Wieting Opera House

Last updated

The Wieting Opera House c. 1905 Wieting opera house postcard c. 1905 (cropped).jpg
The Wieting Opera House c. 1905

The Wieting Opera House was a performance hall in Syracuse, New York, that hosted operas, films, and other performances from 1852 to 1930. Initially built by John Wieting in 1852 as Wieting Hall, the building burnt down in 1856. He rebuilt it that year, and in 1870 renovated the hall into an opera house. Towards the end of the 19th century, the opera house was a major theater in the Eastern United States, and held test performances of shows that were bound for performance on Broadway in New York City. The opera house burnt down in 1881 and 1896, and was rebuilt both times, the second time by Wieting's wife, Mary Elizabeth Wieting. The opera house began showing movies in the early 20th century, and closed in 1930, when it was replaced with a parking garage.

Contents

Wieting Hall

Wieting Block and Wieting Opera House in Clinton Square in Syracuse, New York 1913 from Erie Canal bridge Wieting-opera-house 1913.jpg
Wieting Block and Wieting Opera House in Clinton Square in Syracuse, New York 1913 from Erie Canal bridge

The block in Syracuse on which the Wieting Opera House was located, near Clinton Square, was initially a hardware store, shoe store, and "granite hall", a performance hall. The block burnt in 1849 [1] [2] or 1851, and was rebuilt shortly afterwards, as a large building with a hall on top [2] by Charles A. Wheaton and Horace Wheaton. Their hall was the city's first to have a gallery. [3]

The building was purchased by John Wieting [2] in 1850. [4] Wieting, who had made a fortune in lecturing, felt that Syracuse did not have a public hall that was proportionally large enough for the city. [5] He either funded improvements [2] or the building of a new hall in 1852. [6] The hall was opened on December 16, 1852. [7] Wieting had plans to develop his building further, but before he could, [3] it burnt down on January 5, 1856. [6] [5] The fire almost razed the whole building; just the left wall was left standing. [7] Firefighters who responded were unable to contain the fire at first as the water they were attempting to use froze. [1] The damages were estimated at $200,000. No notable performances had been held in the hall at that point. [3]

Wieting oversaw the building of the second Wieting Hall in its place. Construction was completed in around 100 days and the hall opened on December 9, 1856. [7] [2] [3] The hall was one story above the street and had an entrance on Salina Street, while the stage was to the west. A gallery went from the stage around the hall. Seating was first interlocked wooden chairs, but these were later replaced with "opera chairs". [8] This hall became known for hosting various speakers. It held lectures from figures including Charles Dickens, Thurlow Weed, Dean Richmond, John Kelly, Charles Sumner, Henry Ward Beecher, Roscoe Conkling, Horace Greeley, [1] [9] Ralph Waldo Emerson, Buffalo Bill, [10] Peter Cagger, Wendell Phillips, Samuel J. Tilden, Henry Jarvis Raymond, Stephen A. Douglas, John Albion Andrew, John Brough, Edwin D. Morgan, John Sherman, Gerrit Smith, William Lloyd Garrison, Hannibal Hamlin, Samuel Joseph May, Chester A. Arthur, John Van Buren, Horatio Seymour, and Anna Elizabeth Dickinson. [11]

The hall also held performances, with singers such as Adelina Patti, Christina Nilsson, and Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa. [1] Others who performed include Edwin Booth, [12] Edwin Forrest, [13] Joseph K. Emmett, Charlotte Cushman, Harrigan and Hart, Ellen Terry, Lillian Russell, Sarah Bernhardt, [1] Fanny Janauschek, John McCullough, Lawrence Barrett, Joseph Jefferson, [11] and Henry Irving. [14] During the 1860s, Wieting Hall hosted many minstrel shows by performers including Lew Benedict, Primrose and West, and Charles, Daniel and Gus Frohman. [3]

