Herald Square Theatre
1331 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10018
1331 Broadway,
New York,
NY
10018
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Ah, thanks for the clarification.
Acording to Mary C. Henderson’s book “The City and the Theatre” when the Shubert Bros. were leasing the theatre in 1908, they changed the policy to vaudeville and installed comedian Lew Fields as its main attraction.
1907 & 1908 photos added, credit Underwood & Underwood and the Edison Company. (Courtesy of J.J. Sedelmaier)
Both have marquees that read “Lew Fields Herald Square Theatre”. So it must have changed ownership or management at that time.
Ron: 1837 in your comment must be a typo. The Internet Broadway Database says that The French Maid, by Edward E. Rice, opened at the Herald Square Theatre in September, 1897. The length of the run is unknown, but perhaps the date on your clock indicates the closing of the play, an event that was sometimes observed by a ceremony of some sort. It might also commemorate the 100th performance of the play. If it opened in September and had eight or nine performances a week (six evening and two or three matinees) then December 20 would be about right for the 100th performance.
The theater itself was opened in 1883 as the New Park Theatre and was remodeled and reopened as the Herald Square Theatre in 1894.
I have a question about when the Herald Square Theater started. I bought at auction a souvenir clock that was given at the production of “The French Maid” Dec 20 TH in 1837. It was a Rice’s Production. Can you tell me anything about this?
Thanks Ron Biddulph
The May 19, 1883, issue of The American Architect and Building News said that a theater to be built at the northeast corner of Broadway and 35th Street was being designed by architect John Sexton.
The Internet Broadway Database page for this theater says that it was designed by the architectural firm of Rose & Stone. This was the 1894 remodeling project, as noted in the June 16, 1894, issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide.
The original building as designed by Sexton was a single storey. In 1908, the building suffered a fire which led to the removal of the second floor added by Rose & Stone in 1894.
INTERESTING HISTORY.
Another old picture of the Herald Square: View link
According to the book THE TRANSFORMATION OF CINEMA (Eileen Bowser) this started showing movies as Loew’s Herald Square on October 20, 1913 with a program of five reels and evening admission of fifty cents.