 The Man of the Hour by George Broadhurst playing at the Savoy c. 1907 | |
 | |
| Address | 112 W. 34th St. New York City United States of America |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 841 |
| Current use | Demolished |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1900 |
| Demolished | 1952 |
The Savoy Theatre was a Broadway theatre at 112 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It opened in 1900 (for its first few months as Schley Music Hall). It was converted to a cinema around 1910, until it was closed in early 1952 and then demolished. [nb 1]
George Krause, a manager of other theatres, with financial backing of Tammany Hall politician Timothy D. Sullivan, built Schley Music Hall at 112 West 34th Street, on the south side of the street, and west of Broadway. [1] : 578 The site adjoined the Herald Square Hotel. It had a frontage of 18 feet on 34th Street, and 50 feet on 33rd Street. It seated about 840, but the floor chairs were folding chairs. [2]
It opened on February 26, 1900, aiming to show vaudeville and burlesque fare. Kraus immediately sold out his stake to New York Yankees owner Frank J. Farrell, and the venue closed on April 29. Under a new lease by Alfred Aarons, the house reopened on October 8, 1900, as the Savoy Theatre. Aarons only lasted until early February 1901, and Hyde and Behman then leased it, followed by Charles Frohman and Frank McKee, who started performances on September 21, 1901. Notable runs included Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (Sept. 1903-Jan. 1905, 150 perf.), and The Man of the Hour by George Broadhurst (Dec. 1906-Jan. 1908, 479 perf.) starring Douglas Fairbanks. [3]
Around late 1910, play performances ceased. The venue was leased by Walter Reade Sr. (then Walter Rosenberg), who eventually ran a large chain of movie theatres, and became a movie house. It operated until 1952 (when Reade Sr. also died), and soon the building was demolished. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Savoy opera was a style of comic opera that developed in Victorian England in the late 19th century, with W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan as the original and most successful practitioners. The name is derived from the Savoy Theatre, which impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte built to house the Gilbert and Sullivan pieces, and later those by other composer–librettist teams. The great bulk of the non-G&S Savoy Operas either failed to achieve a foothold in the standard repertory, or have faded over the years, leaving the term "Savoy Opera" as practically synonymous with Gilbert and Sullivan. The Savoy operas were seminal influences on the creation of the modern musical.
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Alfred Baldwin Sloane was an American composer, considered the most prolific songwriter for Broadway musical comedies at the beginning of the 20th century.
John Frederick Zimmerman Sr. (1843–1925) was an American theatre magnate. He was one of the members of the Theatrical Syndicate, which monopolized theatrical bookings in the United States for several years.
The Broadway Theatre near 41st Street was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, New York City, which operated from 1888 to 1929. It was located at 1445 Broadway.
Charlotte Alice Alter was an American actress on stage and in silent films.
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Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, is a 1903 comedy by American author Anne Crawford Flexner. It was based on two books by Alice Hegan Rice, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1901) and Lovey Mary (1903). It has three acts and two settings, all within the "Cabbage Patch", an impoverished neighborhood on the fringes of Louisville, Kentucky. The character-driven play covers three weeks time and has multiple storylines, including an ill-starred mail-order marriage, two refugees from an orphanage, the return of a long-lost husband, and a handful of young romances.
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