Political Conventions

The hall was regularly the site of state conventions for political parties; [15] the historian Franklin H. Chase stated that it held more conventions than any other American hall. [3] Wieting Hall held the New York State convention of the Democratic Party in 1858; after beginning at noon the party could not resolve existing divisions and a disagreement arose over who should chair the meeting. Tensions rose high, and one chair was forcibly removed from his role. [16] In August 1860 it served as the site of newly formed Republican Party of New York's convention. [17] Future governor Edwin Morgan received the nomination. It was the site of pledges to the Union during the American Civil War, [1] and a two-lecture series on November 14 and 15, 1861, by Frederick Douglass, titled "The Rebellion, its Cause and Remedy". In anticipation of Douglass's arrival, some Syracuse residents protested his visit; a handbill was circulated advocating for citizens to "drive him from our city!" Syracuse's mayor, Charles Andrews, fearing a mob might attack Douglass, deployed the police and drafted 50 additional men. He was joined in his efforts by the county sheriff and soldiers training at a nearby camp. Wieting refused to cancel Douglass's performance, and he arrived to a hall that was protected with soldiers and greeted by Andrews himself. [18]

Ruins of the Opera House after the 1881 fire Ruins of the Wieting Opera House.jpg
Ruins of the Opera House after the 1881 fire

The 1861 convention of the New York State Teachers Association was held at the hall, with speeches from figures including Susan B. Anthony. [19] Dickens visited Syracuse in 1868 and read from A Christmas Carol and The Pickwick Papers for a reported two hours. [9] In September 1871 Roscoe Conkling took leadership of the New York State Republican party at a convention at the Wieting. [20] One of the last conventions held there was of the Liberal party in 1872. [15]

Wieting Opera House

Twenty-four years after it opened, in 1870, Wieting had the building renamed the Wieting Opera House as part of a series of renovations. The building opened under its new name on September 19, 1870. [7] It had a seating capacity of 1,017, [a] and, despite its name, did not have a true opera performance until an 1886 performance by the American Opera Company. Foster Hirsch notes that opera was "not intended to be the theatre's staple" and the name merely offered a "respectable cover". [21] In 1878 the hall hosted a convention of the National Liberal League. [22] One of the last performances was Sarah Bernhardt, who appeared in March 1881 in Camille. [1] The opera house caught fire on July 19, 1881, and was again burnt to the ground. Losses from the fire were estimated at $400,000, and it was again rebuilt, [5] [23] with the purchase of additional land. [2] The new opera house was the first building in Syracuse to have incandescent lighting. [24] It opened on September 18, 1883. [2] [14] Upon Wieting's death in 1888, his wife, Mary Elizabeth Wieting, inherited his estate and began managing the opera house. [25]

The Syracuse University Alma Mater's first performance was under the title "Song of Syracuse" at the Wieting on March 15, 1893. [26] [27] [28]

This hall burnt down on September 3, 1896, [29] and Mary Wieting funded a rebuilding, [7] which opened on September 16, 1897. [29] She had been involved in the reconstruction, attempting to make the opera house "absolutely fire-proof" and offering suggestions to Oscar Cobb as he designed the new building. [30] It was sometimes referred to as the "New Wieting Opera House". [31] The building was heavily decorated, colored gold and rose, with chandeliers, floors made from Italian mosaic, silk and velvet drapes, and doors made from bronze. [21]

The Shubert brothers managed the opera house for almost 25 years beginning in the early 1900s. [14] In September 1918, Lee and J. J. Shubert, attempted to file a legal suit in order to force the name of the building to be changed to the "Shubert–Wieting Opera House", which Wieting had her agent respond to by saying that such a change would be in "violation of the theatre lease and will not be countenanced". [32]

Notable performances and reputation

Wieting Opera House interior, 1878 Weiting Opera House interior.jpg
Wieting Opera House interior, 1878

At its peak, the Wieting was considered "one of the premiere theaters in the East". Its construction and the presence of several similar theaters developed the city into a place to try-out plays that would later go to be performed on Broadway. [33] [34] The theater was a member of The Theatrical Syndicate, which gave it "first claim" on a number of Broadway shows and revivals in the area. In 1889 Mary Wieting hired Sam S. Shubert as a treasurer, and two years later made him house manager. He in turn hired his brother, Levi. Sam progressed his career here for a time, producing his first show circa 1896 with a production of A Texas Steer . However, he left to manage the Bastable Theatre, a local competitor to the Wieting, in December 1897. Shubert led the Bastable in competition with the Wieting and the greater Theatrical Syndicate. [35]

