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89-624: The Sam H. Harris Theatre , originally the Candler Theatre , was a theater within the Candler Building , at 226 West 42nd Street , in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . Opened in 1914, the 1,200-seat theater was designed by Thomas W. Lamb and built for Asa Griggs Candler , who leased it to George M. Cohan , Sam H. Harris , and George Kleine . Although

178-628: A cavea and an architectural scenery, representing a city street. The oldest surviving examples of this style are the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza (1580) and the Teatro all'antica in Sabbioneta (1590). At the beginning of 17th century theaters had moved indoors and began to resemble the arrangement we see most frequently today, with a stage separated from the audience by a proscenium arch. This coincided with

267-583: A 16- to 20-story office building for $ 1 million. Candler took a long-term lease on the Bruce branch of the New York Public Library , directly to the west, in late 1912. Early the next year, a syndicate headed by music publisher Sol Bloom acquired the library building, as well as a school just behind it, with plans to build a theater at the base of the Candler Building. Theatrical designer Thomas W. Lamb

356-412: A courtyard which was open to the elements. A large portion of the audience would stand in the yard, directly in front of the stage. This layout is said to derive from the practice of holding plays in the yard of an inn. Archaeological excavations of The Rose theater at London's Bankside , built 1587, have shown that it had en external diameter of 72 feet (22 metres). The nearby Globe Theatre (1599)

445-470: A few more examples of the multitude of stages where plays can occur. A theatre used for opera performances is called an opera house . A theater is not required for performance (as in environmental theater or street theater ), this article is about structures used specifically for performance. Some theaters may have a fixed acting area (in most theaters this is known as the stage ), while some theaters, such as black box theaters have movable seating allowing

534-486: A foyer and ticketing. The second is called the stage door, and it is accessible from backstage. This is where the cast and crew enter and exit the theater, and there is a tradition called "stage dooring" that some fans participate in, in which fans wait outside of the stage door after the show in hopes of getting an autograph from the actors. The acting or performance space is the stage. In some theaters, such as proscenium theaters , arena theaters and amphitheaters, this area

623-502: A fully working and producing theater near its original site (largely thanks to the efforts of film director Sam Wanamaker ) to give modern audiences an idea of the environment for which Shakespeare and other playwrights of the period were writing. During the Renaissance , the first modern enclosed theaters were constructed in Italy. Their structure was similar to that of ancient theaters, with

712-474: A growing interest in scenic elements painted in perspective, such as those created by Inigo Jones , Nicola Sabbatini and the Galli da Bibiena family . The perspective of these elements could only be viewed properly from the center back of the auditorium, in the so-called "duke's chair." The higher one's status, the closer they would be seated to this vantage point, and the more the accurately they would be able to see

801-448: A hanamichi stage with her entourage. The stage is used not only as a walkway or path to get to and from the main stage, but important scenes are also played on the stage. Kabuki stages and theaters have steadily become more technologically sophisticated, and innovations including revolving stages and trap doors were introduced during the 18th century. A driving force has been the desire to manifest one frequent theme of kabuki theater, that of

890-425: A high-ceilinged interior. Within the large temple has a stage inside which is a large platform with its own pyramid roof. The stage area is separate from the audience area with the musician (a drummer on a high seat) behind the stage, and dressing rooms also at the rear with exit doors behind. The audience would be seated on a smooth, polished floor. Several Koothambalams exist within several Indian temples, and follow

979-635: A movie theater. Cohen headed the Cinema Circuit, which was also operating the Lew Fields (by then known as Anco) and New Amsterdam theaters by the mid-1930s. This was part of a decline in the Broadway theater industry in the mid-20th century; from 1931 to 1950, the number of legitimate theaters decreased from 68 to 30. Following a renovation that included a new sound system , the theater reopened by November 1933, showing "movie hits at popular prices" and changing

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1068-502: A palace or house. Typically, there were two or three doors in the skene that led out onto orchestra, and from which actors could enter and exit. At first, the skene was literally a tent or hut, put up for the religious festival and taken down when it was finished. Later, the skene became a permanent stone structure. These structures were sometimes painted to serve as backdrops, hence the English word scenery . A temple nearby, especially on

