Academy of Music,
New York, NY
14th Street and Irving Place
Architect: Unknown
Opening production: Norma, October 20, 1854
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Academy of Music exit plan "The Red Mill" program 1908 from the TheaterPrint Collection
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Academy of Music "Pictorial Diagram" 1880 from the TheaterPrint Collection
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The Academy of Music opened in 1854 and was New York's grand opera house until the advent of the Metropolitan Opera. In 1866, the house suffered a major fire with damages of $400,000 that prompted an immediate rebuilding. After the opera moved to the Metropolitan Opera House, the Academy of Music presented plays and musicals. In later years, vaudeville and movies became the bill of fare. Among those who appeared on the Academy's stage were Blanche Bates, Edwin Booth, Jenny Lind, Julia Marlowe, Helena Modjeska, Adelina Patti, and E. H. Sothern. On May 17, 1926, a final gala performance was given on the Academy's stage featuring many of the former stars who had appeared at the renowned house. After the curtain fell that evening, the old Academy of Music was demolished and replaced by the Consolidated Gas (ConEdison) Building.
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Astor Theatre
1537 Broadway at 45th Street, New York, NY
George Keister, Architect
Opened September 21, 1906
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The Astor Theatre, built by the producing team of Wagenhals and Kemper, was the tenth new theatre to open in the Times Square area over a six-year period. Seating nearly 1,500 and decorated in a simple Grecian motif, the Astor was one of Broadway's most desirable playhouses. In 1912, the Astor came under the management of George M. Cohan and Sam H. Harris. Their first production featured Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. in Hawthorne of the USA for 72 performances. During their tenure, Cohan and Harris presented Seven Keys to Baldpate (1913), The Miracle Man (1914), Hello Broadway! (1914), Hit-the-Trail-Holiday (1915), and The Cohan Revue of 1916, all written by Cohan. In 1916, the Shuberts took control of the house. Some Shubert productions were Why Marry? (1917), the first play to win the Pulitzer Prize, Jerome Kern's Rock-a-Bye Baby (1918), East is West (1918, 680 performances), George Gershwin's Sweet Little Devil (1924), and Artists and Models (1924). The final production to play the Astor was June Days, closing September 5, 1925, and then moving to the Central Theatre. The Astor then became one of Broadway's premier film houses and MGM's main showcase. In 1959, the interior was stripped and modernized, the two balconies replaced with one, and the orchestra floor extended into the stage house. The Astor closed in 1972 due to problems with the air-conditioning system and was then used as a gallery selling mass-produced art. It was demolished in 1982 to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel and Marquis Theatre.
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