- "...This is a good sophisticated mix that speaks up to young audiences instead of pandering to them." -- Frank Rich, The New York Times
The December 11, 1995 opening and dedication of The New Victory - New York's oldest active theater - has marked a new era for 42nd Street. For more than one hundred years, the theater has symbolized, and survived, the mercurial fortunes of this fabled street. Now as before, its reemergence - this time as a theater for young audiences - signals the next and newest wave of popular entertainment on the block.
Built as a legitimate theater in 1900 by Oscar Hammerstein, as the "Theatre Republic," it helped establish 42nd Street as the City's new theater district. In his own words, Hammerstein described it as the "perfect parlor theater...a drawing room of the drama dedicated to all that is best in dramatic and lyric art." Hammerstein's architects, J.B. McElfatrick and Sons, designed a Venetian facade with a grand exterior staircase on the front sidewalk, leading to the first of two balconies, and illuminated by cast and wrought iron lamps. Inside, the elaborately decorated interior was crowned by a large dome with plaster angels perched on its rim. The Republic's opening production, Sag Harbor, starred Lionel Barrymore.
In 1902, the impresario David Belasco took over the theater's stewardship. Belasco gave the theater his name; made extensive alterations to its interior, including more subdued colors and ornamentation; and placed a glass canopy in front of the entrance. A string of hits followed, showcasing such talents as George Arliss, Tyrone Power, Mary Pickford and Lillian Gish. After 1914, when Belasco moved on to other venues, a series of producers continued to mount plays and vaudeville shows. Renamed the Republic, the theater enjoyed its biggest hit ever in 1923 with Abie's Irish Rose, one of Broadway's longest-running shows.
Legitimate theater at the Republic finally ceased in 1932, when Billy Minsky opened Broadway's first burlesque house there. Minsky accelerated the structure's already radical facelift. By that time, the front staircase had been demolished; a large marquee replaced Belasco's iron and glass outdoor canopy; and a showy sign concealed the front upper level doors. Minsky painted a brash checkerboard pattern on the facade, juxtaposed with the faces of his leading ladies, and installed a double runway down the middle of the auditorium.
Burlesque shows continued to grind until 1937, when they were banned by Mayor LaGuardia. In a burst of wartime patriotism, the theater was renamed the Victory and showed second-run motion pictures over the next several decades. When 42nd Street's decline reached new depths in the 1970s, the Victory became the block's first XXX-rated movie house. Little changed until the late 1980s, when it became the setting for brief runs of two inventive, legitimate productions: En Garde Arts' Crowbar, and Theatre for a New Audience's Romeo and Juliet.
The City's First Theater for Youth
The New 42nd Street sparked the revitalization of the block when it renovated the Victory and reopened it in December 1995 as The New Victory--New York's first theater for kids and families. The street rapidly evolved after the debut of The New Victory Theater: in spring 1997, the Walt Disney Company opened the restored New Amsterdam Theatre; The New 42nd Street's Lyric and Apollo Theaters were leased to Livent and subsequently to Clear Channel Entertainment (now called Live Nation) to form the Ford Center for the Performing Arts (now called the Hilton Theatre), which opened in December 1997; the Liberty and Empire were leased to Forest City Ratner and then merged into an entertainment complex, which includes a 25-screen cineplex operated by American Multi-Cinemas and the renowned Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum; and, The New 42nd Street leased the Selwyn to the Roundabout Theatre Company, which opened the renovated theater in July 2000 as the American Airlines Theatre. In July 2004, the Times Square theater was leased to *ecko unltd. to develop a new flagship retail location.
Newsday raved that "sitting in The New Victory Theater is like being inside a treasure chest," and with just 499 seats in the house, audiences are guaranteed an intimate connection to world-class artists and their thoughtful, inspiring, sometimes gritty, sometimes hilarious productions.
For the past 100 years, Oscar Hammerstein's theater has remained a catalyst for change on 42nd Street. Under the direction of The New 42nd Street, The New Victory Theater launched 42nd Street as a premier destination, once again, for all of New York's citizens and visitors.
We hope you'll join us this season and see for yourself why New York Magazine dubbed The New Vic "New York's Best Theater for Kids!" With 14 productions to choose from, there's literally something for everyone -- theater, dance, circus arts, comedy, music and puppetry.
This site holds all you'll need to know about what's next at The New Vic, including information on the Membership Program that automatically saves you 30% on our already unbeatable ticket prices.
So come to The New Victory Theater - the family theater your family never outgrows!
Did you know that...
Nonprofit cultural organizations generated more than 40,000 jobs and $170 million in taxes to New York City, producing an economic impact of $5.8 billion in 2005, according to a newly-released study by the Alliance for the Arts. This represented strong growth—61 percent—since the Alliance's last study in 1992. When nonprofit groups are combined with TV and film, Broadway theater, galleries and auction houses, and arts-motivated visitors, the total economic impact of the arts industry was $21.2 billion in 2005. The overall industry generated 160,000 jobs and contributed more than $900 million in taxes to the city.
The Arts as an Industry: Their Economic Impact on New York City and New York State can be downloaded at www.allianceforarts.org
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THE NEW VICTORY THEATER
c/o The New 42nd Street
229 West 42nd Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10036-7299
PHONE
General Info: 646.223.3020
Administration: 646.223.3000
Ticket Services: 646.223.3010
Press Info: 646.223.3000
Education: 646.223.3093
FAX
Box Office / Ticket Services: 646.562.2200
Administration: 646.562.0175
EMAIL
General Info:
info@newvictory.org
Ticket Services:
info@newvictory.org
Press Info:
press@newvictory.org
Education:
education@newvictory.org
Programming:
programming@newvictory.org
Production:
production@newvictory.org
IN PERSON
The New Victory Theater is located
on the new 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues at
209 West 42nd Street.
Many subways stop right at the Theater:
1, 2, 3, 7, N, R, Q, W, Shuttle to Times Square
(For the station exit that is just steps from the Theater, use the staircase found on your right after going through the main station turnstiles for 42nd Street and 7th Avenue. These are the turnstiles found by the exit at the back of the downtown 1, 2, 3 train.)
A, C, E to Port Authority
And the M10, M16, M27, M42, M104 buses all stop within one block of the Theater
Ticket Services Phone Hours
Monday-Friday: 12 pm to 8 pm
Saturday: 10 am to 8 pm
Sunday: 10 am to 5 pm
TO JOIN OUR MAILING LIST, CLICK HERE
The New Victory Theater is a project of The New 42nd Street. To learn more, visit www.new42.org.
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