49-451: The Irving Place Theatre was located at the southwest corner of Irving Place and East 15th Street in the Union Square neighborhood of Manhattan , New York City . Built in 1888, it served as a German language theatre, a Yiddish theatre , a burlesque house, a union meeting hall, a legitimate theatre and a movie theatre. It was demolished in 1984. The original building on the site
98-686: A century and a half. Ethnic stages were created by and for immigrants themselves coming from Europe, Latin America, and Asia. Ethnic stages resonated strongly with immigrants because it reflected on their concerns and experiences. Ethnic stages were primarily designed to have immigrant-themed works for recently arrived immigrant audiences. Through the ethnic stage, immigrants maintained and expanded their cultural memory. Immigrant influence on American society can be pinpointed to places like Swede Town (Chicago); Little Germany (New York); Little Italy (New York); and chinatown (San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles). Despite
147-474: A classic American cinematic moment in the 1955 movie The Seven Year Itch in which Marilyn Monroe shot what would become her most famous scene. While standing on a subway grating outside the Loew's Lexington Theatre, her skirt billowed up from the wind underneath. While the footage showing the theatre in the background appeared in the finished film, the footage featuring the subway grate shot on September 15, 1954, on
196-411: A geyser of hot steam up from beneath the avenue at 41st Street, resulting in one death and more than 40 injuries. Lexington Avenue runs one-way southbound for its entire length from 131st Street to 21st Street . Parallel to Lexington Avenue lies Park Avenue to its west and Third Avenue to its east. The avenue is largely commercial at ground level, with offices above. There are clusters of hotels in
245-499: A private park, which he called Gramercy Park . He was also developing property around Union Square and wanted the new road to improve the value of these tracts. The legislation was approved, and, as the owner of most of the land along the route of the new street, Ruggles was assessed for the majority of its cost. Ruggles named the southern section, below 20th Street , which opened in 1833, after his friend Washington Irving . The northern section, which opened three years later, in 1836,
294-498: A program with a frequent change of bill to expand his audience. Each week he presented three or more different plays ranging from classics to comedies, and his theater was acclaimed for having a varied repertory. Musical plays were also presented, especially those popular on German stages such as Kumarker und Picarde and Das Versprechen hinter’m Herd (The Promise Behind the Hearth). Conried sought to expand and educate his audience through
343-463: A theater solely dedicated to serious drama, connecting back to German roots. In his 1898 speech, celebrating his twenty-fifth anniversary of his theatrical career, Conried expresses that German theater should be “a reflection of the dramatic literature of the old fatherland, and in that way to be the first and most powerful pillar for the cultivation and maintenance of German culture in America”. Nonetheless,
392-676: Is disbanded in 1950. Yiddish Theater began in Europe in the early 18th century and came to the United States with mass Eastern European immigration, thriving primarily in New York City from the late 19th to mid-20th century. The idea to establish a Yiddish theater came from the immigrant community who wanted to combat the effects of shund (trash) popular entertainment. For the immigrant community, Yiddish theater offered entertainment, an escape, and reminisces of immigrant life and home traditions. When
441-693: Is the setting for the 2013 fictional play, The Nance . Notes Sources 40°44′5″N 73°59′19″W / 40.73472°N 73.98861°W / 40.73472; -73.98861 Lexington Avenue (Manhattan) Lexington Avenue , often colloquially abbreviated as " Lex ", is an avenue on the East Side of Manhattan in New York City . The avenue carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street . Along its 5.5-mile (8.9-kilometer), 110-block route, Lexington Avenue runs through Harlem , Carnegie Hill ,
490-582: The BMT Broadway Line ( N , R , and W trains) at Lexington Avenue/59th Street station . The Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station of the IND and BMT 63rd Street Lines ( F , <F> , and Q trains) is also located at Lexington Avenue, but it does not have a direct interchange with the Lexington Avenue Line. Lexington Avenue became part of
539-564: The Bowery ; from the late 1910s to the early 1920s, Yiddish theater gradually moved northward, first to Second Avenue and then to Irving Place and East 16th Street, reflecting the beginning dispersion of the East European immigrant Jewish community. The Irving Place theater came under the management of Jewish actor, director, and producer Maurice Schwartz in 1918, and he changed the name to the new Yiddish Art Theater. His new theater thrived until it
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#1733086352733588-662: The East 17th Street/Irving Place Historic District , and 19 Gramercy Park on the corner of 20th Street, part of the Gramercy Park Historic District . Offices located on Irving Place include those of The Nation magazine, the New York branch of AMORC and the Seafarers and International House mission. There are also a number of clinics and official city buildings along the street, including Washington Irving High School and