According to the 2008 book Our Movie Houses, "all the big stars of the Broadway stage performed at the Wieting during the later decades of the nineteenth century." [36] A 1930 article in the Syracuse Herald claimed that "[e]very theatrical star of any consequence in America since 1850 has appeared at the Wieting." [14] Notable actors and lecturers that performed at the Wieting Opera House during this era include Lillian Russell, Victor Herbert, Helena Modjeska, [36] Ellen Terry, [9] and Mark Twain. [37] The hall hosted a popular series of Gilbert and Sullivan shows. [3]

The first performance in the Wieting Opera House in 1870 was The Lancers . [38] The first performance in the Wieting after it was reconstructed in 1882 was Romeo and Juliet starring Hortense Rhéa. [14] In 1883 the Wieting held a performance The Maid of Arran , musical by Syracuse native L. Frank Baum. The stop was very successful; a local paper described a "very large and fashionable audience." Baum had the Wieting give out free copies of the musical's sheet music to attendees. [24] The following year an October 4 performance of Prince Methusalem by the New York Opera Company began late after the company was unable to pay for transport to Syracuse due to a poor reception in Elmira, New York. The audience, described in The New York Times as a large one, had become impatient and "noisy demonstrations" broke out before the opera company emerged and the show began, belatedly. [39] In December 1895 The School Girl starring Minnie Palmer came to the United States for a tour. It began on December 23 at the Wieting; shortly before the performance Richard Golden, a co-star, fell ill and the show's director William Gill was forced to take his place. [40]

The Wedding Day , starring Lillian Russell, opened its touring season on September 15, 1896, in what was also the newly rebuilt Wieting's first performance. The stop kicked off a tour that was described as having "exceptional success". [41] [29] In January 1899 the theater showed chronomatograph videos in an event kicked off by Burton Holmes. [42] During Theodore Roosevelt's 1900 campaign for the presidency he spoke at the Wieting and nearby Clinton Square. An estimated crowd of slightly under 15,000 people heard him speak. [43] On September 7, 1900, the Wieiting hosted a performance of Anthony Hope Hawkins to raise funds in the aftermath of that year's Galveston hurricane that ran from 11 am to 11 pm. [3] On November 29, 1902, smoke from a nearby fire filled the opera house, but the company finished their performance. [44] In 1905 the theatre advertised that Ida Tarbell would be performing there for twenty weeks, but this did not happen. [45] The operetta Naughty Marietta was first run for a week at the Wieting beginning October 24, 1910, and it premiered on Broadway the following month. [46]

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra performed several times at the Wieting, first in 1896. A 1910 rendition of The Bohemian Girl put on by the orchestra was well received critically, but somewhat poorly attended. [47]

Later history

The New Wieting Opera House added movies to its offerings in the early 1900s. [36] [9] [38] The Wieting showed a premiere of the 1921 film The Right Way, which advocated for prison reform. [48] The estate of Mary Wieting, who had died in 1927, held the opera house until they sold it to the Hemacon Realty Corporation for $1 million in July 1929. [49] In May 1930 the Syracuse Herald described the building as probably "the outstanding relic of the past still existent in modern Syracuse". That year, the Shuberts's lease on the theater was set to expire on August 1, and the owners were unwilling to undertake reconstruction and expansion projects. The company's head said "There will be no theater on the Wieting site after Aug. 1. That much can be said with assurance." It was reported that the theater would likely be replaced by a garage, although a local theater owner, Nathan Robbins, was working to finance a reconstruction project. [14]

The atrium at Clinton Square, on the former site of the Wieting Opera House The Atrium at Clinton Square, Syracuse, NY (January 2023).jpg
The atrium at Clinton Square, on the former site of the Wieting Opera House

