There was a paperback book which I think came out in the 70s on the phenomenon that was 2001 which unfortunately I no longer have. It quoted Kubrick as saying or writing that he expected the film to have a 2 year Broadway run. It seems odd now if they knew already the Capitol was slated for demolition when the film opened and Ice Station Zebra needed NY’s only remaining Cinerama theater.
Anybody know how long 2001’s total Broadway run was between the two theaters? For a roadshow film sensation it seems to have been fairly short.
They could have sold it out and not have replenished the Millionaire souvenir book yet so you could have gotten it there. It was definitely not there when I saw the film at the Hall. Only the comic book which as I noted seems kind of strange.
In fact I was impressed when I was able to purchase it a few years later at how large it was. I assumed it was only available for roadshow engagements.
After Cinerama installation the Capacity would be a heckuva lot less than 4,000. You could probably find it was somewhere near 1,500 from old Varietys.
I feel lucky to have seen all their original productions back then. A level of genius that was awe inspiring. When Broadway was first for New Yorkers after which the tourists followed.
The Disneyfication of Times Square, the wiping away of all the great remainng movie theaters and the evening length theme park musicals are now for me heartbreaking.
There are so many places to read about his going there and the inspiration of that photo for both him and Harold Prince. I honestly couldn’t tell you as I’ve already read so many different books and articles. I was going to all the original productions of their musicals being very young at the time and I saw Follies twice which was everything they say it was. I went to the first Wed mat after the opening(it was Easter week ‘71. Bought my ticket that Monday going to see A New Leaf at the Music Hall) and it seems people left the theater in a kind of shock it was so momentous. I’ve never had any desire to see a revival.
You might to read in a number of places about the creation of the musical and a good place to start would be the Time magazine cover story in a library. I believe it also contains the Swanson photo.
Sorry the movie is Hangover Square and the Herrmann score inspired Sondheim to write the composer and Herrmann wrote back
I saw nothing but TGI Fridays unhappily if that is even still there.
But during the 70s at least across from the site on west 50th on the south side there was the Roxy bowling lanes still in operation with the name in the Roxy script. It was all that remained as a reminder.
By the way Stephen Sondheim is on the record as saying he often went to the Roxy when he was young. Seeing Hanover Square there was a seminal moment in his youth. (Anyway I believe it played there. Others would know better than I where it opened in NY.)I assume he channeled some of the heartbreak he felt when it came down when he wrote Follies inspired by the melodramatic photo of Gloria Swanson standing in the rubble.
Comfortably Cool posted the Up the Down Staircase ad from the summer of ‘67.
On the stage was one of the Music Hall’s spectacles unfortunately like all the rest lost forever called Court of Jewels. I had a Kodachrome slide of it once and it looked terrific.
By coincidence it is also the 50th anniversary of Balanchine’s great full length abstract ballet Jewels which is now being celebrated at the New York State Theater.
The summer of love certainly had rock on its mind.
Already by December of ‘68 all the buildings I mentioned had been torn down and the Astor Hotel was a giant excavation hole(as a boy I looked into it having no idea there was ever such a thing as The Astor.) Of course I know what I’m saying is conjecture. Many downtowns of major cities were experiencing terrible downturns. I just lament the loss of such great NY landmarks and think what if?
I should have made myself more specific. I meant the Astor Hotel. Remember you had a lot of great NY landmarks torn down in just a few years as I mentioned above and I think it was catastrophic. These were among the most magnificent and legendary buildings in the 20th century in NY and I believe they were anchors. Wasn’t the building with the PYW sign the Claridge hotel?
That’s a nice evening ‘69 photo including the Paint Your Wagon billboard when Times Square still had a bit of its old time glamour. The tearing down of the Astor and the building that PYW billboard is on(only a couple of years after the tearing down of the old Met, Penn Station, the Paramount…) was catastrophic for the area hastening its 70s descent into the muck and mire.
Funny but the proscenium in this theater was larger than what it appears in that photo. I saw Lady and the Tramp here. The other film was some Disney glacial or artic adventure of which I can’t remember the title nor did I want to see it
Anyway it was in 1.85 aspect ratio and when Lady started the borders of course had not been changed and the image was playing on the borders on the sides. Surprise.
