 55.43, 0, W, type:landmark_globe:earth_region:US-NY, display=title
Theatres in the Bronx
1893 establishments in New York (state)
Vaudeville theaters