After the Final Curtain: On November 1, 1913, the Loew’s Boulevard Theatre opened in the Bronx, NY. Marcus Loew, founder of Loew’s Incorporated, was one of the 2,800 people who attended the opening night celebrations. Loew announced the theater would feature “small time” vaudeville and motion pictures.
5 comments:
I love learning about different theaters and their history. The care and attention to detail that architects put into creating theaters all throughout history is so admirable. I think we need to get back on track a bit in that regard. I understand that minimalism is popular right now, especially in architecture, but theatre is something that is so expressive and extravagant. Performance and showing spaces should reflect that. Marcus Loew’s quote "people buy tickets to theatres, not movies."perfectly reflects this. One of my favorite parts about going to concerts is looking around the space while I wait for the show to the start and taking in all the ornate details. I love imagining the artist working in the space, contorting to reach the hard to paint corners. I physically cringed when I saw that Loew’s Boulevard Theatre was overtaken by a Planet Fitness, but at least part of the balcony still remains.
It was very interesting to read about the history of this theatre. What I found even more interesting, though, was the images of what remains of the old balcony. The theatre had a seemingly very fruitful and successful history. I find interesting that the theatre was converted to a storefront instead of remaining a theatre, or that it wasn’t entirely demolished before the storefront was built. I suppose if a theatre wasn’t successful there, it wouldn’t make sense to keep it open when it could be used for something else. And I also suppose that gutting the building and repurposing it would be cheaper than demolishing the whole building. I think it’s really cool that the balcony still exists as it used to be, but I think it’s really annoying that it is off-limits and not accessible by the public. I would personally travel there just to see the balcony area. I found the place on google maps and looked at it from street view, and sure enough, it is still a Planet Fitness. The title “Boulevard Theatre” still graces the top of the building, despite the store fronts below. I thought that was a nice homage to the theatre as it once was.
This is honestly devastating. So many theaters share this story of remodeling after remodeling until the original theater is no longer there. In the case of this theater its sad to see such a beautiful theatre fall into such disarray. I mean looking at the images in clouded in the article you can see stunning sculpture work and molding lining the ceiling. Both of these are gilded with gold and I’m sure that in there heyday made the theater feel like a palace. It honestly pisses me off that such a stunning theater could be converted to a planet fitness. It is just ignoring all the history that was there before and now people just go there to work out. I hope that in the future more historic theaters will be revamped for modern use instead of converting them into gyms. I have also seen old theaters be converted into restaurants and stores that still persevere the history and the original beauty.
I agree with the sentiment in the above comments that we've lost a lot of beauty in the push for minimalism. These old theatres are pieces of art in themselves, and the detail that went into the architecture is stunning. It's sad to think how much of the building has been lost over the years due to both neglect and renovations. This actually makes me think about how Moulin Rouge has scenery and set dressing that extends into the audience in order to really pull every aspect of the theatre into the show. It seems that modern theatre spaces very much isolate the show within a frame, whereas these older spaces give the sense of being more encompassing. Personally, I find it much more exciting to be in a space theatre that gives something to look at from every angle, not just what's inside the proscenium. There's magic in older playhouses.
But I also think that the history of these buildings is also very cool. I like the idea that even if the purpose changes, there's still life for older architecture. An old firehouse becomes a home, a church gets converted into a bar, we repurpose abandoned warehouses or gymnasiums as theatre spaces. It's inspiring.
This is both very eerie and very cool. I don’t know why, but when I started reading it I thought the article was going to tell us the plan to reopen this abandoned theatre but no such luck. I don’t know what about it makes it especially ominous compared to other abandoned structures. Maybe because the demise of a theatrical space feels like to end of a part of our culture. Anyway. There is an abandoned theatre near my home in South Florida that I’ve always wanted to peak into. In its time, it thrived, with audience members such as John F. Kennedy attending for a night of theatre along the Palm Beach intracoastal waterway. The building is still there, and occasionally people go in and out, but otherwise it’s a big mystery. I hope one day this space can be restored for a developing new theatre that could bring it life again.
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