There wasn’t a peep out of the audience and of course I went to an usher to complain. He looked at me in astonishment and said nobody had said anything before. They changed it and it was a nice sized Cinemascope screen.
Anybody know what happened to the beautiful 2 ton Cherry Blossom Doncho curtain that was given to the city of New York as a gift and was kept by the Music Hall to occasionally feature in their stage shows? I believe I saw it once in a stage show during the 70s.
If I google Demille Theater NY I first get Psycho at the Demille on a Hitchcock site and my second listing is Embassy 1,2,3 on the CT page.
If I put Demille Theater into the CT search engine I get ‘no matches found.’ If I put in Embassy 1, 2, 3 same thing.
Maybe the CT search engine can be refined?
I’ve been simply Googling Astor Theater NY and the CT page pops up as an option. I thought there was an easy way from the home page which there was a few(maybe more?) years ago. I’m not sure why now you can only easily get current movie theaters first time out.
Thanks.
I don’t know where to ask for general info but I know this theater gets a lot of traffic so I thought I’d ask it here:
How does one look up a closed theater on this site? It used to be easy. I’m sure it still is but I haven’t figured it out.
I just get active theaters.
Just came across a nice one by Joel Meyerowitz of a couple kissing underneath the marquee of Kiss Me Stupid. A terrific movie by the way which I caught up with at FF.
Love the way the couples in Times Square are so nicely dressed. Boy that had changed in 5 years.
Found it on ebay:
The Making of Kubrick’s 2001 Edited by Jerome Agel 1970
Found it in Michael Coates article: 37 weeks total.
There was a paperback book which I think came out in the 70s on the phenomenon that was 2001 which unfortunately I no longer have. It quoted Kubrick as saying or writing that he expected the film to have a 2 year Broadway run. It seems odd now if they knew already the Capitol was slated for demolition when the film opened and Ice Station Zebra needed NY’s only remaining Cinerama theater.
Anybody know how long 2001’s total Broadway run was between the two theaters? For a roadshow film sensation it seems to have been fairly short.
Ok I was just trying to figure out the point of CC’s post.
I think Das Doppelte Lottchen would have been a better June school’s out film at the Hall rather than here.
They could have sold it out and not have replenished the Millionaire souvenir book yet so you could have gotten it there. It was definitely not there when I saw the film at the Hall. Only the comic book which as I noted seems kind of strange.
In fact I was impressed when I was able to purchase it a few years later at how large it was. I assumed it was only available for roadshow engagements.
After Cinerama installation the Capacity would be a heckuva lot less than 4,000. You could probably find it was somewhere near 1,500 from old Varietys.
CC I’m not sure if you are reproaching Zornig or just repeating what he already said.
I feel lucky to have seen all their original productions back then. A level of genius that was awe inspiring. When Broadway was first for New Yorkers after which the tourists followed.
The Disneyfication of Times Square, the wiping away of all the great remainng movie theaters and the evening length theme park musicals are now for me heartbreaking.
There are so many places to read about his going there and the inspiration of that photo for both him and Harold Prince. I honestly couldn’t tell you as I’ve already read so many different books and articles. I was going to all the original productions of their musicals being very young at the time and I saw Follies twice which was everything they say it was. I went to the first Wed mat after the opening(it was Easter week ‘71. Bought my ticket that Monday going to see A New Leaf at the Music Hall) and it seems people left the theater in a kind of shock it was so momentous. I’ve never had any desire to see a revival.
You might to read in a number of places about the creation of the musical and a good place to start would be the Time magazine cover story in a library. I believe it also contains the Swanson photo.
Sorry the movie is Hangover Square and the Herrmann score inspired Sondheim to write the composer and Herrmann wrote back
I saw nothing but TGI Fridays unhappily if that is even still there.
But during the 70s at least across from the site on west 50th on the south side there was the Roxy bowling lanes still in operation with the name in the Roxy script. It was all that remained as a reminder.
