Empire Theatre

Empire Theatre (New York). For many years the oldest and most prestigious playhouse in New York, it was built by Al Hayman and Charles Frohman and stood directly across Broadway from the Metropolitan Opera House, one door away from 40th Street. The architect was J. B. McElfatrick, and while his design was undistinguished it was nonetheless attractive. A long lobby, in later seasons hung with portraits of noted stars, led to a rococo auditorium decorated in rich reds and gold. The theatre opened in 1893 with The Girl I Left Behind Me and for the next twenty‐two years, until Frohman's death, served as his flagship. The producer was insistent that the theatre's first attraction be an American play on an American theme, but his penchant for English and French successes meant that its early bills were primarily importations. Thus, the house witnessed the American premieres of numerous works by Pinero, Henry Arthur Jones, Barrie, and Maugham. Peter Pan (1905) opened there, as did Captain Brassbound's Conversion (1907). The house was also the home of Frohman's most celebrated stars, such as Maude Adams, Ethel Barrymore, and John Drew. After Frohman's death the theatre continued to offer the greatest stars, often in fine plays: Barrymore in Déclassée (1919); Katharine Cornell in several plays, including her most famous vehicle, The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1930); Judith Anderson; Ruth Chatterton; Jane Cowl; Julie Harris; Doris Keane; Helen Menken; Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne; and Ethel Waters. The Empire was also home to America's longest‐running play, Life with Father (1939). For all its fame the theatre was threatened with the loss of its license in 1926 when it housed a controversial play about lesbianism, The Captive. Authorities closed the play but never otherwise penalized the theatre. Its last play was The Time of the Cuckoo (1952), starring Shirley Booth. The building was demolished in 1953.