Eugene De Rosa

Eugene De Rosa (1894 – c. 1945) was an Italian American architect, called at birth Eugenio. He worked in New York City and specialized in the design of theatres.

Eugene De Rosa
De Rosa's Broadway Theatre on 53rd Street, built in 1924 and pictured in 2010
Born
Eugene De Rosa

1894
Calabria, Italy
Died1945
NationalityItalian American
OccupationArchitect
BuildingsApollo Theatre, Broadway Theatre, Gallo Opera House

De Rosa's business flourished from 1918 to 1929 and was at its height during the Roaring Twenties, but it was largely destroyed by the Great Depression. During the 1930s he spent some years in London and settled for a while in Naples. Toward the end of World War II he was reported to be back in New York and beginning to work on post-war theatre projects, just before his death.

Early life

De Rosa was born in Calabria, in the far south of mainland Italy, in 1894. While he was a small child, his parents emigrated to the United States, arriving through Ellis Island and settling in New York City, where they were living by 1898. De Rosa had four brothers, Felix, Jerry, Vincent, and John; and a sister, Sylvia. His brother Felix also became an architect.[1]

Career

By 1918, De Rosa was practising as an architect, quickly choosing to specialize in theatre design.[2] An early project was his Vanderbilt Theatre, New York (1918).[3] By 1919 he was in a partnership called "De Rosa & Pereira", and that year he represented several clients in appeals against decisions of the superintendent of buildings of the City of New York.[4]

During the 1920s, De Rosa obtained many more commissions for new theatres. The great driving force during his Roaring Twenties career was "the phenomenal growth in popularity of motion pictures", and his early work included the Times Square (1920), the Apollo on 42nd Street (1920), and Klaw (1921) Theatres.[5] One important design for a site on Hyatt Street in St. George, Staten Island, provided not just a grand new theatre but also stores and offices.[6]

De Rosa's business was largely destroyed by the Great Depression of the 1930s,[1] during which he took the opportunity to travel overseas. He spent some years in London and settled for a while in Naples, where in 1935 he was reported to be "wonderfully helpful" to American and English visitors.[7] His brother Felix De Rosa, also an architect, sold insurance during the Depression.[1]

Before or during the World War II, De Rosa returned to New York City, where by 1944 he was working on new theatre projects.[8] However, his death in about 1945 prevented the revival of his career.[1]

Work
Interior of Lafayette Theatre in 2005

Several of De Rosa's theatres are still standing, among them the 1000-seat Lafayette Theatre, Suffern (1924), an Adamesque building with a combination of French and Italian Renaissance influences ornamented in the Beaux Arts manner. An improvement scheme in 1927 added six distinctive opera boxes and further balcony seating. Unlike many others, the Lafayette was spared from demolition and multiplexing and continues to be used as a single-screen movie theatre.[9]

Another surviving work is the Broadway Theatre, built in New York City in 1924, and originally known as the "B. S. Moss's Colony Theatre".[10][11]

Gallo Opera House in New York City, built in 1927 for Fortune Gallo, was renamed as the Gallo Theatre, then Studio 52, and since 1977 has been known as Studio 54, a nightclub and theatre.[12]

De Rosa's huge 2,800-seat St. George Theatre in St. George, Staten Island, begun in 1928, cost $500,000 for the theatre alone and was part of a greater development project (an office complex is attached) worth some $2,000,000. The theatre opened on December 4, 1929, only weeks after the Wall Street Crash of 1929, and remains in use. It is now owned by St. George Theatre Restoration Inc., a non-profit organization which aims to restore the building and to develop it as a performing arts and cultural center. Most of the ornate interior was designed not by De Rosa but by Nestor Castro.[13]

