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International Theatre
5 Columbus Circle,
New York,
NY
10023
5 Columbus Circle,
New York,
NY
10023
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The New Friends of Rhythm recorded with Maxine Sullivan for International Records in the International Theatre January 20-1, 1947 (Baldwin Street BJH-303). The New Friends of Rhythm recorded an instrumental session March 31, 1947 (Hep CD 1086) The Stuyvesant String Quartet did 3 sessions there, recording Villa-Lobos String Quartet No. 6 May 7, 1947 (Parnassus 96026), Bloch Second Quartet in November, and the Brahms Clarinet Quintet with Alfred Gallodoro December 4-5, 1947 (Bridge 9137) All originally appeared on International Records. Additional info www.alanshulman.com
“It Should Happen to You” is on TCM tonight starring Judy Holiday, Peter Lawford & Jack Lemmon. The billboard that is the focus of the film, is to the right of the entrance of the International Theatre. It was released the same year the theatre was demolished. Link with photo below.
http://onthesetofnewyork.com/itshouldhappentoyou.html
Wizard_Boy: The book does not have a reputation for being perfectly accurate, but for what it may be worth, the listing for the Majestic Theatre in the 1909-1910 edition of Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide gives the dimensions of the proscenium as 37 feet wide and 48 feet high.
A scan of the book, with the Majestic listed on page 81, can be seen at Google Books. The stage dimensions given in the book do not match those Bryan Krefft gives in our introductory description above, and Bryan may have a more accurate source, so you might want to wait and see if he responds, though I’m not sure he’s still watching the site.
Sadly, the only interior photos of the Majestic I’ve found (three of them, at IBDB) don’t include a full view of the proscenium.
What a great blog! I am desperately in need of the dimensions of the actual “proscenium opening” of this theatre for a design project I am working on. Thanks for posting the stage size. If you have the Proscenium measurements or any other specs for the old Majestic I would be most grateful.
Ruth Crosby Dimmick’s 1913 book Our Theatres To-day and Yesterday says that Marcus Lowe took over the Majestic Theatre in December, 1909, and operated it as a movie house until it was taken over by Frank McKee and renamed the Park Theatre in 1911.
In 1934, The Theater of Young America presented “The Chinese Nightingale” with music by my father, Alan Shulman,at the Cosmopolitan Theatre. The show opened on October 5, 1934 and ran for 8 performances. Flora LeBreton starred and the orchestra was conducted by Dr. Francis Gromon. In 1947, as the Majestic Theatre, is was used by International Records to record the Stuyvesant String Quartet and the New Friends of Rhythm. www.alanshulman.com
In 1909 this theater, then being operated as the Majestic by the Shubert organization, was converted for a while into a combination movie and vaudeville house. The article about the Majestic in the June 12, 1909, issue of The Moving Picture World is worth quoting in its entirety for the glimpse it offers of the early days of movie exhibition in large theaters:
Warren’s links posted on May 16, 2008 are still working and are worth checking out. (Where is he, anyway? I miss him.)
I recently saw It Should Happen to You on TCM, starring Judy Holliday and Jack Lemmon, and I noticed the “International” theater’s marquee said it was an NBC television studio.
I believe the big billboard that she puts her name on is the one directly to the right of the theater, which billboard is noticable in all the exterior shots posted here.
Many of Warren’s photo links are no longer working anymore.
Too bad none of the photo links work anymore.
As the UFA Cosmopolitan, this location was German films until at least 1931.
There was a Columbus Theatre at 981 West 8th Avenue and still showing films in 1938. Does anyone know if it was this same location?
According to a publicity booklet put out by the Cinema Verdi for the 1944-45 season, this theatre, for a few months starting on January 14, 1944, was renamed the Cinema Verdi, with a policy of Italian films. With the selling of the theatre, “Cinema Verdi” moved to a new home on 8th Avenue at 41st Street in the Arena Theatre.
The New York Convetion Center and the connected office tower known as 10 Columbus Circle were demolished in the late ‘90s. Construction is underway on the site for the AOL Time Warner’s world headquarters.