Gaiety Theatre (New York)
The Gaiety Theatre was a Broadway theatre at 1547 Broadway in New York City from 1909 until 1982, when it was torn down.
The office building that housed the theatre The Gaiety Building has been called the Black Tin Pan Alley for the number of African-American song-writers, who rented office space there.
It was designed by Herts & Tallant and owned by George M. Cohan. The theatre introduced revolutionary concepts of a sunken orchestra (the previous configuration had the orchestra on the same level as the seats in front of the stage) and also not having pillars obstructing sight lines for the balcony.
It opened on September 4, 1909 with the Fortune Hunter.
The theatre's biggest hit was Lightnin' which played for 1,291 performances starting August 16, 1918. It would become a silent film.
Read more about Gaiety Theatre (New York): Minksy's, Victoria, Embassy 5, Black Tin Pan Alley
Famous quotes containing the words gaiety and/or theatre:
“We knew how to order. Just the dash
Necessary. The length of gaiety in good taste.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“To save the theatre, the theatre must be destroyed, the actors and actresses must all die of the plague. They poison the air, they make art impossible. It is not drama that they play, but pieces for the theatre. We should return to the Greeks, play in the open air; the drama dies of stalls and boxes and evening dress, and people who come to digest their dinner.”
—Eleonora Duse (1859–1924)