{{Short description|Broadway theater (1912–1955)}} {{redirect| Windsor Theatre|other uses}} {{use mdy dates|date=December 2022}} {{Infobox venue | name = 48th Street Theatre | native_name = | native_name_lang = <!-- ISO 639-2 code e.g. "fr" for French. If more than one, use {{lang}} instead --> | image = 48th Street Theatre.jpg | image_size = | image_alt = | caption = 48th Street Theatre in 1912 | image_map = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = | pushpin_map_caption = | address = 157 West 48th Street | city = Manhattan, New York City | country = United States | designation = | coordinates = {{coord|40.7597|-73.9833|type:landmark_region:US-NY|display=inline,title}} | architect = William Albert Swasey | owner = | tenant = | operator = | capacity = | type = Broadway | opened = August 12, 1912 | reopened = | years_active = | rebuilt = | closed = August 23, 1955 | demolished = 1955 | other_names = Equity 48th Street Theatre (1922–25)<br>Windsor Theatre (1937–43) | production = | current_use = | website = }}
The '''48th Street Theatre''' was a Broadway theatre at 157 West 48th Street in Manhattan. It was built by longtime Broadway producer William A. Brady and designed by architect William Albert Swasey.<ref name="Bloom2007">{{cite Routledge Broadway|page=76}}</ref> The venue was also called the '''Equity 48th Street Theatre''' (1922–25) and the '''Windsor Theatre''' (1937–43).
==History== [[File:48th-Street-Theatre-Seating-Diagram-1921.jpg|thumb|260px|right|48th Street Theatre seating plan from the playbill for ''The Broken Wing'' (1920–21)]] The 48th Street Theatre opened on August 12, 1912, with the play ''Just Like John'' by George Broadhurst.<ref name="Bloom2007"/><ref name="WW">{{cite book | title=The Biographical Encyclopedia & Who's Who of the American Theatre | publisher=James H. Heineman, Inc. | year=1966 | pages=957 | editor=Walter Rigdon}}</ref> Early successes at the theatre included ''Never Say Die'' (1912), ''Today'' (1913), ''The Midnight Girl'' (1914), ''Just a Woman'' (1916), ''The Man Who Stayed at Home'' (1918), ''The Storm'' (1919), and ''Opportunity'' (1920) starring Nita Naldi.<ref name="Bloom2007"/> The Theatre was briefly named the Equity 48th Street Theatre from the premiere of ''Malvaloca'' on October 2, 1922, until the premiere of ''Spooks'' on June 1, 1925.<ref name="Bloom2007"/> During this period they had a successful revival of Henrik Ibsen's ''The Wild Duck''.<ref name="Bloom2007"/>
On April 18, 1926, the theatre featured the professional debut of Martha Graham as an independent dancer and choreographer.<ref name=NYT/> Graham and three of her students performed 18 short pieces accompanied by the music of Impressionist composers. Despite poor weather, the evening was a success, which Graham attributed to "curiosity" as people attended to see "a woman who could do her own work".<ref name=NYT>{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/specials/magazine4/articles/graham1.html | title=Martha Graham Dies at 96; A Revolutionary in Dance | work=The New York Times | date=April 2, 1991 | access-date=January 17, 2013 | author=Kisselgoff, Anna}}</ref><ref name="Freedman1998">{{cite book|author=Russell Freedman|title=Martha Graham: A Dancer's Life|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LauOC7vYx-gC&pg=PA42|access-date=17 January 2013|year=1998|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|isbn=978-0-395-74655-4|page=42}}</ref>
On November 11, 1926, the theatre premiered ''The Squall'' by Jean Bart, starring Blanche Yurka, Romney Brent, and Dorothy Stickney.<ref name="Bloom2007"/> During the final act of the performance July 26, 1927, 38-year-old screenwriter and film executive June Mathis was stricken and died<ref>{{cite news |date=July 27, 1927 |title=June Mathis Dies While at Theatre |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/07/27/archives/june-mathis-dies-while-at-theatre-her-scream-mother-im-dying.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-11-23 }}</ref> following a heart attack.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 28, 1927 |title=June Mathis Heart Victim |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/07/28/archives/june-mathis-heart-victim-report-follows-autopsy-on-scenarist.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-11-23 }}</ref>
Notable performances at the theatre during this period included ''Puppy Love'' (1926) starring Spring Byington, ''The Pagan Lady'' (1930) starring Lenore Ulric, and ''Unexpected Husband'' (1931) starring Josephine Hull.<ref name="Bloom2007"/>
The theatre was sold and renamed the Windsor Theatre by producer Sam H. Grisman, beginning with the premiere of ''Work Is for Horses'' on November 20, 1937.<ref name="Bloom2007"/><ref name="WW"/><ref>{{cite news | title=News of the Stage: Victor Wolfson Writes Another Play; John C. Wilson Buys It-48th St. Theatre Renamed the Windsor | work=The New York Times | date=13 July 1937 | pages=22}}</ref> The Windsor, along with the Princess Theatre, was used for Labor Stage, a project of the International Ladies' Garment Workers' Union, which produced plays and held lectures and meetings. Perhaps the most notable play at the Windsor was a January 3, 1938, revival of Marc Blitzstein's controversial political musical ''The Cradle Will Rock'', produced by Grisman and directed by Orson Welles.<ref name="GreenGreen1996">{{cite book|author1=Stanley Green|author2=Kay Green|title=Broadway Musicals: Show by Show|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KDKFHniTy1YC&pg=PA101|access-date=18 January 2013|year=1996|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=978-0-7935-7750-7|page=101}}</ref>
