Olympia Theatre (New York City)
The Olympia Theatre (1514–16 Broadway at 44th Street), also known as Hammerstein's Olympia and later the Lyric Theatre and the New York Theatre, was a theater complex built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I at Longacre Square (later Times Square) in Manhattan, New York City, opening in 1895.
Not to be confused with Olympic Theatre (New York City).Address
It consisted of a theater, a music hall, a concert hall, and a roof garden. Later, sections of the structure were substantially remodeled and used for both live theatere and for motion pictures. As a cinema, it was also known at various times as the Vitagraph Theatre and the Criterion Theatre.
History[edit]
According to The New York Times, the Olympia was a "massive gray stone building", and extended 203 feet (62 m) on Longacre Square, 104 feet (32 m) on 45th Street, and 101 feet (31 m) on 44th Street. It was made from Indiana limestone, featured an imposing façade, and followed French Renaissance designs. It was designed by J. B. McElfatrick & Son.[1][2] The building opened on November 25, 1895 with the Broadway debut of Excelsior, Jr., with over 30 performers from Europe appearing.[3] It was the second theater to open in what is now known as the Theater District. (The first was the Empire Theatre, on the southeast corner of 40th Street and Broadway.) The complex consisted of the Music Hall, a large variety theater, the Lyric, a legitimate theater, the Concert Hall, for smaller music performances, and a rooftop garden theater.
In 1898, Hammerstein was forced to sell the complex to settle debts from its construction.[4] The venues were sold separately, with the Music Hall becoming the New York Theatre, which became part of the Loew's movie theater chain in 1915.[5] The Lyric was renamed the Criterion Theatre. From 1914 to 1916 it operated as the Vitagraph Theatre, leased by the Vitagraph Company for prestige motion pictures including The Battle Cry of Peace, before returning to the Criterion name. It permanently switched to cinema use in 1920.[6][7][8] The rooftop garden theater was leased by Florenz Ziegfeld and hosted the first five editions of the Ziegfeld Follies under the name Jardin de Paris, named for the location in Paris of the Moulin Rouge. It, too, became a movie theater.[9] The complex was demolished in 1935.