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Ziegfeld Theatre (1927)

Ziegfeld Theatre
Ziegfeld-Theatre-1931.jpg
Ziegfeld Theatre during the run of
Show Boat (1927–29)
Address 1341 Sixth Avenue
Manhattan, New York City
United States
Coordinates 40°45′45″N 73°58′43″W / 40.76256°N 73.97873°W / 40.76256; -73.97873Coordinates: 40°45′45″N 73°58′43″W / 40.76256°N 73.97873°W / 40.76256; -73.97873
Owner Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr.
Type Broadway
Capacity 1,638
Construction
Opened February 2, 1927 (1927-02-02)
Demolished 1966
Architect Joseph Urban and
Thomas W. Lamb

The Ziegfeld Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 1341 Sixth Avenue, corner of 54th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1927 and, despite public protests, was razed in 1966.

With a seating capacity of 1,638, the Ziegfeld Theatre was named for the famed Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., who built it with financial backing from William Randolph Hearst. Designed by Joseph Urban and Thomas W. Lamb, it opened February 2, 1927, with the musical Rio Rita. The theater's second show was also its most famous—Jerome Kern's landmark musical Show Boat, which opened December 27, 1927, and ran for 572 performances.

Due to the decline in new Broadway shows during the Great Depression, the theater became the Loew's Ziegfeld in 1933 and operated as a movie theater until showman Billy Rose bought it in 1944.

NBC leased the Ziegfeld Theatre for use as a television studio from 1955 to 1963. The Perry Como Show was broadcast from the theater beginning in 1956. It was also used to present the televised Emmy Awards program in 1959 and 1961.

In 1963 the Ziegfeld Theatre reopened as a legitimate Broadway theater. This was short-lived, however, as Rose began to assemble abutting properties for a new real estate project. The musical Anya, which opened November 29, 1965, for 16 performances, was the last musical to play at the theater, which was torn down in 1966 to make way for a skyscraper, the Fisher Bros. Burlington House.


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