On September 1, 1943, the theatre once again became the 48th Street Theatre. The most successful play in the theatre's history premiered on November 1, 1944: ''Harvey'' by Mary Chase and starring Frank Fay, which ran for 1775 performances, won Chase the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and was adapted into a 1950 film starring James Stewart.<ref name="Bloom2007"/><ref name="WW"/> Another success at the theatre was ''Stalag 17'' (1951), which was also made into a successful 1953 film.<ref name="Bloom2007"/>
On August 23, 1955, a rooftop water tank feeding the fire sprinkler system fell through the reinforced concrete roof, and 10,000 gallons of water caused extensive damage to the interior. Dark since the end of ''Tea and Sympathy'' in June, the theatre was closed and the building was demolished later that year.<ref name="Bloom2007"/><ref name="WW"/><ref>{{cite news |date=August 24, 1955 |title=Water Tank Falls Through Roof of 48th St. Theatre and Into Empty Seats |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1955/08/24/archives/water-tank-falls-through-roof-of-48th-st-theatre-and-into-empty.html |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=2015-11-23 }}</ref> A parking garage was built on the site, which was later replaced by the Hard Rock Hotel New York in 2022.<ref>{{cite web |title=48th Street Theatre in New York, NY |url=https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/56992 |website=Cinema Treasures |access-date=February 19, 2024}}</ref>
==Notable productions== * 1914–15: ''The Law of the Land''<ref>{{cite book|chapter=The Law of the Land|title=Historical Dictionary of American Theater: Modernism|first1=James|last1= Fisher|first2= Felicia|last2= Hardison Londré|year= 2017|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=9781538107867|page=390}}</ref> * 1916–17: ''The Thirteenth Chair''<ref>Lachman, Marvin. ''The Villainous Stage: Crime Plays on Broadway and in the West End''. McFarland, 2014. p.79</ref> * 1920–21: ''The Broken Wing''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/351/The-Broken-Wing |title=The Broken Wing |website=Playbill Vault |publisher=Playbill |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref> * 1922: ''The Torch-Bearers''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/344/The-Torch-Bearers |title=The Torch Bearers |website=Playbill Vault |publisher=Playbill |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref> * 1938: ''The Cradle Will Rock''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/240/The-Cradle-Will-Rock |title=The Cradle Will Rock |website=Playbill Vault |publisher=Playbill |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref> * 1939–40: ''Pins and Needles''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/9734/Pins-and-Needles |title=Pins and Needles |website=Playbill Vault |publisher=Playbill |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref> * 1941: ''Good Neighbor''<ref>{{Cite web |title=Good Neighbor |url=https://playbill.com/production/good-neighbor-windsor-theatre-vault-0000000229 |website=Playbill Vault}}</ref> * 1942: ''Under this Roof'' * 1944–49: ''Harvey''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ibdb.com/Production/View/1593 |title=Harvey |publisher=Internet Broadway Database |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/264/Harvey |title=Harvey |website=Playbill Vault |publisher=Playbill |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref> * 1951–52: ''Stalag 17''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/255/Stalag-17 |title=Stalag 17 |website=Playbill Vault |publisher=Playbill |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref> * 1955: ''Tea and Sympathy''<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.playbillvault.com/Show/Detail/4389/Tea-and-Sympathy |title=Tea and Sympathy |magazine=Playbill |access-date=2015-11-23}}</ref>
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==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{ibdb venue|1016}}
{{Times Square}} {{Midtown North, Manhattan}} {{Broadway theatres |state=autocollapse}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Times Square buildings Category:Buildings and structures demolished in 1955 Category:Former Broadway theatres Category:Demolished theatres in New York City Category:Demolished buildings and structures in Manhattan Category:Former theatres in Manhattan Category:Theatres completed in 1912 Category:1912 establishments in New York City Category:1910s architecture in the United States Category:1955 disestablishments in New York (state) Category:Theater District, Manhattan