Empire Theatre

Empire Theatre or Empire Theater may refer to:

In Australia:

In Canada:

In the United Kingdom:

In the United States:

See also

Empire Theatre (42nd Street)

The Empire Theatre is a former Broadway theatre located on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City.

History

Originally opened as the Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre, in 1912, it was designed by noted theatre architect Thomas W. Lamb, and named for Julian Eltinge. Its first production was Bayard Veiller's Within the Law, a hit that ran for more than a year.

Originally specializing in light comedies, it suffered during the Great Depression and became first a burlesque theatre, then a movie theater in 1942. It was renamed the Empire Theatre in 1954, after the demolition of the previous theatre of the same name.

In 1998, as part of the renewal of 42nd Street led by the New 42nd Street coalition and real estate developer Bruce Ratner, the entire theatre was lifted off its foundation and moved westward approximately 170 feet (52 m). In its new location, the shell of the theatre auditorium was converted into a lobby and lounge for a 25-screen AMC Theatres multiplex, the AMC Empire 25, with escalators leading to the newly built auditoriums passing through the former proscenium arch of the stage. The theater opened in 2000.

Empire Theatre (41st Street)

The Empire Theatre in New York City was a prominent Broadway theatre in the first half of the twentieth century.

History

The Empire Theatre opened in 1893 with a performance of The Girl I Left Behind Me by David Belasco. In February 1927 actress Gail Kane and others were arrested following a performance of The Captive, which was considered indecent and a violation of Section 1140A of the New York City Criminal Code.

The Empire continued to present both original plays and revivals, including the English premiere of The Threepenny Opera in 1933, until 1953. Its final show, The Time of the Cuckoo, closed May 30, 1953 after 263 performances. In the same month, the theatre hosted a benefit celebrating the sixty-year history of the Empire.

Ownership and management

Frank Sanger and Al Hayman were the owners and developers of the uptown vacant lot that became the Empire Theatre. Hayman suggested that theatre producer Charles Frohman have the Empire Theatre built there, believing everything theatrical was moving uptown at the time.