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Variety Arts Theatre

The Variety Arts Theatre was built in 1911 as a nickelodeon and later became a first-run movie theatre. After a long period of dormancy, producer Ben Sprecher took it over in 1991 and converted it to a 499-seat Off-Broadway theatre, leading the movement of a number of theatre companies to the Union Square area.

Exploding real estate values in the neighborhood lead to the theatre's replacement with another generic glass tower in 2006 and, unfortunately, I didn't make it down to photograph the theatre until after it was gone. Sprechter also controlled the Promenade Theatre on the Upper West Side, which was closed and replaced with retail.

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