1157-712: A similarly ornate gateway for AMC on the western end of the site. The Times Square Business Improvement District's visitor center subsequently moved to the Selwyn Theatre, then to the Embassy Theatre . Work on the Forest City Ratner development began in August 1997. Because there was so little left of the original Harris Theatre, the developers decided to raze the theater to make way for the Madame Tussauds museum. Even as

1246-486: A vertical dimension. The Indian Koothambalam temple is a space used to perform Sanskrit drama . Called the koothambalam or kuttampalam, it is a large high-caste rectangular, temple in Kerala which represented a “visual sacrifice” to any deities or gods of the temple. They were built for kutiyattam or “combined acting” performances, which only two dramas are performed today. The temple has a pyramidal roof, with high walls, and

1335-488: A years-long dispute between him and the city and state governments. The theater continued to screen movies, even as most other tenants of nearby buildings had moved elsewhere. 42nd Street Development Project Inc. had taken over the New Amsterdam, Harris, and Empire theaters by 1992. The theater was still operating as late as 1993, when it screened first runs of movies, charging $ 6 a ticket. The Harris Theatre closed permanently

1424-469: Is associated with the performers and their actions. The stage is made entirely of unfinished hinoki , a Japanese cypress, with almost no decorative elements. The poet and novelist Toson Shimazaki writes that "on the stage of the Noh theater there are no sets that change with each piece. Neither is there a curtain. There is only a simple panel ( kagami-ita ) with a painting of a green pine tree . This creates

1513-404: Is considered symbolic and treated with reverence both by the performers and the audience. The stage includes a large square platform, devoid of walls or curtains on three sides, and traditionally with a painting of a pine tree at the back. The platform is elevated above the place where the audience sits, which is covered in white gravel soil. The four stage corners are marked by cedar pillars, and

1602-596: Is organized to provide support areas for performers, the technical crew and the audience members, as well as the stage where the performance takes place. There are as many types of theaters as there are types of performance. Theaters may be built specifically for certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as a theater. They may range from open-air amphitheaters to ornate, cathedral -like structures to simple, undecorated rooms or black box theaters . A thrust stage as well as an arena stage are just

1691-425: Is permanent part of the structure. In some theaters the stage area can be changed and adapted specifically to a production, often called a black box theater , due to the common practice of the walls being painted black and hung with black drapes. Usually in a building used specifically for performance there are offstage spaces used by the performers and crew. This is where props , sets , and scenery are stored, and

1780-520: Is still standing today and, with its amazing structural acoustics and having had its seating reconstructed, can be seen to be a marvel of Roman architecture. During the Elizabethan era in England , theaters were constructed of wooden framing, infilled with wattle and daub and roofed with thatch . Mostly the theaters were entirely open air. They consisted of several floors of covered galleries surrounding

1869-668: Is the modular theater, notably the Walt Disney Modular Theater . This large theater has floors and walls divided into small movable sections, with the floor sections on adjustable pneumatric piston, so that the space may be adjusted into any configuration for each individual play. As new styles of theater performance have evolved, so has the desire to improve or recreate performance venues. This applies equally to artistic and presentation techniques, such as stage lighting . Specific designs of contemporary live theaters include proscenium , thrust , black box theater , theater in

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1958-525: The Edinburgh Fringe has seen performances in an taxi . The traditional stage used in Noh theater is based on a Chinese pattern. It is completely open, providing a shared experience between the performers and the audience throughout the play. Without any prosceniums or curtains to obstruct the view, the audience sees each actor at moments even before entering the primary platform of the stage. The theater itself

2047-531: The Madame Tussauds New York museum. The theater's entrance contained a marble vestibule with a gold-stenciled ceiling, which led to a foyer. There was a "tapestry hall" with six murals by Albert Herter , depicting scenes from William Shakespeare 's works. Two of the murals were larger than the others and depicted scenes from Othello and The Merchant of Venice , while the other four murals depicted scenes from Shakespearean comedies . The lobby