637-824: The Irving Place Theatre (1883-1903) In 1903 he became director of the Metropolitan Opera in New York City , a post he remained in until his retirement in 1908. He was born on September 3, 1855, in Bielitz , Austrian Silesia (now Poland). His father was a weaver of Jewish origin. He received his education at the Realschule in Vienna . Early on, he was an actor in at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Only 21 years old he became manager of
686-545: The New York City Subway runs under Lexington Avenue north of 42nd Street (at Grand Central–42nd Street station ) to 125th Street . South of Grand Central, this subway line runs under Park Avenue , Park Avenue South, and Fourth Avenue until Astor Place . The line interchanges with the IND Queens Boulevard Line ( E and M trains) at Lexington Avenue/51st Street station and with
735-647: The Thalia Theatre as artistic manager and in 1882 he became artistic manager of the New York Concert Company . In 1883 he assumed the management of the Irving Place Theatre where he worked for two decades. In 1903, he succeeded Maurice Grau as director of the Metropolitan Opera until 1908. His first season at the Met was notable through the first production of Parsifal outside of Bayreuth , against
784-555: The Upper East Side , Midtown , and Murray Hill to a point of origin that is centered on Gramercy Park. South of Gramercy Park, the axis continues as Irving Place from 20th Street to East 14th Street . Lexington Avenue was not one of the streets included in the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 street grid, so the addresses for cross streets do not start at an even hundred number, as they do with avenues that were originally part of
833-451: The 30s and 40s, roughly from the avenue's intersection with 30th Street through to its intersection with 49th Street , and apartment buildings farther north. There are numerous structures designated as New York City Landmarks (NYCL), National Historic Landmarks (NHL), and National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on Lexington Avenue. From south to north (in increasing address order), they include: In contrast to Lexington Avenue,
882-484: The English-language. Despite this division, ethnic theater prospered in the face of continuous mass immigration, lasting several decades or a century. Immigrants and their descendants never completely lost interest in ethnic theater but with the advent of film, immigrants, like their American counterparts attended American Motion Pictures, providing them insight into their new home and assimilating them. The vaudeville
931-599: The German theater was constantly divided since first and second generation immigrants sought different repertories. Peter Conolly-Smith examines the German theater's demise in a study, conveying that the German theater's collapse in American culture had little to do with the animosities against German immigrants produced by World War I and more to do with German theater's assimilation into American culture. Actor Rudolf Christians took over of Irving Place Theater in 1913 as director of
980-562: The Irving Place for ten years, Conried took directorship of the Metropolitan Opera but would still continue as director of the Irving place until he fell ill and resigned in 1908. The Irving Place Theater like other German Theaters were undermined by their commitment to produce classic German drama and their desire to give in to mainstream American demands by merely producing German versions of popular American theater. The German theater's audience
1029-477: The Irving Place theater like any other German theater was caused by various many factors: anti-German prejudice, German America's lack of interest in the German stage, and other competing forms of entertainment such as films, English-language theater, and the vaudeville. By 1910 Yiddish theater was flourishing on the Lower East Side in New York City, and Yiddish companies had taken over many German theaters on
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#17330863527331078-494: The Metropolitan Opera, he conceived the New Theatre . His tenure was also marked by the United States premiere of Richard Strauss ' Salome which was presented in “public rehearsal” on January 20, 1907, and at a benefit performance on January 22. The opera shocked the moral sensibilities of audiences and was met with disapproval, including many audience members walking out during the shocking final scene and with complaints to
1127-794: The Yiddish theater's audience decreased, and Yiddish plays were placed on limited runs. Just as in theater in general, the Yiddish theater's demise would come with the spread of film and television. The domination of Hebrew also drove out Yiddish language and Yiddish theater. Hitler and Stalin were responsible for the waning of Yiddish culture. They destroyed old world sources and texts of Yiddish language and culture. Nonetheless, today there are Jewish organizations and centers that sponsor theater-related events. And many are still interested in making Yiddish theater accessible especially since Yiddish theater still resonates with American Jews because it carries memories of their ancestors and cultural traditions. The theater
1176-424: The Yiddish theater's prosperity. Ever-increasing assimilation by immigrants continually pushed Yiddish language and Yiddish theater out America. English words made their way into Yiddish dialogue while American mainstream productions influenced Yiddish productions. Just like had occurred in German theaters, the younger generation of immigrants preferred English-language, americanized theater, shows and films. With time,
