Circle Theatre
1825 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10023
1825 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10023
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Loew's Inc.
Architects: Charles Cavenaugh, Thomas White Lamb
Styles: Neo-Classical
Previous Names: Circle Music Hall, Loew's Circle Theatre
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Designed by architect Charles Cavenaught and opened in 1901 by Charles Evans and W.D. Mann in Columbus Circle, the Circle Music Hall was designed to present “high class, polite vaudeville” aimed towards middle-class families who at the time called the surrounding area home. However, a neighboring church objected to an entertainment venue so close, and after a nearly-year-long legal battle, the church won out, and Evans and Mann were forced to change their venue to an orchestra hall, which the neighboring populace was not interested in. It was closed by the end of 1901.
In 1902, an agreement was reached with the church and the Music Hall became the Circle Theatre, now under new management, presenting only legitimate theater.
Within a couple years, however, legitimate was out, and vaudeville in. By 1905, when the Colonial Theatre nearby began presenting vaudeville acts, the Circle Theatre switched to burlesque, as well as the occasional early motion picture presentation.
In 1906, the Circle Theatre was completely remodeled by Thomas W. Lamb, raising the auditorium’s roof, adding a second balcony and rebuilt the Broadway facade in stately Neo-Classical style. The same year, the Circle Theatre returned to legitimate theater.
The Circle Theatre’s final legitimate act was in 1909, which was a complete failure, and the Circle Theatre went back to vaudeville and burlesque acts. Loew’s Inc. ran the Circle Theatre as one of its movie houses from the late-1910’s until 1931, when it was closed. It was operated for the next few years as an independent movie theater, until a bomb was exploded there in 1935 during a labor dispute, causing massive damage to the lobby and box office.
The Circle Theatre was gutted in 1939 and rebuilt as the Columbus Circle Roller Rink which survived until 1954 when most of the western side of Columbus Circle was bulldozed for the construction of the New York Convention Center.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
There is a remarkable photo of Columbus Circle, with a view of the exterior of Loew’s Circle Theatre in the book of photographs called “New York, Empire City 1920-45” by Daniel Stravitz. The photo must be from the 1920s silent era because the signage on the theatre reads “Photoplays: Symphony Orchestra and Organ.”
The 1934 Film Daily seat count is 1671.
The 1922 edition of the Brooklyn Eagle Almanac lists the seating caoacity as 1825 as opposed to a 1900 listing as 1671, that being before the Lamb renovation in 1906.
A.K.A. LOEWS CIRCLE.
My grandfather worked there in 1918. Oh, thank God my mother is dead.
The ground site is currently occupied by the corner entrance to the Time-Warner Shopping Center at the intersection of Broadway and West 60th Street. A distinctive marquee for Jazz at Lincoln Center marks the spot 24/7.
This is supposed to be the building that Edward Hopper depicted in his 1936 cityscape painting “The Circle Theater”. https://www.wikiart.org/en/edward-hopper/the-circle-theatre