List of theatres
  • 43rd Street Theatre, Sunnyside, Queens (1938), closed 1952[14]
  • Apollo Theatre, 126 Clinton St, New York (1926), closed after 1950, demolished [15]
  • Apollo Theatre, 42nd Street, New York (1920; demolished 1996)[5]
  • Belmont Theatre, 48th Street, New York (1918), demolished in 1951[16]
  • Bijou Theatre, 193 Avenue B, New York (1926), renamed Charles Theatre (1950), closed 1972, is now a church[15]
  • The Broadway Theatre, New York (1924, still in use)[10][11]
  • B.S. Moss Cameo Theater, 42nd Street (1921), demolished[17][18]
  • Cameo Theatre, 138 West 42nd, New York (1921), renamed Bryant (1938), 1970s became an adult film, closed in 1983[15]
  • Capitol Theater, Jamaica, Queens (1926), renamed Cort Jamaica Theater (1928), Werba's in 1929, and later named Carlton Theater (1930), which closed in 1958 and was demolished in 2002 (now the home of PS268).[19]
  • Central Theatre, Jersey City (1920; closed in the 1960s and is now defunct)[20][21]
  • Coliseum Theatre (Washington Heights), 4260 Broadway, New York (1920)[22]
  • Corona Theatre, Corona, Queens (1927), closed 1956[14]
  • Criterion Theatre, New York, 1935 re-design[23]
  • Embassy Theatre, 1560 Broadway, New York, (1925) [24]
  • Gallo Opera House, New York (1927), later renamed Studio 54[12]
  • Gem Theatre, Far Rockaway, Queens (1933), later renamed PIX (1950s), closed in the 1970s[14][25]
  • Inwood Theatre, 132 Dyckman New York (1927), closed after 1955 [26][15]
  • Kenmore Theatre, Brooklyn, New York (1928–1999), was a theatre before being outfitted into a movie cinema[27]
  • Kent Theater, Bronx, New York, (mid 1930s), sold 1991[28]
  • Klaw Theatre, 251–257 West 45th Street, New York (1921);[5] in 1929 renamed the Avon; demolished 1954[29]
  • Lafayette Theatre, Suffern, New York (1924, still in use)[9]
  • Lincoln Theatre, Trenton, New Jersey[8]
  • Loew's Yonkers, Yonkers, New York (1928), later renamed Brandt's Yonkers, demolished 1975 [30]
  • Missouri Theatre, St. Louis, Missouri[8]
  • New Apollo Theatre, Yiddish Theatre District, Manhattan (1925), demolished[31]
  • New Cataract Theatre, Niagara Falls[8]
  • New York Theatre, 1480 Broadway, New York (1939), renamed Globe (1950s), Rialto East (1976), Line 42 (1981), Line 1&2 (1983), Big Apple 1&2 (1984) [15]
  • Norworth Theatre, 121-3 West 48th Street (1918), renamed Theatre Parisien (1919), Belmont (1920), demolished 1952[15]
  • Open Air Theatre, Far Rockaway, Queens (1919)[14]
  • Palestine Theatre, Yiddish Theatre District, Manhattan (1925), renamed Winston (1968), demolished 1972[31]
  • Park Lane Theatre, 1726 1st Avenue, New York (1927), closed 1952[15]
  • Republic Theatre, Brooklyn, New York (1921), renamed RKO Republic Theatre in 1937[27]
  • Ruby Theatre, 107 Rivington Street, Yiddish Theatre District, Manhattan (1925), closed 1940, demolished [31][15]
  • Shubert Jamaica Theatre, Jamaica, Queens (1929), closed 1983[14]
  • Stadium Theatre, 2176 3rd Avenue, New York (1921), renamed Sun (1941), closed in 1945[15]
  • State Theatre, South Street, Middletown, New York (1921)[32]
  • St. George Theatre, St. George, Staten Island (1928–1929, still in use)[13]
  • Terminal Theatre, Brooklyn, New York (1925), closed in the 1960s[27]
  • Terrace Theatre, 361 West 23rd, New York (1937) demolished[15]
  • Tilyou Theatre, Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (1926), closed in 1968, demolished 1973[33]
  • Times Square Theatre, New York (1920; still standing, but not in use)[5]
  • Trans-Luxe Broadway Theatre, 1603 Broadway, New York (1937), renamed Bryan West (1974), Embassy 49 (1976), Pussycat Cinema (1977), & Grand Pussycat (1985), demolished 1986.[15][34]
  • Uptown Theatre, 4037 Broadway, New York (1926), converted into a supermarket in 1955.[15]
  • Vanderbilt Theatre, New York (1918; demolished 1954)[3]

Abandoned projects
  • 8th Street Playhouse (1929), earlier designs[15]
  • B.S. Moss, 8th Ave & 22nd Street, (1930)[15]
  • Loew's 72nd Street Theatre, 188 East 72nd Street, New York (1926), built with designs by John Eberson in 1927[15]
  • Marlboro Theatre, 4915 Broadway, New York (1926), later Mercedes Theatre (1927) for Paramount, and plans in 1936 redrawn but abandoned.[15]
  • MP Theatre, 137-9 West 72nd (1931)[15]

Alterations
  • 68th Street Playhouse, 1164 3rd Avenue (1933)[15]
  • Garden Theatre, June 1915[15]
  • Lenox Lyceum, 621-9 Madison Avenue, August 1911[15]

Publications
  • Eugene De Rosa, Selections from the recent work of Eugene De Rosa, architect: 15 West 44th Street, New York (Architectural Catalog Co., 1927)[35]