It was announced on June 21 that the Opera House had been purchased to be made into a parking garage that connected to the Lincoln Bank. [50] The cost of purchase was later disclosed to be $200,000. By the time it was sold, the theater was in very poor condition, with water damage and unstable walls. The seats were removed, and the walls were reinforced, with one being completely reconstructed. [51] At one point the land was occupied by Syracuse's E. W. Edwards department store. The current plot is occupied by the Atrium at Clinton Square, redeveloped in 1972. [9] [52]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Reportedly able to be increased to 2,000 "by the use of stools". [1]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Famed of Nation Trod Stages of Wieting". The Syracuse Journal. March 20, 1939. p. J6. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Bruce 1891, p. 171.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Nordstrom, Sherry Chayat (September 20, 1979). "Wieting Was Showcase Theater". The Syracuse Post-Standard. p. E-6.
  4. ↑ Bruce 1891, p. 21.
  5. 1 2 3 Beauchamp 1908, p. 390.
  6. 1 2 Hoolihan 2001, p. 246.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Wagner 2006, p. 219.
  8. ↑ Bruce 1891, pp. 690–691.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Case, Dick (July 28, 2005). "The Wieting Was a Wonder". The Post-Standard . p. 6. Retrieved January 18, 2022.
  10. ↑ Brodie 1994, p. 296.
  11. 1 2 Bruce 1891, pp. 689–690.
  12. ↑ Bloom 2013, pp. 243, 284, 294.
  13. ↑ Bloom 2019, p. 297.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Wieting Opera House, Syracuse Landmark, to Be Torn Down". The Syracuse Herald. May 21, 1930. p. 3. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  15. 1 2 Bruce 1891, p. 689.
  16. ↑ Tammany 1895, p. 3.
  17. ↑ "THE STATE CAMPAIGN.; THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION AT SYRACUSE. Complete Triumph of Thurlow Weed The Tribune Philosophers Routed Memoranda of the Victory General Characteristic of the Convention The Presidential Campaign". The New York Times. Retrieved 2023-07-26.
  18. ↑ Kendrick & Kendrick 2009, pp. 91–92.
  19. ↑ Smith 1893, p. 114.
  20. ↑ Chase 1924, p. 691.
  21. 1 2 Hirsch 1998, p. 297.
  22. ↑ Brodie 1994, p. 279.
  23. ↑ Bruce 1891, p. 234.
  24. 1 2 Schwartz 2009, p. 73.
  25. ↑ "Wieting Opera House, Syracuse - Messrs. Wagner & Reis The New Managers". Star-Gazette . April 23, 1891. Retrieved January 17, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
  26. ↑ "Junius Woods Stevens Papers An inventory of his papers at the Syracuse University Archives". library.syracuse.edu. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  27. ↑ "Songs of Syracuse: 150 Years of Tradition at Syracuse University". Syracuse University libraries. Archived from the original on 25 March 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  28. ↑ Galpin, William Freeman (March 1952). Syracuse University: Volume I: The Pioneer Days. Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press. pp. 177–178. ISBN   978-0-8156-2010-5. OCLC   3123028. Archived from the original on 22 March 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2023.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  29. 1 2 3 Beauchamp 1908, p. 392.
  30. ↑ Allaben 1916, pp. 570–572.
  31. ↑ Wagner 2006, p. 136.
  32. ↑ "Contest Over "Wieting"". Variety . September 6, 1918. Retrieved January 17, 2022.
  33. ↑ Hardin 1993, p. 35.
  34. ↑ Keim 2008, p. 18.
  35. ↑ Brodie 1994, pp. 17–22.
  36. 1 2 3 Keim 2008, pp. 18–19.
  37. ↑ Scharnhorst 2019, p. 27: "he pleased an 'immense audience'..., according to the Syracuse Standard.".
  38. 1 2 "Gone But Not Forgotten". Syracuse Herald American. July 14, 1985. p. L5.
  39. ↑ "Barely Saved From Wreck". The New York Times. 1884-10-05. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  40. ↑ Ganzl 2014, pp. 257–258.
  41. ↑ Fields 2008, p. 113.
  42. ↑ Witryol, Sam W; Galpin, W Freeman (April 1955). "The Movies Come to Syracuse". New York History. 36 (2): 154–164.
  43. ↑ Hilpert 2015.
  44. ↑ "Sang to Avoid a Fire Panic; Opera Company Members Showed Presence of Mind at Syracuse". The New York Times. 1902-11-30. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2022-01-19.
  45. ↑ Brady 1989.
  46. ↑ Vogel 2015, p. 103.
  47. ↑ Wagner 2006, pp. 136–138.
  48. ↑ Griffiths, Alison (2016). Carceral Fantasies: Cinema and Prison in Early Twentieth-Century America. Columbia University Press. p. 254. doi:10.7312/grif16106. ISBN   9780231541565. JSTOR   10.7312/grif16106.
  49. ↑ "Wieting Is Sold for $1,000,000". The Syracuse Herald. July 10, 1929. p. 1.
  50. ↑ "Bank to Buy Wieiting Site For Garage". The Syracuse Herald. June 21, 1930. p. 6.
  51. ↑ "Wieting Opera House Changes From Entertainment Into Business Role". Syracuse Herald. September 18, 1930. p. 6.
  52. ↑ Hardin 1993, p. 43.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway theatre</span> Type of theatre in New York City

