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Mark Hellinger Theatre
Mark Hellinger Theatre (New York). Few Broadway theatres have such an unusual history as this 51st Street playhouse that opened in 1930 as the spectacular movie palace, the Hollywood Theatre. Thomas W. Lamb designed the baroque structure as the flagship for the Warner Brothers empire and it boasted grand staircases, 1,600 plush seats, an entrance on Broadway, and even plans for an office building to be built above it. (A Novotel was built in the space in 1985.) While most legit theatres were becoming movie houses in the Great Depression, the Hollywood reversed the trend and started presenting live shows in 1934 as the 51st Street Theatre. Over the next two decades, the playhouse seesawed between this name and the Hollywood as it switched back and forth from legitimate theatre to films. In 1949 it was named the Mark Hellinger after a popular Broadway columnist and remained a busy venue for forty years, its most celebrated tenant being My Fair Lady (1956). In 1989 the structure was leased for five years as a church; when the lease ran out the church purchased the Mark Hellinger and Broadway lost (for now) one of its finest houses.
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Cite this article
Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Mark Hellinger Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Mark Hellinger Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-MarkHellingerTheatre.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Mark Hellinger Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-MarkHellingerTheatre.html |
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Mark Hellinger Theatre
Mark Hellinger Theatre, New York, in West 51st Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue, seating 1,581. Originally a cinema which opened in 1930, it became the Fifty-First Street Theatre on two occasions, first in 1936 with Sweet River, a new version of Uncle Tom's Cabin by George Abbott which was taken off after five performances, and again in 1940 for a short run of Romeo and Juliet with Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. In 1949 it became a theatre again and was named after Mark Hellinger (1903–47), a newspaper columnist, dramatist for stage and screen, and film producer, reputedly the first newspaperman to write a column solely concerned with Broadway. From 1956 to 1962 the theatre was occupied by the musical My Fair Lady. Later musicals seen there included On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1965); Coco (1969), starring Katharine Hepburn as Chanel; and Jesus Christ Superstar (1971). In 1979 Sugar Babies, a tribute to the great days of burlesque, began a long run.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Mark Hellinger Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Mark Hellinger Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-MarkHellingerTheatre.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Mark Hellinger Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-MarkHellingerTheatre.html |
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Hellinger, Mark
Hellinger, Mark, see MARK HELLINGER THEATRE.
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Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hellinger, Mark." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hellinger, Mark." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HellingerMark.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Hellinger, Mark." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-HellingerMark.html |
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