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New York Hippodrome
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New York Hippodrome
The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The theater operated from 1905 to 1939 and was called the world's largest theater by its builders, with a seating capacity of 5,300 and a stage measuring 100 by 200 feet (30 m × 61 m). It had state-of-the-art theatrical technology, including a tank built into the stage apron that could be filled with water for aquatic performances.
The Hippodrome was built by Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy, creators of the Luna Park amusement park on Coney Island, with the backing of Harry S. Black's U.S. Realty, a dominant real estate and construction company of the time, and was acquired by The Shubert Organization in 1909. It became the stage for Billy Rose's Jumbo in 1935. Acts which appeared at the Hippodrome included numerous circuses, musical revues, Harry Houdini's disappearing elephant, vaudeville, religious meetings, political rallies, and sporting events.
The theater closed in August 1939, and a modern office tower known as The Hippodrome Center (1120 Avenue of the Americas) opened on the site in 1952.
Construction of the Hippodrome began in June 1904, with Frederick Thompson and Jay H. Morgan as architects, and the Fuller Company as the general contractor. Finishing touches were still being put in place days before the April 12, 1905 opening. With a seating capacity of 5,300, almost twice that of the Metropolitan Opera's 3,000 seats, the gargantuan building is still considered one of the true wonders of theater architecture. Its stage was 12 times larger than any Broadway "legit" house and was capable of holding as many as 1,000 performers at a time, or a full-sized circus with elephants and horses – who could be housed in built-in stalls under the stage. It also had a 14-foot (4.3 m) high, 60-foot (18 m) diameter, 8,000-gallon tank built into the stage apron that could be filled with water for swimming and diving shows.
The exterior of the red-brick and terra-cotta building was Moorish in style, with two corner towers, each of which was topped by a globe covered in electric lights.
The gala opening on April 12, 1905, was completely sold out, with seats being priced at as little as 25 cents in the theater's "Family Circle", while others had been auctioned off for as much as $575. The performance was a four-hour extravaganza, the first act of which was called A Yankee Circus on Mars, which featured space ships, horses, elephants, acrobats, clowns – including the noted Spanish clown Marceline – a baboon named Coco, an orchestra of 60, hundreds of singers, and 150 dancers performing to Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours. The second act was Andersonville, about the notorious Confederate military prison where many Union soldiers were maltreated. The spectacle depicted the Union raid on the camp, with gunfire, explosions and cavalry troops on horseback swimming across the huge water tank simulating a lake.
Under the direction of Charles Dillingham, the Hippodrome was the largest and most successful theater in New York. The Hippodrome featured lavish spectacles complete with circus animals, diving horses, opulent sets, and 500-member choruses. Until the end of World War I, the Hippodrome housed all sorts of spectacles then switched to musical extravaganzas, including Good Times which ran for 456 performances from 1920 to 1921. and Better Times, which ran for 405 performance in 1922–23 When Dillingham left in 1923 to pursue other interests, the Hippodrome was leased to Keith-Albee, which hired architect Thomas W. Lamb to turn it into a vaudeville theater by building a much smaller stage and discarding all of its unique features. The most popular vaudeville artists of the day, including illusionist Harry Houdini, performed at the Hippodrome during its heyday. Others might vanish rabbits, but in 1918, on the brightly lit stage of the Hippodrome, Houdini made a 10,000-pound elephant disappear, creating a sensation.
The Hippodrome's huge running costs made it a perennial financial failure, and a series of producers tried and failed to make money from the theater. It became a location for vaudeville productions in 1923 before being leased for budget opera performances, then finally becoming a sports arena.
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New York Hippodrome
The Hippodrome Theatre, also called the New York Hippodrome, was a theater located on Sixth Avenue between West 43rd and West 44th Streets in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The theater operated from 1905 to 1939 and was called the world's largest theater by its builders, with a seating capacity of 5,300 and a stage measuring 100 by 200 feet (30 m × 61 m). It had state-of-the-art theatrical technology, including a tank built into the stage apron that could be filled with water for aquatic performances.
The Hippodrome was built by Frederic Thompson and Elmer "Skip" Dundy, creators of the Luna Park amusement park on Coney Island, with the backing of Harry S. Black's U.S. Realty, a dominant real estate and construction company of the time, and was acquired by The Shubert Organization in 1909. It became the stage for Billy Rose's Jumbo in 1935. Acts which appeared at the Hippodrome included numerous circuses, musical revues, Harry Houdini's disappearing elephant, vaudeville, religious meetings, political rallies, and sporting events.
The theater closed in August 1939, and a modern office tower known as The Hippodrome Center (1120 Avenue of the Americas) opened on the site in 1952.
Construction of the Hippodrome began in June 1904, with Frederick Thompson and Jay H. Morgan as architects, and the Fuller Company as the general contractor. Finishing touches were still being put in place days before the April 12, 1905 opening. With a seating capacity of 5,300, almost twice that of the Metropolitan Opera's 3,000 seats, the gargantuan building is still considered one of the true wonders of theater architecture. Its stage was 12 times larger than any Broadway "legit" house and was capable of holding as many as 1,000 performers at a time, or a full-sized circus with elephants and horses – who could be housed in built-in stalls under the stage. It also had a 14-foot (4.3 m) high, 60-foot (18 m) diameter, 8,000-gallon tank built into the stage apron that could be filled with water for swimming and diving shows.
The exterior of the red-brick and terra-cotta building was Moorish in style, with two corner towers, each of which was topped by a globe covered in electric lights.
The gala opening on April 12, 1905, was completely sold out, with seats being priced at as little as 25 cents in the theater's "Family Circle", while others had been auctioned off for as much as $575. The performance was a four-hour extravaganza, the first act of which was called A Yankee Circus on Mars, which featured space ships, horses, elephants, acrobats, clowns – including the noted Spanish clown Marceline – a baboon named Coco, an orchestra of 60, hundreds of singers, and 150 dancers performing to Ponchielli's Dance of the Hours. The second act was Andersonville, about the notorious Confederate military prison where many Union soldiers were maltreated. The spectacle depicted the Union raid on the camp, with gunfire, explosions and cavalry troops on horseback swimming across the huge water tank simulating a lake.
Under the direction of Charles Dillingham, the Hippodrome was the largest and most successful theater in New York. The Hippodrome featured lavish spectacles complete with circus animals, diving horses, opulent sets, and 500-member choruses. Until the end of World War I, the Hippodrome housed all sorts of spectacles then switched to musical extravaganzas, including Good Times which ran for 456 performances from 1920 to 1921. and Better Times, which ran for 405 performance in 1922–23 When Dillingham left in 1923 to pursue other interests, the Hippodrome was leased to Keith-Albee, which hired architect Thomas W. Lamb to turn it into a vaudeville theater by building a much smaller stage and discarding all of its unique features. The most popular vaudeville artists of the day, including illusionist Harry Houdini, performed at the Hippodrome during its heyday. Others might vanish rabbits, but in 1918, on the brightly lit stage of the Hippodrome, Houdini made a 10,000-pound elephant disappear, creating a sensation.
The Hippodrome's huge running costs made it a perennial financial failure, and a series of producers tried and failed to make money from the theater. It became a location for vaudeville productions in 1923 before being leased for budget opera performances, then finally becoming a sports arena.
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