2136-637: The Nederlander Organization in April 1982 to operate the New Amsterdam and Harris theaters as legitimate theaters. The Cine Theater Corporation acquired the Harris Theatre from the Cinema Circuit in April 1984 and immediately announced plans to renovate it for $ 250,000. The UDC also selected Jujamcyn Theaters to redevelop three other theaters on the block. As a result, the Brandts and Cine Theater Corp. sued

2225-536: The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to survey fifty of Midtown Manhattan's extant theaters in the early 1980s. The LPC started to consider protecting theaters, including the Harris Theatre, as landmarks in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. While the LPC granted landmark status to many Broadway theaters starting in 1987, it deferred decisions on

2314-494: The orchestra pit ) which focused the attention of audience on the stage, completely immersing them in the imaginary world of the music drama. These concepts were revolutionary at the time, but they have since come to be taken for granted in the modern operatic environment as well as many other types of theatrical endeavors. Contemporary theaters are often non-traditional, such as very adaptable spaces, or theaters where audience and performers are not separated. A major example of this

2403-431: The proskenion , but this is not certain. Rising from the circle of the orchestra was the audience. The audience sat on tiers of benches built up on the side of a hill. Greek theaters, then, could only be built on hills that were correctly shaped. A typical theater was enormous, able to seat around 15,000 viewers. Greek theaters were not enclosed; the audience could see each other and the surrounding countryside as well as

2492-506: The 1914–1915 season. Antony and Cleopatra ran for five weeks before the theater screened its next movies, Pierrot the Prodigal and The Naked Truth . The theater's first legitimate show was the play On Trial , the first play written by Elmer Rice , which opened that August and ran for 365 performances. The success of On Trial was an anomaly during the 1914–1915 season, when many other Broadway theaters struggled to stage hits because of

2581-526: The C & H for the first two months of its 220-performance run. The next three seasons were extremely successful. Harry James Smith 's play A Tailor-Made Man opened at the C & H in August 1917 and stayed for one year. This was followed in August 1918 by Anthony Paul Kelly 's play Three Faces East , which lasted for several months. Anselm Goetzl's musical opera The Royal Vagabond , featuring Cohan, opened in February 1919. The Royal Vagabond stayed for

2670-510: The Candler Building and Harris Theatre to Thomas Moffa in December 1949, including a mortgage of $ 1.6 million; the structures had an assessed value of $ 2.3 million. Moffa quickly resold the building to Irving Maidman, who finalized his purchase in March 1950. Maidman sold the theater in 1952 to Kastle Amusement Corporation, a holding company affiliated with Cohen, who then extended his lease by 50 years. By

2759-700: The Cohan and Harris Theatre, or the "C & H" for short, that August; one journalist said that the change was prompted by the fact that members of the public had frequently mispronounced the "Candler" name. The Great Lover opened in September as the first production in the renamed C & H. During the 1916–1917 season, the partners produced the plays Object-Matrimony , The Intruder , Captain Kidd, Jr. , and The Willow Tree . The revue Hitchy-Koo of 1917 , which opened in June 1917, ran at

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2848-472: The Harris Theatre in September 1923 for ten years. Under Wilkes's management, the theater hosted the musical One Helluva Night in June 1924, which was so negatively received that it closed on opening night. More successful was the Duncan Sisters revue Topsy and Eva , which opened that December and ran for five months. Wilkes subleased the theater to operator Charles Wagner in August 1925. The theater hosted

2937-573: The Harris and other theaters to advocate for the area's restoration. One plan for the site, in 1978, called for restoring the Selwyn, Apollo, and Harris for opera and dance, rather than for theatrical purposes. Other nearby buildings would have been razed to create a park. Another plan, called the City at 42nd Street, was announced in December 1979 as part of a proposal to restore West 42nd Street around Times Square. Under

