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New York
Architecture Images- Midtown Lunt-Fontaine Theater formerly "The Globe" |
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architect |
Carrere & Hastings |
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location |
205 W46, bet. Broadway and Eighth Ave. |
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date |
1914 |
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style |
Beaux-Arts |
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construction |
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type |
Theater |
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images |
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Built 1910 as "Globe Theatre" by Carrer & Hastings for
Charles Dillingham. Opened 10 Jan 1910 with George Ade and Gustave
Luders's "The Old Town". 1416 seats. Used for musical performances. 1932
converted to a cinema. 1957-1958 rebuilt by Roche & Roche for Robert
Dowling and the City Playhouses Group. Re-opened 5 May 1958 as
"Lunt-Fontanne Theatre" with Dürrenmatt's "Besuch der Alten Dame" (The
Visit), featuring Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne in their Broadway
farewell appearance. 1973 purchased by the Nederlander Organization.
Notable world premieres:
Special thanks to CARTHALIA Andreas Praefcke's postcard collection of theatres. |
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The last Broadway theater by noted NYC architects Carrere & Hastings to survive, the Globe was built as a beaux-arts palace for the musicals of Charles Dillingham. The Globe's first performance was a production of the George Ade-Gustav Luders musical The Old Town, starring Fred Stone, Dave Montgomery and Peggy Wood. The Globe was a very successful house though the '10s and '20s, but Dillingham's theatrical empire did not survive the early years of the Depression. After he was forced into bankruptcy in 1933, the Globe was converted to a movie house. After a complete renovation, which included the gutting of the interior, it was reopened as a legitimate theater in 1958, renamed in honor of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne. The couple met in 1919, married in 1922, and went on to perform together 27 times, with their last performance in 1958 1915 Stop! Look! Listen! to Marion Sunshine, Gaby Deslys and Marion Davies in this Irving Berlin musical 1916 Lynne Fontanne makes her Broadway debut in J Hartley Manners' drama The Harp of Life. Starring are Philip Merivale and Laurette Taylor 1919 Adele and Fred Astaire are hoofin' it to Griz Kreisler's music in the hit Apple Blossoms 1920 Ivan Caryll's musical Tip top features Fred Stone and the Duncan Sisters 1921 The Ziegfeld Follies normally usually plays at the New Amsterdam, but because that theater is still occupied, Fanny Brice sings 'Second Hand Rose' at the Globe 1922 Another revue moves in for its yearly run. George White's Scandals of 1922 features WC Fields and Dolores Costello 1925 If you want to be happy run down to the Globe and catch Louise Groody and Charles Winninger in the Harbach-Mandel-Youmans-Caesar musical No No Nanette 1931 Otto Harbach teams up with Jerome Kern to write the musical The Cat and the Fiddle. Its 395 performances feature Bettina Hall and George Meader 1958 One of the major moments in Broadway theatrical history. Katharine Cornell, Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes, Beatrice Lillie, Anita Loos, Mary Martin, Laurence Olivier and Ginger Rogers are in the audience on May 5 to watch Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in Friedrich Duerrenmatt's The Visit. The old and weary Globe is reborn as the Lunt-Fontanne Theater 1959 One of everybody's favorite things starts a 1,443 performance run. Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Music by Richard Rodgers Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The streets are alive to The Sound of Music and performances by Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel. Best musical Tony to the show. Best musical actress Tony to Martin 1962 Neil Simon wrote the 7 roles in Little Me specifically for Sid Caesar; Simon was one of the writers on Caesar's groundbreaking television show. Music is by Cy Coleman with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh 1964 John Gielgud directs Richard Burton, Alfred Drake and Hume Cronyn in Hamlet. Cronyn earns a Tony 1970 Sheldon Harnick's and Jerry Bock's The Rothschilds features Hal Linden, Jill Clayburgh, Chris Sarandon and Keene Curtis. Tonys go to Linden and Curtis 1976 What happens when you combine a score by Richard Rodgers and Sheldon Harnick with performances by Glenn Close and Penny fuller? Sometimes you get Rex, a 49 performance flop 1979 Peter Pan is successfully reprised with Sandy Duncan in the title role 1983 Despite what critics say, who wouldn't go see Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in a revival of Noel Coward's Private Lives? Until word-of-mouth gets around that's what audiences do. The show limps along for 69 performances 1991 Freddie Roman's revue Catskills on Broadway brings the borscht belt to the Great White Way. It features himself and comedienne Marilyn Michaels 1995 We can't ignore her any longer. Carol Channing is back as the matchmaker in Hello Dolly! Heck, she revived Dolly Levi at this theater in 1978. Come to think of it, Channing has played Dolly in virtually every city the past 30 years. What a career 1997 A very unexpected musical hit shows that you can never tell. When the Peter Stone-Maury Yeston musical treatment of the Titanic disaster was being hyped, at the same time as the screen version, folks predicted a quick sinking. Instead, the show is Tony's best musical, Stone takes the Tony for his book and Yeston for the score. It runs for 2 years 1999 Beauty and the Beast, at the Palace Theater since 1994, begins performances at the Lunt-Fontanne November 12th 2003 Still going... With thanks to http://www.jimsdeli.com |
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