Vanderbilt Theatre

The Vanderbilt Theatre was a New York City Broadway theatre, designed by architect Eugene De Rosa for producer Lyle Andrews. It opened in 1918, located at 148 West 48th Street. The theatre was demolished in 1954.

Vanderbilt Theatre

Constance Carpenter and William Gaxton, principals of the original Broadway production of Rodgers and Hart's A Connecticut Yankee, on stage at the Vanderbilt Theatre during a mid-run rehearsal of the hit musical (1928)
Address	148 West 48th Street Manhattan, New York City
Type	Broadway
Capacity	780 (est.)
Current use	Replaced by parking facility
Construction
Opened	March 7, 1918
Closed	1954
Years active	1918 – 1939 1953 – 1954
Architect	Eugene De Rosa

History

The 780-seat theatre hosted the long-running musical Irene from 1919 to 1921. In the mid-1920s, several Rodgers and Hart musicals played at the theatre. Andrews lost the theatre during the Great Depression, and in 1931 it was briefly renamed the Tobis to show German films. The experiment was a failure, and the theatre returned to legitimate use. No new shows played at the theatre from 1939 until 1953, as it was used as a radio studio, first by NBC, then by ABC, until 1952. Irving Maidman purchased the theatre and began to produce new shows in 1953, but the theatre was demolished after only a year, being replaced by a 6-story parking garage.

Notable productions

• 1919: Irene
• 1926: The Girl Friend
• 1926: Peggy-Ann
• 1927: A Connecticut Yankee
• 1935: Mulatto by Langston Hughes

External links

Media related to Vanderbilt Theatre at Wikimedia Commons