Notes
  1. Fred-Eric DeRosa, Eugene DeRosa, architect of the Apollo Theatre dated January 12, 2007, at cinematreasures.org, accessed 10 February 2012
  2. Colin Chambers, Continuum Companion to Twentieth Century Theatre (2006), p. 32: "As in Britain, some architects became specialists in theatre design; among these were Herts and Tallent, Thomas Lamb, William Lehman, Eugene de Rosa, Walter Ahlschlager, Frank Grad, John Eberson, and Rapp and Rapp."
  3. Vanderbilt Theatre at Internet Broadway Database, accessed 12 February 2012
  4. Bulletin of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York vol. 4 (New York: Board of Standards and Appeals, 1919), pp. 355, 865, & 986
  5. Building age and national builder, vol. 47, issues 7–12 (1925) : "the phenomenal growth in popularity of motion pictures ... This house, which was opened recently, is the design of Eugene De Rosa, architect, of New York, who is by way of being a specialist in theatre architecture, having to his credit, among others, the Times Square, Apollo, Klaw".
  6. David Goldfarb, James G. Ferreri, St. George (2009), p. 75: "By 1929, the large edifice designed by Eugene De Rosa on Hyatt Street at St. Mark's Place was constructed to house stores, offices as well as the grandest theater on Staten Island, the St. George."
  7. Clara Elizabeth Laughlin, So you're going to the Mediterranean!: And if I were going with you, these are the things I'd invite you to do (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1935), p. 202: "... the Italian Tourist Company. In the Naples office of this company ask for Mr Eugene L. De Rosa, who has spent years in London and in America and is wonderfully helpful to English and American travellers..."
  8. Pencil Points, vol. 25, part 2 (Reinhold, 1944), p. 124: "Eugene De Rosa, New York architect, is recognized as an expert on theatre design and now on his boards are a number of postwar theatre projects."
  9. Craig H. Long, Suffern (2011), p. 42
  10. Don B. Wilmeth, The Cambridge guide to American theatre (2007), p. 129: "Broadway, NYC [Architect: Eugene De Rosa]. Opened as B. S. Moss's Colony Theatre in 1924."
  11. "The Broadway Theatre". New York Show Tickets. New York TV Show Tickets Inc. 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  12. Studio 54: A New York Fairytale, 31 January 2017, at barnebys.co.uk, accessed 14 May 2020
  13. About Us Archived 2012-02-19 at the Wayback Machine at stgeorgetheatre.com, accessed 12 February 2012
  14. Queens list at historictheatres.org
  15. https://historictheatres.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MM-Manhattan-Index-Cards.pdf
  16. Belmont Theatre at ibdb.com
  17. Magazine of Building Architectural Forum, Volume 42 (Billboard Publications, 1925), p. 51
  18. Bryant Theatre, 138 W. 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036 at cinematreasures.org
  19. Carlton Theater Jamaicaat qchron.com Archived 2019-09-26 at the Wayback Machine
  20. "Central Theatre in Jersey City, NJ – Cinema Treasures".
  21. Architecture and Building, Volume 53 (W. T. Comstock Company, 1921), p. xlv
  22. Marquee, vols. 33–34 (Theatre Historical Society, 2001), p. 20: "Coliseum 4260 Broadway Opened: September 23, 1920 Architect: Eugene De Rosa Capacity: 3462"
  23. 'Criterion Theatre, New York' in Motion Picture Herald, vol. 124, issues 7–13 (Quigley Publishing Co., 1936), p. 10
  24. Niemeyer, Daniel (2013). 1950s American Style: A Reference Guide (Soft cover). ISBN 9781304201652.
  25. Pix Theatre, 1920 Mott Avenue, Far Rockaway, NY 11691 at cinematreasures.org
  26. Building Age vol. 49 (1927) p. 154: "Auditorium of Inwood Theatre, New York, Eugene De Rosa, Architect, M. Shapiro & Son, Builders."
  27. Cezar Joseph Del Valle, The Brooklyn Theatre Index,Volume I Adams Street to Lorimer Street
  28. "MORRISANIA, Bronx". 2 January 2011.
  29. Avon Theatre at broadwayworld.com, accessed 12 February 2012
  30. "Loew's Yonkers Theatre – Garden State Theatre Organ Society".
  31. LOEW’S CANAL STREET THEATRE, 31 Canal Street, Manhattan at nyc.gov
  32. State Theatre, 4 South Street, Middletown, NY 10940 at cinematreasures.org
  33. Tilyou Theatre, 1607 Surf Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11224 at cinematreasures.org
  34. Grand Pussycat Cinema, 1607 Broadway, New York, NY 10019 at cinematreasures.org
  35. Selections from the Recent Work of Eugene De Rosa, Architect: 15 West 44th Street, New York, books.google.com, accessed 10 February 2012
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