3026-691: The Music Box Theatre was more centrally located than the Harris Theatre. The Shubert brothers immediately asked Wilkes and Wagner to leave the theater within six months. The first show under the Shuberts' ownership was the comedy We Americans , which opened in October 1926 and lasted three months. Many of the Shuberts' shows at the theater were not successful. The theater sometimes presented films in between legitimate bookings, such as in May 1927, when William Fox leased

3115-516: The UDC, claiming that the moves shut out independent theatrical operators, but a state court dismissed the lawsuit. Ultimately, the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project was delayed for several years due to lawsuits and disputes concerning the towers. The Nederlander Organization was still planning to restore the New Amsterdam and Harris theaters in the late 1980s. In 1989, the Durst Organization acquired

3204-484: The acting. An altar was located in the middle of the orchestra; in Athens, the altar was dedicated to Dionysus , the god of wine and the theater. Behind the orchestra was a large rectangular building called the skene (meaning "tent" or "hut"). [1] It was used as a "backstage" area where actors could change their costumes and masks, but also served to represent the location of the plays, which were usually set in front of

3293-522: The actors and chorus. The Romans copied the Greek style of building, but tended not to be so concerned about the location, being prepared to build walls and terraces instead of looking for a naturally occurring site. The auditorium (literally "place for hearing" in Latin) was the area in which people gathered, and was sometimes constructed on a small hill or slope in which stacked seating could be easily made in

3382-444: The audience is often separated from the performers by the proscenium arch. In proscenium theaters and amphitheaters , the proscenium arch, like the stage, is a permanent feature of the structure. This area is known as the auditorium or the house. The seating areas can include some or all of the following: Greek theater buildings were called a theatron ('seeing place'). The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on

3471-464: The block attracted about five million visitors a year between them. Cohen retired around 1961, and Mark Finkelstein took over full operation of the Cinema Circuit. By the early 1960s, the surrounding block had decayed, but many of the old theater buildings from the block's heyday remained, including the Harris. Many of the area's theaters had been relegated to showing pornography by the 1970s. The area continued to decline, although Finkelstein said none of

3560-530: The block the "biggest movie center of the world". The Brandt family, a major operator of movie theaters, operated seven of these theaters, while the Cinema Circuit operated the other three. The Cinema Circuit theaters, the New Amsterdam, Harris, and Anco, were all on the southern side of the street. In 1947, the Candler family transferred the Candler Building and Harris Theatre to Emory University , which held both structures in its endowment fund. Emory University sold

3649-490: The building's western wings. The auditorium was decorated in the Italian Renaissance style, with seats across two levels. There were originally four boxes , a proscenium arch with ornate plasterwork, and an elaborate saucer dome on the ceiling. Albert Herter painted six murals for the theater's lobby, as well as another mural at the rear of the auditorium. A syndicate headed by music publisher Sol Bloom acquired

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3738-517: The comedy The Deacon and the play The Monkey Talks later that year, followed by Love 'Em and Leave 'Em in early 1926. Harris sold the theater to the Shubert brothers in September 1926; he received $ 1 million in cash and gave part of his ownership stake in the nearby Music Box Theatre to the Shuberts. By then, Harris wanted to focus on producing, and the Theater District had shifted northward, so

3827-537: The company's 42nd Street theaters showed hardcore porn. The Cinema Circuit's movie theaters on 42nd Street continued to operate through the mid-1980s, at which point the Harris was alternating between box-office hits and more obscure exploitation films . The 42nd Street Development Corporation had been formed in 1976 to discuss plans for redeveloping Times Square. The same year, the City University of New York 's Graduate Center hosted an exhibition with photographs of

3916-400: The first place. Inside Rome, few theatres have survived the centuries following their construction, providing little evidence about the specific theatres. Arausio , the theatre in modern-day Orange, France , is a good example of a classic Roman theatre, with an indented scaenae frons , reminiscent of Western Roman theatre designs, however missing the more ornamental structure. The Arausio

4005-419: The impression that anything that could provide any shading has been banished. To break such monotony and make something happen is no easy thing." Another unique feature of the stage is the hashigakari , a narrow bridge at upstage right used by actors to enter the stage. Hashigakari means "suspension bridge", signifying something aerial that connects two separate worlds on a same level. The bridge symbolizes