Broadway theatre, or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Shubert Organization</span> Theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres

The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers — Lee, Sam, and Jacob J. Shubert — in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters in New York and across the United States. Since then it has gone through changes of ownership, but it is still a major theater chain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shubert family</span> American family influential in theater production

The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of Broadway theaters in New York City's Theater District, as the hub of the theatre industry in the United States. Through the Shubert Organization, founded by brothers Lee, Sam, and Jacob Shubert, they dominated the legitimate theatre and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Shubert</span> Lithuanian-born American theatre owner/operator and producer

Lee Shubert was a Lithuanian-born American theatre owner/operator and producer. He was the eldest of three brothers of the notable Shubert family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam S. Shubert</span> American producer and theatre owner/operator

Samuel S. Shubert was an American producer and theatre owner/operator. He was the middle son in the Shubert family and was raised in Syracuse, New York. Shubert died at age 26 due to injuries sustained in a train wreck, and his surviving brothers named various theatres plus the Shubert Foundation in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Majestic Theatre (Broadway)</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Majestic Theatre is a Broadway theater at 245 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was built for real-estate developer Irwin S. Chanin. It has 1,681 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and interior are New York City landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shubert Theatre (Broadway)</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theater at 225 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance style and was built for the Shubert brothers. Lee and J. J. Shubert had named the theater in memory of their brother Sam S. Shubert, who died in an accident several years before the theater's opening. It has 1,502 seats across three levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The facade and interior are New York City landmarks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Academy of Music (New York City)</span> Former opera house

The Academy of Music was a New York City opera house, located on the northeast corner of East 14th Street and Irving Place in Manhattan. The 4,000-seat hall opened on October 2, 1854. The review in The New York Times declared it to be an acoustical "triumph", but "In every other aspect ... a decided failure," complaining about the architecture, interior design and the closeness of the seating; although a follow-up several days later relented a bit, saying that the theater "looked more cheerful, and in every way more effective" than it had on opening night.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway Theatre (53rd Street)</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Broadway Theatre is a Broadway theater at 1681 Broadway in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, the theater was designed by Eugene De Rosa for Benjamin S. Moss, who originally operated the venue as a movie theater. It has approximately 1,763 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The Broadway Theatre is one of the few Broadway theaters that is physically on Broadway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Lawrence Freeman</span> American composer and conductor (1869–1954)

Harry Lawrence Freeman was an American neoromantic opera composer, conductor, impresario and teacher. He was the first African-American to write an opera that was successfully produced. Freeman founded the Freeman School of Music and the Freeman School of Grand Opera, as well as several short-lived opera companies which gave first performances of his own compositions. During his life, he was known as "the black Wagner."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croswell Opera House</span> United States historic place

The Croswell Opera House is a historic theater located at 129 East Maumee Street in Adrian, Michigan. It is recognized as the oldest theater in the state and among the oldest continuously operating theaters in the United States. The theater was designated as a Michigan Historic Site on March 2, 1976 and later added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Adrian Union Hall-Croswell Opera House on April 18, 1985.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">44th Street Theatre</span> Former Broadway theater

