Times Square Theater
overview
Opened in 1920, the Times Square Theater staged a number of productions involving major LGBT performers and creators, including Katharine Cornell, Tallulah Bankhead, Laurence Olivier, and Noel Coward, among others.
Operating relatively briefly as a legitimate theater, the venue became a movie theater in 1933 and the interior was demolished in 1996.
Katharine Cornell in A Bill of Divorcement, 1921. Photo by White Studio. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
The Exciters poster, 1922. Source: tallulahbankhead.weebly.com.
Beatrice Lillie in Andre Charlot's Revue of 1924. Photo by White Studio. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
Laurence Olivier and Noel Coward in Private Lives, 1930. Source: www.thestage.co.uk.
Tallulah Bankhead and Ilka Chase in Forsaking All Others, 1933. Photo by Vandamm. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
Apollo and Times Square Theaters. Photo by Wurts Bros, 1921. Courtesy of The New York Public Library.
The Times Square Theater in a scene from the cult movie Times Square (1980). Source: Feminema.
History
The Times Square Theater was constructed with a neo-Classical style façade in 1920 that it shared with the Apollo Theater.
During its brief history as a legitimate theater, the Times Square Theater enjoyed success with a number of LGBT-associated productions with major figures:
- Honors Are Even (1921) by Roi Cooper Megrue
- A Bill of Divorcement (1921-22), with actor Katharine Cornell (opened at the George M. Cohan’s Theater)
- The Exciters (1922), with actor Tallulah Bankhead
- Andre Charlot’s Revue of 1924, with actor Beatrice Lillie
- Private Lives (1931) by Noel Coward, and with actors Coward, Laurence Olivier, and Jill Esmond
- Forsaking All Others (1933), with actors Tallulah Bankhead and Anderson Lawlor
In 1933, the venue became a movie theater. It appeared in the cult movie Times Square (1980) which depicted female rockers in a subtle lesbian relationship. The theater’s interior was demolished in 1996 and portions were used in the Ford Center.
Entry by Jay Shockley, project director (June 2019).
NOTE: Names above in bold indicate LGBT people.
Building Information
- Architect or Builder: Eugene DeRosa
- Year Built: 1920
Sources
Internet Broadway Database.
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