4094-450: The interior of the Harris Theatre. Further discussion of the landmark designations was delayed for several decades. In late 2015, the LPC hosted public hearings on whether to designate seven theaters on the block as landmarks; the Harris was not considered for designation because it had already been demolished. The LPC rejected the designations in February 2016 because the theaters were already subject to historic-preservation regulations set by

4183-518: The late 1950s, the Harris was classified as a "move-over house", displaying features immediately after they ran at the New Amsterdam, one of the street's two first-run theaters (the other being the Lyric). As a move-over house, the Harris charged less than the first-run theaters but more than the "reissue houses" that screened old films. The Harris and the other 42nd Street theaters operated from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with three shifts of workers. The ten theaters on

4272-474: The leases to eight theaters in Times Square, including the Harris. It subsequently announced plans to renovate the eight theaters in February 1990. The New York state government acquired the theater sites that April via eminent domain . The city had planned to buy out the theaters' leases but withdrew after the 42nd Street Company indicated it would lease the theaters to another developer. Although Durst protested

4361-543: The loge can refer to a separate section at the front of the balcony. Sports venues such as stadiums and racetracks also have royal boxes or enclosures, for example at the All England Club and Ascot Racecourse , where access is limited to royal families or other distinguished personalities. In other countries, sports venues have luxury boxes also known as skyboxes, where access is open to anyone who can afford tickets, sometimes bought by companies. Opera boxes were

4450-562: The men co-produced one more show, the melodrama The Acquittal , before they officially split up. The Acquittal opened at the C & H in January 1920, and Cohan and Harris formally dissolved their partnership that June. Harris continued to produce shows at the theater by himself, starting with the Albert Von Tilzer and Neville Fleeson musical Honey Girl , which opened in May 1920. The theater then screened movies during late 1920. During

4539-484: The mid-1990s. By 1995, real-estate development firm Forest City Ratner was planning a $ 150 million entertainment and retail complex on the site of the Empire, Harris, and Liberty theaters. Madame Tussauds and AMC Theatres leased space in the complex that July. Madame Tussauds would occupy the eastern section of the site, using the former Harris Theatre's facade as an entrance to its wax museum; Bruce Ratner wanted to develop

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4628-424: The move, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the sites could be acquired by condemnation . Government officials hoped that development of the theaters would finally allow the construction of the four towers around 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue. Norman Adie of 42nd Street Theaters, who had owned the theater until it was condemned, initially agreed to vacate the site but later reneged, resulting in

4717-531: The mythic nature of Noh plays in which otherworldly ghosts and spirits frequently appear. In contrast, hanamichi in Kabuki theaters is literally a path ( michi ) that connects two spaces in a single world, thus has a completely different significance. The Japanese kabuki stage features a projection called a hanamichi (花道; literally, flower path), a walkway which extends into the audience and via which dramatic entrances and exits are made. Okuni also performed on

4806-482: The next year. Adie fought the city and state governments' acquisition of his theater, saying: "I'm one of the last legitimate businesses there, but they only want big names." After Disney committed to restoring the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1994, most of the other theaters around 42nd Street were quickly leased. The Times Square Business Improvement District set up a visitor center within the theater's foyer in

4895-620: The onset of the Great Depression , many Broadway theaters were impacted by declining attendance. John Wexley 's tragedy The Last Mile opened at the Harris Theatre in February 1930, followed by Zoe Akins 's comedy The Greeks Had a Word for It in September 1930. Both plays ran for several months and were the last hits to be staged at the theater. The Harris hosted Lew Leslie 's revue Rhapsody in Black in mid-1931, as well as David Boehm and Murdock Pemberton's play Sing High, Sing Low later

4984-502: The orchestra level. The theater had about 1,200 seats in total; the orchestra had 625 seats, while the balcony had 575 seats. There were originally four boxes , two of which were removed in the 1930s when the theater was converted to show movies exclusively. At the rear of the orchestra level was an oil mural by Herter, which measured 35 by 8 feet (10.7 by 2.4 m) and depicted a fête champêtre . The proscenium arch measured 40 feet (12 m) wide and 21 feet (6.4 m) tall, while

