New Victory Theater

That shot is a great example of how the 42nd Street theaters had fun programming their double feature revivals….Kings Go Forth & Kings of the Sun. They frequently booked Man With The Gun & Man Without A Star.

The theatre address has always been 209 West 42nd Street. 229 West 42nd Street are the operating offices.

They were on the Daily News site a couple of weeks ago.

From LIFE comes this undated photo of Lillian Gish standing before a 42nd Street & Belasco posters,
View link

To revive the discussion that took place in April, 2006, about the architect of this theater, at least one author (architectural historian Gerard R. Wolfe) credits both Albert E. Westover and John B. McElfatrick for the design of the Republic Theatre. The 3rd edition of Wolfe’s “New York: 15 Walking Tours” says that Westover designed the theater in 1899, and McElfatrick was responsible for the renovation of the house the following year. Wolfe does not mention the remodeling for David Belasco, which some sources say was done by Bigelow, Wallis & Cotton. He does mention that the 1995 restoration was done by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer.

For what it’s worth, the Wikipedia article on the New Victory also credits Westover (but only Westover) for the design, and cites the 4th edition of the “AIA Guide to New York City”, by Norval White and Eliot Willensky as a source. I don’t have the AIA Guide, but from the snippet views available at Google Books, it looks like the 4th edition doesn’t mention either McElfatrick or Bigelow, Wallis & Cotton in connection with this theater at all.

But another vote for McElfatrick & Sons comes from a PDF of a 1987 document from New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (available here) which is about the Hudson Theatre, but which mentions the Republic as one of the theaters designed by McElfatrick. This paper gives the building date as 1900, but both Wolfe’s Guide and the AIA Guide date the original construction to 1899.

Interestingly, the Hudson’s architectural pedigree was once in question as well, and the Preservation Commission researcher checked the theater’s plans on file at the New York Buildings Department and found that while McElfatrick did the early drawings, most of the Hudson’s design was attributable to the firm of Israels & Harder. Somebody will probably have to check the building records for the Republic as well, before we can be sure who did what to it and when.

Here is a May 1965 photo from the Daily News:
http://tinyurl.com/m839xx

Here is a 1973 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/clvc8b

Renewing link.

I couldn’t re-find the NY theatre where the relevance of posting old theatre phone numbers was questioned.

I for one relish the little tidbits of information like that. As much as the various organ makes, year of installation, etc.

In Chicago, the phone numbers used to sometimes corrolate to the neighborhoods. Mohawk4-2700, etc.
Seeing those style numbers for instance sparked my memory that Chicago’s Esquire was once Whitehall7-1111. One famous local defunct carpet company was Bouchelle. Who’s number Hudson3-2700 was sung in commercials by a booming bass voice that went so low on the 700 part, it was copied for years.

I guess my point is that seeing those old numbers posted for any theatre, might wake up memories in some that could end up being relevant to other theatres, and so on. Especially when it comes to the surrounding neighborhood of the theatre’s in their past.

sure, my pleasure. I read again some of the posts above and indeed they’re very informative as well. This is a great site and resource.

The second floor exit (at the top of the stoop is the exit for people after a show) was boarded up. There was a little anxiety as to what we would discover when floors/walls were opened, but as you can see everything turned out great. As you can imagine, when the stoop was removed some time ago and a marquee put up with a store front entrance below, the distance between the front door and the seating inside was very minimal, greatly reducing the lobby area. This was one of the side purposes of putting the stoop back in place, to allow the lobby to function again as a gathering place.

I’m sure your photo of the banister is original… the conservationist in charge (Jay Cardinal was the lead conservationist) made sure that all the colors were as in the original structure (they microscopically peeled back the layers of paint for every surface). The ceiling is also original… it is a relatively thin layer of plaster suspended from the roof structure by wires. Unfortunately a worker stepped on this ceiling and fell through during the renovation even though that area was fenced in (there’s a cat walk that spans across above the dome).

I know we took great care to preserve the architecture while incorporating modern features like lighting, a better stage pit, etc. You may not be aware but there is another building attached to the Victory at the rear, which fronts onto 43rd Street. It is used for dressing, stage props, etc. The existing dressing rooms where no more than a mirror and table top in corridors flanking the stage at different levels.

The original condition: well everything was painted a dark maroon, the carpet was sticky and I wouldn’t sit in any of the seats… lol. I wouldn’t say it was in shambles, that is, it could function safely although it wouldn’t meet ADA Handicap or for that matter restroom facility requirements. I believe the balcony was closed as were the upper offices. It was my idea to put the bathrooms, coat check and the like in the basement to give those functions the room they needed. As you know the ground floor is spaciously very tight.

Last, I believe I remember right that the theater was named ‘Victory Theater’ in the 40’s, as part of our WWII heritage. I’d have to search to find previous name(s). It was renamed ‘New Victory Theater’ for what you see today. I have a report somewhere where I outline the history of the Victory along with photos, and our planning, etc.

I’m glad I found this site and page… I was the Architect who, after researching historical photos proposed to the lead Architect (HHPA) and the Times Square Development Agency, that we try and get the stoop rebuilt as it was along with the entire facade. There was a bit of concern over the idea, but after convincing them that the sidewalk could handle pedestrian traffic, that ‘this was the first rehabilitation for Times Square Theaters’ and that it would help us with the interior program elements, especially the ticket booth and exiting of patrons, they jumped on board and got city approvals. With that I created a very detailed drawing of the stoop and facade which was incorporated into the construction documents.

The current seating count is as we found it except that I had to reduce 2 rows at the top of the balcony (approx 15 seats) to accommodate spot lighting stations.
You can view my photo of the New Victory Theater here: View link and on the next page. I’ll see if I can dig up my reconstruction drawing of the stoop and facade. There used to be a beautiful interior office and a roof dance hall, kind of cabana style entertainment.

Ugh! Let’s try it again!!! I have to get into the habit of using that PREVIEW button!