By the way Stephen Sondheim is on the record as saying he often went to the Roxy when he was young. Seeing Hanover Square there was a seminal moment in his youth. (Anyway I believe it played there. Others would know better than I where it opened in NY.)I assume he channeled some of the heartbreak he felt when it came down when he wrote Follies inspired by the melodramatic photo of Gloria Swanson standing in the rubble.
I thought that was still the 60s as late as it was which you can tell buy the shortness of the skirts.
Can anybody figure out the film playing in the ‘71 photo? I thought that the Coke sign had been modernized by '70.
Comfortably Cool posted the Up the Down Staircase ad from the summer of ‘67.
On the stage was one of the Music Hall’s spectacles unfortunately like all the rest lost forever called Court of Jewels. I had a Kodachrome slide of it once and it looked terrific.
By coincidence it is also the 50th anniversary of Balanchine’s great full length abstract ballet Jewels which is now being celebrated at the New York State Theater.
The summer of love certainly had rock on its mind.
Already by December of ‘68 all the buildings I mentioned had been torn down and the Astor Hotel was a giant excavation hole(as a boy I looked into it having no idea there was ever such a thing as The Astor.) Of course I know what I’m saying is conjecture. Many downtowns of major cities were experiencing terrible downturns. I just lament the loss of such great NY landmarks and think what if?
I should have made myself more specific. I meant the Astor Hotel. Remember you had a lot of great NY landmarks torn down in just a few years as I mentioned above and I think it was catastrophic. These were among the most magnificent and legendary buildings in the 20th century in NY and I believe they were anchors. Wasn’t the building with the PYW sign the Claridge hotel?
That’s a nice evening ‘69 photo including the Paint Your Wagon billboard when Times Square still had a bit of its old time glamour. The tearing down of the Astor and the building that PYW billboard is on(only a couple of years after the tearing down of the old Met, Penn Station, the Paramount…) was catastrophic for the area hastening its 70s descent into the muck and mire.
You left out the important part. What did you see at the Casino?
I believe West was at the Loew’s Cinerama a few blocks up in three screen Cinerama.
All three theaters are gone and it is a great photo. I wish this was the Times Square I had known. I can’t even imagine.
Funny but the proscenium in this theater was larger than what it appears in that photo. I saw Lady and the Tramp here. The other film was some Disney glacial or artic adventure of which I can’t remember the title nor did I want to see it
Anyway it was in 1.85 aspect ratio and when Lady started the borders of course had not been changed and the image was playing on the borders on the sides. Surprise.
There wasn’t a peep out of the audience and of course I went to an usher to complain. He looked at me in astonishment and said nobody had said anything before. They changed it and it was a nice sized Cinemascope screen.
Anybody know what happened to the beautiful 2 ton Cherry Blossom Doncho curtain that was given to the city of New York as a gift and was kept by the Music Hall to occasionally feature in their stage shows? I believe I saw it once in a stage show during the 70s.
If I google Demille Theater NY I first get Psycho at the Demille on a Hitchcock site and my second listing is Embassy 1,2,3 on the CT page. If I put Demille Theater into the CT search engine I get ‘no matches found.’ If I put in Embassy 1, 2, 3 same thing. Maybe the CT search engine can be refined?
I’ve been simply Googling Astor Theater NY and the CT page pops up as an option. I thought there was an easy way from the home page which there was a few(maybe more?) years ago. I’m not sure why now you can only easily get current movie theaters first time out. Thanks.
Thank you! Things were so much easier in the old days.
I don’t know where to ask for general info but I know this theater gets a lot of traffic so I thought I’d ask it here: How does one look up a closed theater on this site? It used to be easy. I’m sure it still is but I haven’t figured it out. I just get active theaters.
Also how do I post a photo?
Thanks for your help.
I only wish I knew how to post photos.
Just came across a nice one by Joel Meyerowitz of a couple kissing underneath the marquee of Kiss Me Stupid. A terrific movie by the way which I caught up with at FF.
Love the way the couples in Times Square are so nicely dressed. Boy that had changed in 5 years.