5073-436: The outbreak of World War I . Max Marcin 's play House of Glass , which opened in September 1915, was another hit that ran for seven months during the 1915–1916 season. This was followed in early 1916 by the play Justice with John Barrymore , which ran for just over 100 performances. Cohan and Harris bought out Bloom's and Kleine's interests in the Candler in March 1916 and relocated their offices there. The theater became

5162-412: The performers and other personnel. A booth facing the stage may be incorporated into the house where lighting and sound personnel may view the show and run their respective instruments. Other rooms in the building may be used for dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, spaces for constructing sets, props and costumes , as well as storage. All theaters provide a space for an audience. In a fixed seating theatre

5251-400: The performers standby before their entrance. These offstage spaces are called wings on either side of a proscenium stage. A prompter's box may be found backstage. In an amphitheater, an area behind the stage may be designated for such uses while a blackbox theater may have spaces outside of the actual theater designated for such uses. Often a theater will incorporate other spaces intended for

5340-559: The perspective elements. The first enclosed theaters were court theaters, open only to the sovereigns and the nobility. The first opera house open to the public was the Teatro San Cassiano (1637) in Venice. The Italian opera houses were the model for the subsequent theaters throughout Europe. Richard Wagner placed great importance on "mood setting" elements, such as a darkened theater, sound effects, and seating arrangements (lowering

5429-436: The plan, five theaters would have been restored and reopened, including the Harris, which would have become a movie theater. Mayor Ed Koch wavered in his support of the plan, criticizing it as a "Disneyland on 42nd Street". Subsequently, Hugh Hardy conducted a report on 42nd Street's theaters in 1980. His report, in conjunction with a movement opposing the demolition of the nearby Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters, motivated

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5518-411: The production to create a performance area suitable for the production. A theater building or structure contains spaces for an event or performance to take place, usually called the stage , and also spaces for the audience, theater staff, performers and crew before and after the event. There are usually two main entrances of a theater building. One is at the front, used by the audience, and leads into

5607-480: The programs three times a week. The Harris screened movies for the rest of its existence. The East River Savings Bank acquired the theater at auction in November 1935, and Asa G. Candler Inc. bought the theater from the bank in 1936 for $ 200,000. Cohen continued to operate the theater. By the mid-1940s, the ten theaters along 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues were all showing movies; this led Variety to call

5696-460: The receiver deeded the theater to the TCA Corporation. Clare Kummer 's play Her Master's Voice , which had been scheduled for the Harris Theatre during the 1933–1934 season, was relocated after the receivership proceeding. Abe Minsky had contemplated using the Harris Theatre as a burlesque in mid-1933, but theatrical operator Max A. Cohen instead acquired the Harris Theatre and used it as

5785-567: The rest of the 1919–1920 season, though its 348-performance run was interrupted by the 1919 Actors' Equity strike . Although Harris had signed a contract with the Actors' Equity Association to end the strike, Cohan had refused to sign any such contract, even continuing to stage The Royal Vagabond during the strike. As a direct result of disagreements arising from the Actors' Equity strike, Cohan and Harris had technically stopped producing together after 1919;

5874-409: The right side of the scene, is almost always part of the Greek theater complex, which could justify, as a transposition, the recurrence of the pediment with the later solidified stone scene. In front of the skene there may have been a raised acting area called the proskenion , the ancestor of the modern proscenium stage. It is believed that the actors (as opposed to the chorus) acted entirely on

5963-459: The round , amphitheater , and arena . In the classical Indian dance , Natya Shastra defines three stage types. In Australia and New Zealand a small and simple theater, particularly one contained within a larger venue, is called a theatrette . The word originated in 1920s London, for a small-scale music venue. Theatrical performances can also take place in venues adapted from other purposes, such as train carriages. For instance, in recent years

