The Lost 1866 Theatre Francais -- 107 West 14th Street

The Theatre Francais around 1900, by now known as the 14th Street Theatre.  Next door is the imposing Ninth Regiment Armory -- from the collection of the New York Public Library

By the late 1840s, fashionable homes had begun rising along the broad 14^th Street.  Then in 1854, the Academy of Music opened on East 14^th Street at Irving Place.  The 4,600 seat opera house began what would be a comfortable coexistence of well-to-do homes and places of public entertainment along the thoroughfare.

In 1866, New Yorkers were desperately in need of diversion after the horrors of the Civil War, which had finally ended the year before.  Two theatrical producers, M. Guignet and C. Drivet, built the Theatre Francais at 107 West 14^th Street. They commissioned Berlin-born architect Alexander Saeltzer, who was also responsible for the Academy of Music, to design a structure in which they could stage French plays and comic operas.   

Saeltzer’s theater would be far different from his earlier, brooding Academy.  Drawing on 18^th century English prototypes, he created an impressive stone building with a two-story portico and a classic, closed pediment ornamented with sculpture.  Paired, fluted Corinthian columns supported the balcony, matched above by the single columns of the second story, narrower, portico.  There were five entrance doors to the shallow lobby at street level.  The building stretched through to 15^th Street.

Inside, two tiers rose above the orchestra seats, supported by slender columns to lessen the obstructed views–a lesson Saeltzer learned from his much-criticized Academy.  There were four private boxes, two each at the orchestra and second level.

The theater opened on May 26.  Within three months, Guegnet and Drivet leased it to Jacob Grau who had big plans for the venue.  On September 20, he achieved a theatrical coup by introducing American audiences to the acclaimed Italian actress Adelaide Ristori, who played Medea here.  Grau continued to break ground, premiering original plays such as La Grande Duchesse on September 24, 1867, performed in French, and La Belle Helene the same year with then well-known actress Tostee.

Despite his valiant attempts, Grau’s theater failed financially.  Only four years after opening, Charles Fechter purchased it in 1870 and spent $60,000 on a one-year renovation, renaming it the Lyceum in 1871.  Unfortunately for Fechter, he suffered personal financial setbacks and lost his theater.  A string of managers took over–W. L. Mauser, J. H. McVicker, James M. Hill, John H. Haverly, Samuel Colville, Bartley Campbell and Colville & Gilber--but Laura Keene stood out.

Mary Frances Moss Taylor was a respectable English woman in Winchester, England when her marriage ended badly.  Needing income, she turned to the stage.  After achieving some success she moved to America where she changed her name to Laura Keene.  By the 1850s, she had turned to managing.  It was while attending her production of Our American Cousin at Ford’s Theater in Washington D.C. that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

When Laura Keene took over management of the Lyceum in 1871, The New York Times hoped she could revive the house.  “Miss Keene is so well esteemed, both as artist and manager,” it said, “that it has been felt if any one could bring up the prestige of a declining property she might do so.”

It was not to be, however, for Laura Keene died of tuberculosis  at the age of 47  age in 1873.  The Lyceum was staging “English opera” in 1877, according to “New England, A Handbook for Travelers,” and was used “for dress balls in winter.”  By 1879, J. H. Haverly took over.  Appletons’ Dictionary of New York and its Vicinity called him a “well-known theatrical speculator,” who “has been very successful with ‘star’ and popular performances.”  He changed the name once again--this time to Haverly’s 14^th Street Theatre.

According to Appleton’s, “The interior is handsomely upholstered, and has the most comfortable seats of any theater in New York.”

Haverly ran the theater primarily as a booking house and staged performances that appealed to a much broader audience, including minstrel shows and extravagant productions.  As with his predecessors, however, financial troubles cursed Haverly and in June 1883 the theater was seized by officials over the manager’s $24,000 debts.

The revamped interior viewed from the stage in 1883 -- Pictorial Guide to New York Theatres 1883

“Hawley’s” was dropped from the name by 1886 when J. Wesley Rosenquest took over the management.  He purchased “various conflicting interests in the lease,” according to Kings Handbook of New York City.  King's called it, “a first-class combination house, in which plays slightly melodramatic or sensational are the principal attraction.”

The various renovations had resulted in eight boxes in addition to the orchestra, balcony and gallery.

The old theater struggled on until 1911 when it was, essentially abandoned.  Throughout the World War I years it would occasionally be used for motion pictures, yet for the most part it sat neglected and dark.

Young boys pose before the theater in 1916.  "The Heart of Paula" was showing.  -- NYPL Collection

Then, when things looked their worst, in 1926 the well-known and influential actress Eve Le Gallienne took over the decrepit building for her newly formed Civic Repertory Theater.  Funded mostly by her lover, Alice DeLamar, the Civic Repertory Theater would produce professional, well-cast plays with affordable ticket prices–top price being $1.50.

Presenting a range of theater from Moliere to Barrie, Le Gallienne was able to pack the house even during the Depression.  On November 25, 1929, The New York Times said, “Typical also were the capacity crowds which last week, while a sinking stock-market thinned most theater audiences, filled the Civic Repertory Theater.”

The newspaper was less complimentary about the building, though.  “Situated on drab 14^th Street…a dilapidated structure with a façade of fire escapes, balcony pillars obstructing the view, and an unusually oppressive heating plant.”

But LeGallienne was not interested in the interiors of the old building.  She was interested in providing artful theater to her widely-varied audiences.  Her casts included performers such as Burgess Meredith, Alla Nazimova and Jacob Ben-Ami.   In 1930, she produced the Pulitzer Prize winning Alison’s House. 

Time Magazine, in 1932, described her clientele.  “Top-hats and no-hats bobbed enthusiastically through the hideous foyer of Manhattan’s Civic Repertory Theater in grimy 14^th Street…Men in leather coats from Greenwich Village and tailcoats from Murray Hill, women in city silks and country tweeds were there to celebrate the return of Actress-Producer Eva Le Galliene.”

Despite the crowds, the Depression took its toll.  Le Gallienne refused to raise ticket prices and on February 13, 1933, Time Magazine announced, “Now, one by one, the Depression has picked off her backers.”  To aggravate the situation, Actors’ Equity suddenly refused to allow Sunday performances, further reducing revenue.  The Civic Repertory Theater was disbanded later that year.

Berenice Abbott photographed the theater before its demolition; the Civic Repertory sign still intact -- NYPL Collection

For a short time the Theater Union produced plays that the Federal Works Progress Administration’s New York City Guide said had “a pronounced social theme.”  But the endeavor did not work.

A fragment of the pediment sculpture lies among the rubble of the old Theatre Francais -- NYPL Collection

It was the death knoll for the Theatre Francais.  The venerable structure was smashed to the ground in 1939, to be replaced by a sterile brown-brick apartment building.