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Hippodrome Theatre
Hippodrome Theatre (New York). The largest theatre of its day, it had a seating capacity of 5,200 and room for nearly 800 standees, with a stage 110 feet deep and over 200 feet long. The theatre, which stood on Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th Streets and which was the only major legitimate theatre ever built that far east of Broadway, opened in 1905 with the musical spectacle A Society Circus and for the next seventeen years offered similar spectacles annually, generally giving two performances a day. In its heyday the theatre was the most successful in New York, and its productions often chalked up the longest runs of their seasons. Besides choruses that reputedly numbered over five hundred the Hippodrome was famous for its horses, which dove into the huge tank in front of the stage. The productions all featured exceedingly lavish scenery. Between the runs of the major spectacles the house offered vaudeville. But with the growing competition from spectacular films and an increasing sophistication that put an end to the spectacle's attraction, the house was used solely for vaudeville. It later converted to films, but shortly before it was demolished in 1939 it returned to the legitimate fold to house Jumbo (1935).
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Cite this article
Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Hippodrome Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Hippodrome Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-HippodromeTheatre.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Hippodrome Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-HippodromeTheatre.html |
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Hippodrome Theatre
Hippodrome Theatre, New York, on the Avenue of the Americas, between 43rd and 44th Streets. This theatre, the largest in America, seating 6,600, opened in 1905 with a lavish spectacle entitled A Yankee Circus on Mars, and a year later was taken over by the Shuberts. Every kind of entertainment was given, including grand opera. In 1923, as B. F. Keith's Hippodrome, it became a vaudeville house, and in 1928, as the RKO Hippodrome, a cinema. Closed in 1932, it reopened in 1933 as the New York Hippodrome, and in 1935 was taken over by Billy Rose, whose spectacular musical Jumbo marked the end of the Hippodrome as a theatre. It was finally demolished in 1939.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hippodrome Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 30 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hippodrome Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 30, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HippodromeTheatre.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hippodrome Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 30, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HippodromeTheatre.html |
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