The Hippodrome was built by Frederick Thompson and Elmer Dundy, creators of the Luna Park amusement park at Coney Island.
The theater was located on Sixth Avenue, now named Avenue of the Americas, between Forty-third and Forty-fourth streets.
Its auditorium seated 5,300 people and it was equipped with what was then the state of the art in theatrical technology.
The theater was acquired by The Shubert Organization in 1909. The Hippodrome first opened in 1905 and is still considered as one of the true wonders of theater architecture.
Its stage was 12 times larger than any Broadway "legit" house and capable of holding as many as 1,000 performers at a time,
or a full-sized circus with elephants and horses.
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Friday, September 07, 2012
From Chic Silber #5
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3 comments:
There was mention in the article
that this was a hand colored photo
I immediately thought of Babe
Another similar view showed an
elevated subway line on 6th Ave
Had no idea there ever was 1
Dave Price and I have long agreed that 1937 was Clyde Beatty's zenith season. He departed Ringling interests, and starred for Jess Adkins and Zack Terrell, beginning in 1935, as we all know. The strength of his name on a contract enabled the partners to get bank loans for, of all things, a circus, in the near-impossible Depresssion era. In 1937, Cole Bros-Clyde Beatty played the Hipp, challenging Ringling, across town at the same time, in the Garden, and played to turnaway business. During this run, Beatty was further celebrated with the cover of TIME magazine, for its March 29, 1937 issue, until then an honor unheard of for a circus performer.
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