|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
Ziegfeld Theatre
Ziegfeld Theatre, New York, on the north-west corner of 6th Avenue and 54th Street, designed for Florenz Ziegfeld by the scene designer Joseph Urban. With a handsome egg-shaped auditorium, a fine, stark exterior, and lavish backstage space, it opened in 1927 with the musical Rio Rita, which was followed by Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat, Coward's Bitter Sweet (1929), and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931. After Ziegfeld's death in 1932 his theatre became a cinema, but in 1944 it was reopened by Billy Rose, under its old name, with the revue Seven Lively Arts starring Beatrice Lillie. Carol Channing appeared there in the musical version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), and in 1953 the theatre housed a revival of the Gershwins' opera Porgy and Bess. From 1955 to 1963 it was used for television, but returned to live theatre again in 1963 with an evening of songs and sketches starring Maurice Chevalier, followed by Bert Lahr in Foxy (1964), a musical based on Jonson's Volpone. The building was demolished in 1967, to be replaced in 1969 by a cinema.
|
|
|
Cite this article
PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Ziegfeld Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Ziegfeld Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-ZiegfeldTheatre.html PHYLLIS HARTNOLL and PETER FOUND. "Ziegfeld Theatre." The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 1996. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O79-ZiegfeldTheatre.html |
|
Ziegfeld Theatre
Ziegfeld Theatre (New York). Possibly the finest theatre ever built in New York, it was financed by William Randolph Hearst and designed by Joseph Urban and Thomas Lamb. The auditorium, located at Sixth Avenue and 54th Street, was egg‐shaped, with no boxes but with a gilt, undecorated proscenium and a gilt stage whose apron extended unusually far. Its walls and ceiling, which seemed virtually as one, were covered with Urban's playful murals done in rich, burnished colors. Public rooms and backstage facilities were exceptionally spacious. Florenz Ziegfeld opened it in February 1927 with his production of Rio Rita, followed by such memorable shows as Show Boat (1927), Bitter Sweet (1929), and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1931. After his death the house became a cinema, until Billy Rose restored it to the legitimate fold in 1944. Its notable later offerings included Brigadoon (1947), Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1949), and Kismet (1953). It was torn down in 1967 to make way for a skyscraper.
|
|
|
Cite this article
Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Ziegfeld Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. 28 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Ziegfeld Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Encyclopedia.com. (May 28, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-ZiegfeldTheatre.html Gerald Bordman and Thomas S. Hischak. "Ziegfeld Theatre." The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. 2004. Retrieved May 28, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O149-ZiegfeldTheatre.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
