Fifth Avenue Theatre facts for kids
The Fifth Avenue Theatre was a famous Broadway theatre located in Manhattan, New York City. It stood at 31 West 28th Street and Broadway. This historic building was torn down in 1939.
Built in 1868, the theatre was managed by Augustin Daly in the mid-1870s. In 1877, it became the very first theatre in the world to have air conditioning! In 1879, it hosted the first-ever performance of The Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan. It also showed the New York premiere of H.M.S. Pinafore. Many other Gilbert and Sullivan operas were performed there throughout the 1880s. The theatre continued to show both plays and musicals until the end of the 1800s. In the early 1900s, it featured classic English plays, then vaudeville shows, and later, movies, alongside plays and musicals.
History of the Theatre
The theatre was built in 1868. It was first called Gilsey's Apollo Hall. In 1870, its name changed to the St. James Theatre. It could hold about 1,530 people. In its early years, the theatre offered talks in an upstairs hall and music shows in the main room.
When Augustin Daly's first theatre (on 24th Street) burned down in 1873, he moved his acting company to the St. James. He made changes to it and renamed it the New Fifth Avenue Theatre. Daly ran the theatre until 1877. Tough economic times in 1873 made business slow at first. But his shows like The Big Bonanza and Lemons were very successful. Famous actresses like Mary Anderson and Helena Modjeska performed there for the first time in New York. Eleonora Duse also made her American debut at the theatre in 1893.
In 1877, a special system was added to the theatre. It blew air over large blocks of ice. This made it the world's first air-conditioned theatre! John T. Ford then managed the theatre for some years, calling it the Fifth Avenue Theatre.
A fire destroyed the theatre in 1891. It was rebuilt by architect Francis Hatch Kimball in a fancy, classic style. The new theatre opened in May 1892. For a while, the main entrance faced Broadway. Later, the Fifth Avenue entrance became the main one. Henry Miner managed the theatre in the 1890s. Then, F. F. Proctor took over in 1900. He mainly showed vaudeville acts there. By 1915, it started showing movies. In the 1930s, the theatre showed burlesque shows. In its final years, it mostly showed films. The building was torn down in 1939.
Famous Shows
One of the theatre's early hits was Jezebel, a play from 1871. One of Augustin Daly's first shows there was The Heart of Mid-Lothian. He also brought Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost to New York in 1874, but it was not popular. However, his show of W. S. Gilbert's play Charity that same year was a success.
The next year, Daly's own play The Big Bonanza was a huge hit. It was the New York debut for actor John Drew. Also in 1875, the popular London play Our Boys had its New York premiere. Georgiana Drew first appeared in New York in this show. In 1877, another big London hit, The Chimes of Normandy, also premiered in New York at the theatre. Daly was losing money and left the theatre in 1878.
The Fifth Avenue Theatre was then rented to John T. Ford. He worked with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to bring the first official U.S. shows of Gilbert and Sullivan operas. This started with H.M.S. Pinafore and the world premiere of The Pirates of Penzance in 1879. Many other Savoy operas were shown through the 1880s.
After the fire in 1891, the theatre was rebuilt. In 1894, it showed European plays like Hannele and Gismonda. In 1896, shows included Pamela Nubile and the musical Lost, Strayed or Stolen. In 1897, plays like The Devil's Disciple by George Bernard Shaw were performed. In 1898, the theatre showed Henrik Ibsen's play Hedda Gabler and the popular London musical A Runaway Girl. In 1899, a John Philip Sousa musical, The Charlatan, and the play Becky Sharp were presented.
The theatre started the new century with three Shakespeare plays: Macbeth, Twelfth Night, and Much Ado About Nothing. Other shows in 1900 included Mary Stuart. After this, the theatre mostly showed vaudeville acts. But it still had some plays and musicals. For example, in 1903, it showed Who Is Brown?. In 1905, productions included Zorah and a version of Oliver Twist. Another hit London musical, King of Cadonia, played there in 1910. The theatre began showing films during World War I. In its later years, fewer plays were produced. These included The Wisecrackers (1925) and Bertha, the Sewing Machine Girl (1935).
See also
In Spanish: Teatro de la Quinta Avenida para niños
