42nd Street Theatres
In the first two decades of the 20th century, West 42nd Street became the home to a number of theatres and was the center of the new Broadway theatre district. For a look back at these theatres in their prime, see Michael Whitlach's Virtual 42nd Street and Musicals101.com. The North side of the street was (from East to West):
- Hammerstein's Victoria (1899-1915) 42nd at Broadway
- Republic (1902) 207/209 West 42nd
- Lyric Theatre (1903-1996) 213 West 42nd
- Times Square Theatre (1920) 215/219 West 42nd
- Apollo (1920-1996) 223 West 42nd
- Selwyn (1918-1996) 229 West 42nd Street
The South side of the street was:
- New Amsterdam (1903) 214 West 42nd
- Candler / Harris Theatre (1914-1998) 226 West 42nd
- Liberty Theatre (1904-1998) 234 West 42nd
- Empire (1912-1998) 236 West 42nd (Thomas W. Lamb)
- Lew M. Fields (1904-1998) 254 West 42nd
- American Theatre (1893-1932) 260 West 42nd
As Americans headed for the suburbs and live theatre declined in the the 1960s, the majestic theatres of West 42nd Street were not spared the fate that faced large theatres all across the country. These theatres turned to movies (often being subdivided into multiple theatres) and then became porn houses before settling as vacant, fetid caverns of debt and dispair. By the time I got to NYC in the early 1990s, this block became known as "The Deuce" - a fearsome post-apocalyptic adult Disneyland (tm) of shuttered theatres, sex shops and prostitutes. For a look back at this tawdry and fascinating era, see the Forgotten-NY page on the old 42nd Street.
As the economy improved in the late 1990s and life returned to America's urban centers, civic leaders and commercial interests began coveting this newly valuable real-estate and implementing a curious, distinctly '90s vision of New York as a family-friendly urban theme park. Theatres that couldn't be shoehorned into tourist-friendly structures were demolished. Three of the ten surviving theatres remained more or less intact as live theatrical venues with elements of four more incorporated into new structures. The two movie megaplexes are particularly problematic as it is difficult to understand why tourists (who make up most of the visitors to Times Square) would want to spend $11 (on top of $200+ a night for a hotel) to see the same Hollywood schlock they could see for 25% less within a comfortable drive of their suburban Iowa McMansion. But Times Square has never been about rationality. While no morally responsible citizen could advocate for a return to the decomposition of the '70s, I suspect that the 2006 incarnation of 42nd Street is unsustainable in its current form.
As of 2016 the North side of the street is:
- The Reuters Building
- New Victory - 207/209 West 42nd: stunning renovation of the Republic Theatre)
- Hilton Theatre (formerly the Ford Center - 1998) 213 West 42nd: Built with elements of the old Lyric and Apollo theatres
- American Airlines / Duke Theatre - 229 West 42nd: Renovation of the old Selwyn theatre
- Times Square Theatre (vacant)
- B.B. King's Blues Club - 237 West 42nd
- E-Walk Entertainment Complex
The South side:
- Office / Retail Building
- New Amsterdam - 214 West 42nd
- A massive McDonalds
- Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum / AMC Empire 25: Built on the site of the demolished Candler and Empire theatres
- 11 Times Square (office building)