6052-817: The run of the play Welcome Stranger , the venue was renamed Sam H. Harris Theatre on February 21, 1921. The renaming followed that of the nearby Lew Fields Theatre, which had been known as the Harris Theatre until 1920. Harris staged a variety of shows at the Sam H. Harris Theatre over the next several years. These included the drama Six-Cylinder Love with Hedda Hopper , which opened in August 1921 and ran for 11 months. Arthur Hopkins 's production of Hamlet , starring John Barrymore, received critical acclaim and ran for 101 performances in late 1922 and early 1923. The Harris then staged two plays by Owen Davis in 1923: Icebound , which opened that February, and The Nervous Wreck , which opened that October. The producer Thomas Wilkes leased

6141-430: The same rectangular plan and structure. Box (theatre) Boxes are typically placed immediately to the front, side and above the level of the stage. They are separate rooms with an open viewing area which typically seat five people or fewer. Usually all the seats in a box are taken by members of a single group of people. A state box or royal box is sometimes provided for dignitaries. In theatres without box seating

6230-437: The same year. The Napoli Film Company leased the Harris Theatre in March 1932 and began screening Italian films there at the end of that month. The Harris Theatre's last-ever legitimate production was Pigeons and People , starring the theater's former co-operator George M. Cohan, which opened in January 1933 and lasted for 70 performances. After the Shuberts filed for bankruptcy that March, the theater went into receivership , and

6319-433: The site in the 1990s, demolishing the theater to make way for Madame Tussauds. The Candler Theatre (later Harris Theatre) was located in the rear of the Candler Building at 226 West 42nd Street . The auditorium was on 41st Street, but it was entered through the Candler Building's five-story western wing on 42nd Street. Although the building's western wing still exists, the theater was demolished in 1997–1998 to make way for

6408-483: The slopes of hills. The most famous open-air greek theater was the Globe Theater where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed. They consisted of three principal elements: the orchestra , the skene , and the audience. The centerpiece of the theater was the orchestra , or "dancing place", a large circular or rectangular area. The orchestra was the site of the choral performances, the religious rites, and, possibly,

6497-444: The stage measured 33 by 88 feet (10 by 27 m) across. Above the stage was a fly system with counterweights. There was ornate plasterwork around the proscenium arch, as well as an elaborate saucer dome on the ceiling surrounded by twelve metal lighting fixtures. The theater's proscenium arch was unusually wide, and the ceiling was extremely tall, but the decor and lighting were intended to give an impression of intimacy. The theater

6586-547: The state government. The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. The plan centered around four towers that were to be built at 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue, developed by Park Tower Realty and the Prudential Insurance Company of America . The city government selected

6675-459: The sudden, dramatic revelation or transformation. A number of stage tricks, including actors' rapid appearance and disappearance, employ these innovations. The term keren (外連), often translated playing to the gallery , is sometimes used as a catch-all for these tricks. Hanamichi and several innovations including revolving stage, seri and chunori have all contributed to kabuki play. Hanamichi creates depth and both seri and chunori provide

6764-545: The theater and screened the film 7th Heaven there. Harris again gained control of the theater's bookings that September, leasing the venue from the Shuberts. The theater then hosted the musical Yes, Yes, Yvette starting in November 1927, as well as the melodrama The Trial of Mary Dugan in June 1928 and the play Congai that November. The Harris next hosted the plays Scotland Yard in September 1929 and Mendel, Inc in November. By then, increasing competition between producers had resulted in many flops . Furthermore, with

6853-419: The theater was being demolished in 1998, theatrical personalities wanted to restore the theater to legitimate use, and New 42nd Street was seeking tenants for the space. Ultimately, the auditorium was destroyed by the late 1990s, though sources disagree on whether the theater was completely razed by 1997 or 1998. The neighboring Murray's Roman Gardens was also razed to make way for the museum. The Harris's facade

6942-417: The theater was intended to host both movies and legitimate Broadway productions, it functioned exclusively as a movie theater after 1933. The theater's auditorium was demolished by 1998. The only remnant of the former theater is its 42nd Street facade, which has been used by the Madame Tussauds New York museum since 2000. The theater was located in the rear of the Candler Building and was accessed through