1225-487: The avenue are the large apartment buildings which line the street from Gramercy Park to 17th Street . Also at 17th, a small bed-and-breakfast, the Inn at Irving Place, occupies two Greek Revival architecture townhouses built in 1840–1841 and renovated between 1991 and 1995. Historically and architecturally significant are 47 and 49 Irving Place—the latter where Washington Irving is said to have lived, but did not —which are part of
1274-423: The city. Vaudevilles, on the other hand, served to interpret ethnic communities via ethnic caricatures through comedy. At times, ethnic communities protested their caricatures in the vaudeville but nonetheless were among the audience members of the vaudeville. Just like ethnic theater, the vaudeville offered a glimpse of immigrant life though, the vaudeville heavily stressed ethnic caricatures. Immigrants were drawn to
1323-418: The company alongside two other manager-directors until 1918 when the company disbanded. Christian's vision similarly aligned with that of Conried's. They both sought to present great modern plays and the classics. Under Christians, for the first time in the U.S., George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion was presented in German. Both Christians and Conried desired to attract non-German speakers as their audience though at
1372-480: The company's board. The opera was pulled for the company's season and the Met did not actually stage the opera until 1934. Also in 1907, Conreid notably poached Gustav Mahler from his conducting post in Vienna, and brought him in to lead the conducting staff at the Met; a position he remained in until leaving to become the director of the New York Philharmonic in 1909. On May 1, 1908, Conreid retired from
1421-527: The core of their audience were German immigrants. Under Christians, the New York Times remarked on how the Irving Place Theater embodied German patriotism in the U.S. before America's entrance into the war. After America's involvement, German patriotism decreased because Germany had become America's enemy, and in 1918 the Irving Place Theater was driven to its demise as a German company. The collapse of
1470-569: The corner of Lexington Avenue and 51st Street , was more of a publicity stunt; retakes were shot on a studio soundstage, and shots from both are seen in the film. This street was also featured in the film 1408 . The street is referenced in the Elton John song " Island Girl ", the first single from the album Rock of the Westies in 1976. Notes Further reading Heinrich Conried Heinrich Conried (September 3, 1855 – April 27, 1909)
1519-492: The east. An assortment of restaurants and bars line Irving Place, including Pete's Tavern , New York's oldest surviving saloon, where O. Henry supposedly conceived of his short story " The Gift of the Magi ", and which survived Prohibition disguised as a flower shop. Irving Plaza , on East 15th Street and Irving, hosts numerous concerts for both well-known and indie bands and draws a crowd almost every night. Another component of
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1568-577: The failed Stadttheater Bremen . His success in rescuing the theater not only moved the Senate of the city to pass a resolution thanking him, but also brought him to the attention of Adolf Neuendorff , who was the manager of the Germania Theatre in New York. On invitation of Neuendorff Conried moved in 1878 to New York City, where he became chief stage manager of the Germania Theatre. In 1881 he moved to
1617-694: The headquarters of the New York City Human Resources Administration . The bottom of the street is anchored by the rear of the Zeckendorf Towers condominium apartment complex on the west side, and the Consolidated Edison Building on the east. The following buses use Lexington Avenue between the following streets (uptown buses run along Third Avenue): The IRT Lexington Avenue Line ( 4 , 5 , 6 , and <6> trains) of
1666-485: The institution of an outreach program in eastern universities, providing performances of the German classics and comedies to students from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, and Columbia. Through this program, students were encouraged to regularly attend the Irving Place Theater. In 1901, sponsored by Yale's German Department, Conried's company performed Lessing's Minna von Barheim in New Haven. In 1903, after being manager at
1715-423: The overt, clear presence of immigrant communities all over America, the ethnic stage was hidden and closed-off from outsiders. Those not part of specific ethnic communities were not aware or interested in that community's theater. Ethnic theater was undermined by immigrants themselves. First generation immigrants preferred plays in their homeland language while second generation immigrants favored mainstream theater in
1764-476: The plan. Both Lexington Avenue and Irving Place began in 1832 when Samuel Ruggles , a lawyer and real-estate developer, petitioned the New York State Legislature to approve the creation of a new north–south avenue between the existing Third and Fourth Avenues , between 14th and 30th Streets . Ruggles purchased land in the area and was developing it as a planned community of townhouses around
1813-505: The play Narrentanz ( The Fool´s Game ) by Leo Birinski took place here on November 13, 1912. In 1918 the facility became the home of the Yiddish Art Theater company under the management of Maurice Schwartz . By the 1920s burlesque shows were offered alongside Yiddish drama. Composer-arranger Harry Lubin , of The Outer Limits fame, was musical director of the theater during the 1920s and 1930s. Clemente Giglio converted