The 44th Street Theatre was a Broadway theater at 216 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City from 1912 to 1945. It was originally named Weber and Fields' Music Hall when it opened in November 1912 as a resident venue for the comedy duo Weber and Fields, but was renamed to the 44th Street Theatre in December 1913 after their tenure at the theatre ended. It should not be confused with the Weber and Fields' Broadway Music Hall, often referred to as simply Weber and Fields' Music Hall and also known as Weber's Music Hall or Weber's Theatre, which was used by both Weber and Fields or just Weber from 1896 through 1912.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Syracuse University Alma Mater</span> Alma Mater for Syracuse University

The Syracuse University Alma Mater is the school song for Syracuse University. It was written by Junius W. Stevens in 1893, and is based on the then-popular Irish melody Annie Lisle. It was first sung under the title "Song of Syracuse" by the University Glee and Banjo Club on March 15, 1893 at the Wieting Opera House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1879 New York state election</span>

The 1879 New York state election was held on November 4, 1879, to elect the governor, the lieutenant governor, the secretary state, the state comptroller, the attorney general, the state treasurer and the state engineer, as well as all members of the New York State Assembly and the New York State Senate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shubert Alley</span> Pedestrian street in Manhattan, New York

Shubert Alley is a pedestrian alley in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The alley, a privately owned public space, connects 44th and 45th Streets and covers about 6,400 square feet (590 m2). It runs through the middle of a city block, parallel to Eighth Avenue to the west and Broadway to the east. The western half of the alley abuts the Shubert and Booth theaters, while the eastern half is adjacent to One Astor Plaza. Because it is near several major theaters, the alley has been considered the geographical center of Broadway theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astor Opera House</span> Former theater in Manhattan, New York

The Astor Opera House, also known as the Astor Place Opera House and later the Astor Place Theatre, was an opera house in Lower Manhattan, New York City, on Lafayette Street between Astor Place and East 8th Street. Designed by Isaiah Rogers (1800–1869), in the Classical Revival style of architecture, inspired by the temples of Ancient Greece and Rome of two thousand years earlier. The theater was conceived by impresario Edward Fry, the brother of composer William Henry Fry (1813–1864), who managed the famed opera house during its entire history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam H. Harris Theatre</span> Former theater in Manhattan, New York

The Sam H. Harris Theatre, originally the Candler Theatre, was a theater within the Candler Building, at 226 West 42nd Street, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1914, the 1,200-seat theater was designed by Thomas W. Lamb and built for Asa Griggs Candler, who leased it to George M. Cohan, Sam H. Harris, and George Kleine. Although the theater was intended to host both movies and legitimate Broadway productions, it functioned exclusively as a movie theater after 1933. The theater's auditorium was demolished by 1998. The only remnant of the former theater is its 42nd Street facade, which has been used by the Madame Tussauds New York museum since 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Wieting</span> American lecturer and philanthropist

John Manchester Wieting was an American lecturer and philanthropist. He spent his early years as a teacher and then as an engineer and grader. After moving to Syracuse, New York, he read medicine to become a physician. After purchasing anatomical models he began giving lectures across upstate New York, gradually expanding the reach and the size of his lectures. They were extravagant affairs, and Wieting became known as one of the era's most prominent anatomical lecturers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Elizabeth Wieting Johnson</span> American opera house manager and philanthropist

Mary Elizabeth Wieting Johnson was an American opera house manager and philanthropist who ran the Wieting Opera House in Syracuse, New York, after the death of her husband, John Wieting. She oversaw management of the Wieting Opera House and its reconstruction after it burned down for the third time in 1896.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bastable Theatre</span> Theatre in Syracuse, New York

The Bastable Theatre was a theatre in Syracuse, New York, from 1893 to 1923, when it burnt down. First built by Frederick Bastable, Sam S. Shubert began his theatre management at the Bastable in 1897. He and his brothers established The Shubert Organization, which became a major theatre owner. During Shubert's early years of management, he competed with the city's Wieting Opera House, which was controlled by The Theatrical Syndicate. The Bastable itself hosted a number of touring companies in the city and became known for hosting stock companies and melodramas. The State Tower Building was constructed on the site of the theatre after it burnt down.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.