7031-434: The theater's site in 1913. The Candler opened on May 8, 1914, with the film Antony and Cleopatra and started hosting legitimate shows during the 1914–1915 season. Cohan and Harris bought out Bloom's and Kleine's interests in the Candler in 1916 and renamed it the Cohan and Harris Theatre, hosting several successful shows in the 1910s. After Cohan and Harris's partnership dissolved in 1920, Harris continued to produce shows at

7120-506: The theater, renaming it after himself. Harris sold the theater in 1926 to the Shubert brothers , who struggled to produce successful shows and forfeited the theater after seven years. Max A. Cohen, head of the Cinema Circuit, acquired the Harris Theatre in 1933; the venue was used as a movie theater until 1994. The city and state governments of New York acquired the theater as part of the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project in 1990. Forest City Ratner developed an entertainment and retail complex on

7209-488: The tradition of the Greek Theatres. The central part of the auditorium was hollowed out of a hill or slope, while the outer radian seats required structural support and solid retaining walls. This was of course not always the case as Romans tended to build their theatres regardless of the availability of hillsides. All theatres built within the city of Rome were completely man-made without the use of earthworks. The auditorium

7298-442: The whole is topped by a roof, even when the Noh stage is erected indoors. A ceramic jar system under the stage amplifies the sounds of dancing during the performance. There is a small door to permit entry of the musicians and vocalists. The independent roof is one of the most recognizable characteristic of the Noh stage. Supported by four columns, the roof symbolizes the sanctity of the stage, with its architectural design derived from

7387-447: The worship pavilion ( haiden ) or sacred dance pavilion ( kaguraden ) of Shinto shrines. The roof also unifies the theater space and defines the stage as an architectural entity. The pillars supporting the roof are named shitebashira (principal character's pillar), metsukebashira (gazing pillar), wakibashira (secondary character's pillar), and fuebashira (flute pillar), clockwise from upstage right respectively. Each pillar

7476-419: Was clad with Caen stone , which was carved with floral decorations in an 18th-century style. The auditorium was decorated in the Italian Renaissance style and had two levels: an orchestra and a balcony. The balcony was cantilevered over the orchestra, allowing all rows an unobstructed view of the stage. This was in contrast to earlier theaters with two balconies, which often had columns that blocked views from

7565-399: Was hired to design the new theater. Theatrical personalities George M. Cohan , Sam H. Harris , and George Kleine leased the theater, which was intended to accommodate not only movies but also Broadway plays. The Candler opened on May 8, 1914, with the film Antony and Cleopatra . Soon after the theater opened, local media reported that the Candler would begin hosting legitimate shows in

7654-455: Was larger, at 100 feet (30 metres). Other evidence for the round shape is a line in Shakespeare's Henry V which calls the building "this wooden O ", and several rough woodcut illustrations of the city of London. Around this time, the green room , a place for actors to wait until required on stage, became common terminology in English theaters. The Globe has now been rebuilt as

7743-520: Was not roofed; rather, awnings ( vela ) could be pulled overhead to provide shelter from rain or sunlight. Some Roman theatres, constructed of wood, were torn down after the festival for which they were erected concluded. This practice was due to a moratorium on permanent theatre structures that lasted until 55 BC when the Theatre of Pompey was built with the addition of a temple to avoid the law. Some Roman theatres show signs of never having been completed in

7832-403: Was painted in what journalists described as "mouse color and orange". The Candler Theatre was built as part of the Candler Building, developed by Coca-Cola Company owner Asa Griggs Candler to designs by the firm of Willauer, Shape & Bready. Candler had acquired the site in December 1911. After initial speculation that a theater would be erected on the site, Candler announced he would erect

7921-440: Was retained as an exit to the museum, which opened in November 2000. 40°45′23″N 73°59′17″W  /  40.75638°N 73.98817°W  / 40.75638; -73.98817 Theater (structure) A theater , or playhouse , is a structure where theatrical works, performing arts , and musical concerts are presented. The theater building serves to define the performance and audience spaces. The facility usually

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