1862-483: The same time as the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway . The widened street and the subway line both opened on July 17, 1918. Portions of the avenue were widened in 1955, which required eminent domain takings of the facades of some structures along Lexington. Lexington Avenue has carried one-way (downtown) traffic since July 17, 1960. The 2007 New York City steam explosion sent
1911-399: The six-block stretch of Irving Place from 14th to 20th Street at Gramercy Park carries two-way traffic and is decidedly local in nature. After the opening of Union Square in 1839, the Irving Place area became one of the most sought-after residential neighborhoods in the city, a situation which was only enhanced by the development of Gramercy Park to the north and Stuyvesant Square to
1960-671: The theater opened for the first time as the new Yiddish Art Theater on August 30, 1918, it did not find huge success. Zalmen Libibin's Man and his Shadow, did not meet audience and critic expectations. The new theater would find success with Peretz Hershbein's The Forgotten Nook and The Blacksmith's Daughter , both of which emphasized on the idyllic, village life, something that resonated strongly with immigrants. The Yiddish Art theater at Irving Place, like other Yiddish theaters, rejected popular, sentimental and melodramatic improvisations, and instead focused on quality by carefully rehearsing plays, ensemble, acting, and presentation. Yiddish theater
2009-442: The theatre in 1939 into a cinema to present Italian films. In 1940 it was taken over by a group of non- Equity actors, the "Merely Players", whose productions were picketed by the theatrical unions. During World War II it presented a steady program of mixed bills of Soviet propaganda and French films, as well as weekly folk dance sessions. Comparative Study on ethnic stages in the United States show ethnic stage activity spanning over
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2058-522: The vaudeville primarily because these ethnic caricatures though unfavorable, bore a realistic resemblance to the immigrants and they would encounter on the streets and neighborhoods. In 1893, Polish immigrant, Heinrich Conried changed the theater's name to Irving Place Theater. He worked as a director and manager, establishing the theater's success and financial stability until 1903. Though Conried aimed to primarily attract New York's German-speaking population, not all were regular theatre-goers, so he devised
2107-408: The wishes of Cosima Wagner , who went to court but failed in her attempt to forbid the production. By December 31, 1913, when the copyright of Parsifal expired, the work had been represented 43 times at the Metropolitan Opera. Enrico Caruso , who until then had refused all offers to come to America, was persuaded by Conried to come to New York and sing at the Met. Soon after he had become director of
2156-439: Was Irving Hall , which opened in 1860 as a venue for balls, lectures, and concerts. It was also for many years the base for one faction of the city's Democratic Party. The facility was rebuilt, and opened as Amberg's German Theatre in 1888 under the management of Gustav Amberg, as a home for German-language theatre. Heinrich Conried took over management in 1893, and changed the name to Irving Place Theatre . The first night of
2205-456: Was also another competing form of entertainment eager to lure in immigrants as audience members. The vaudeville and the ethnic theater played different social functions. Ethnic stages such as Yiddish and Italian theater sought to preserve cherished aspects of old-world culture. Through the celebration of shared values, ethnic theaters gave immigrants a sense of community and solidarity in the face of increasingly chaotic and diverse everyday life in
2254-621: Was also torn by first and second generation Germans.The type of repertory offered by theaters was a critical factor in determining the type of audience. The first generation sought to watch traditional or classic repertory and the Americanized second generation preferred popular farces. Because first generation and second generation sought to watch different things, Conried devised varied program at Irving Place where he included both high-end classics and popular farces in order to diversify and expand his audience. In theory, however, Conried had envisioned
2303-511: Was an Austrian and naturalized American theatrical manager and director. Beginning his career as an actor in Vienna, he took his first post as theater director at the Stadttheater Bremen in 1876. In 1878 he relocated to New York City where he remained for the rest of his career, serving initially as director of the Germania Theatre (1878-1881), followed by posts at the Thalia Theatre (1881-1882), New York Concert Company (1882-1883), and
2352-412: Was an entertainment of cultural exchange. Through the translations of classics, immigrants could learn about world literature; through the translation of popular American theater, immigrants could americanize. After World War I, Yiddish theater in America began to show signs of a struggling show business. Restricted immigration and a demographic movement away from New York City's old neighborhoods affected
2401-521: Was named after the Battle of Lexington in the American Revolutionary War . In 1899, Lexington Avenue was the location of the first arrest in New York City for speeding when a bicycle patrolman overtook cabdriver Jacob German, who had been racing down the avenue at the "reckless" speed of 12 mph (19 km/h). The portion of Lexington Avenue above East 42nd Street was reconstructed at
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