Union Square Theatre

Union Square Theatre was the name of two different theatres near Union Square, Manhattan, New York City. The first was a Broadway theatre that opened in 1870, was converted into a cinema in 1921 and closed in 1936.[1] The second was an Off-Broadway theatre that opened in 1985 and closed in 2016.

Union Square Theatre
44 Union Square, seen in 2008; the theatre was on left side of building
Address1st theatre: 58 East 14th St.
2nd theatre: 100 East 17th St.
New York City
Coordinates40°44′11″N 73°59′20″W
TypeBroadway / Off-Broadway
CapacityUnknown / 499
Opened1870 / 1985
Closed1936 / January 3, 2016

58 East 14th Street

The first theatre with this name in New York City was located at 58 East 14th Street. It opened in 1870 and played a mixture of plays and operettas.[2] It staged Oscar Wilde's first play, Vera; or, The Nihilists.[3] After 1883, it hosted vaudeville as part of the Keith-Albee-Orpheum circuit. In 1921, it was renamed the Acme Theatre and converted into a cinema that eventually showed Soviet films and closed in 1936. The original structure was revealed during a November 1992 demolition of Union Square between 4th Avenue & Broadway, and was finally demolished in December. Today this is the location of Virgin Entertainment.[2]

Selected productions
Poster for Bartley Campbell's My Partner (1879)

Notable people

100 East 17th Street

The second theatre was located at 100 East 17th Street (also known as 44 Union Square) in the former Tammany Hall building, built in 1929. It opened in 1994 and was operated by Liberty Theatres.[7] On January 3, 2016, the theater was closed as part of a complete renovation of the building, including the planned demolition of the theatre.[8][9][10] Its longest-running productions were Slava's Snowshow, for 28 months, and Wit, for 18 months. Its final production was The 39 Steps.[11]

Selected productions

(Source: Internet Off-Broadway Database)

References
  1. (8 October 1921). Two landmarks to b removed from New York, Loveland Reporter
  2. Acme Theatre, Internet Broadway Database, accessed May 21, 2016
  3. The original Union Square Theatre, Oscar Wilde in America
  4. Bordman, Gerald Martin & Thomas S. Hischak. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre, p. 380 (3d ed. 2004)
  5. Advertisement (last matinee on April 7, 1883), New York Tribune (April 7, 1883)
  6. Wilmeth, Don B. & Christopher Bigsby, eds. The Cambridge History of American Theatre, Volume II, 1870-1945, p. 240 (199)
  7. "Reading International, Inc. Announces Date for 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders". September 2015.
  8. "Shops and Union Square Theatre Vacate Tammany Hall, Clearing Way for Makeover". 11 January 2016.
  9. "Tammany Hall Empties Out". 11 January 2016.
  10. "Landmarks Nixes Tammany Hall's Glass Tortoise Shell Topper". 26 November 2014.
  11. Union Square Theatre, Internet Off-Broadway Database
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