The 1913 Shubert Theatre - 233 West 44th Street

On June 17, 1905 the Chicago Eagle reported distressing news--among the 22 persons kills in "the terrible railroad disaster near Harrisburg, Pa." was 23-year-old Sam S. Shubert.  The young man's rise from near poverty to a nationally-known theatrical manager smacked of a Horatio Algier story.  "Sixteen years ago he was selling papers on the streets of Syracuse, N. Y. and at the time there was nothing to distinguish him from the hundreds of other newsboys in that city," said the newspaper.

The course of his life took a decisive turn when he landed a job as an usher in a theater.  By the time he was 18 he managed a road company, and not long after leased a theater and then another, until by the time of his death he owned or controlled around two dozen playhouses in America and two in England.  His amazing, 15-year career generated an estate of $500,000--about $14.7 million today.

Shubert had taken his brothers Lee and Jacob (familiarly known as J. J.) into the business.  The Chicago Eagle advised "they will carry on the many undertakings of which he was the head."  And indeed they did.

The following year, on July 27, 1906, The New York Times ran the headline "Another Shubert Theatre."  In reporting on the upcoming opening of the Lincoln Square Theatre, the article noted it would be the seventh Shubert-owned playhouse in Manhattan.

And then on June 8, 1912 The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide reported that Henry Beaumont Herts had filed plans for still another--a $150,000 theater to be built at 221-233 West 44th Street.  It was half of a joint project by the Shubert brothers and Winthrop Ames.  Herts also designed the abutting theater facing 45th Street to be operated by Ames.  A unique characteristic of the site was the private roadway connecting the two streets, eventually named Shubert Alley.  It allowed Herts to design what otherwise would be mid-block buildings as corner structures.

Shubert Alley accommodated automobiles at the time of this photograph, around 1915.  To the west foundations are being excavated for another theater.  photograph by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

In honor of their brother, the Shuberts named the venue the Sam B. Shubert Memorial Theatre.  Competed in the summer of 1913, the five-story theater was designed in what is loosely termed "Venetian Renaissance."  Herts's ornamentation relied as much on sgraffito--a process of etching and coloring plaster while wet--as on carvings.  Delicate panels recalled the frescoes of Pompeii.

The intricate decorations were painstakingly executed on wet plaster.

Herts left his mark on his work by placing an oval sgraffito depiction of a winged fairy-like figure directly above the corner entrance.  She holds in a plaque announcing the architect's name and the construction date.

Despite the overall stately appearance of the design, Herts managed to sneak in playful details.  The Corinthian capitals of the rusticated piers at the corner, for instance, depict pairs of goats apparently trying to escape from the snarling lions' heads directly above them.

The press never seem to have warmed to the official name of the venue and from the first referred to it simply as the Shubert Theatre.  The Shubert brothers scored a coup for opening night.   British actor Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson was hailed as one of the finest thespians of his time; and now he was retiring.  In September 1913 he arrived in New York to begin his farewell tour, which would begin with Hamlet on October 2 at the Shubert.  Co-starring with him as Ophelia would be his wife, Gertrude Elliott.

Following the performance Forbes-Robertson addressed the audience after numerous curtain calls.  The New York Times reported "Then...he spoke to the standing audience very briefly, dwelling upon the beauties of the new theatre which he had opened and speaking of what a fitting monument it was to the late Sam Shubert."

The auditorium features sumptuous plaster work and painted panels. photo via shubert.nyc

The overflow crowd, prompted both by the last appearance of the celebrated thespian and curiosity to see the theater, proved the efficiency of Hertz's many exits and of Shubert Alley.  The Times said "despite the lateness of the hour, many persons in the audience spent some time in inspecting the new theatre.  Outside the congestion of vehicles of all sorts was greatly relieved by the private roadway connecting Forty-fourth and Forty-fifth Streets."

The Evening Telegram, November 14, 1920 (copyright expired)

With a seating of about 1,400, the Shubert was the scene of benefit performances early on, like the spectacular variety show to benefit disabled World War I soldiers in 1920.

An unusual event took place on March 3, 1922 when the memorial service for Ellin Prince Lowery Speyer was held here.  Speyer was the founder and president of the Women's League for Animals.    A headline in The Evening Telegram on March 1 announced "Actresses to Honor Memory of Woman Friend of Animals" and the article reported "Women of the stage will conduct memorial services in honor of Mrs. James Speyer in the Shubert Theatre...Actresses regarded Mrs. Speyer as their especial friend."  Along with recognized names like Elizabeth Marbury, Elsie De Wolfe and Julia Arthur, a sole male, producer Daniel Frohman, served on organizing committee.

Mrs. Speyer's would not be the last memorial service in the Shubert Theatre.  For years, into the 1930's, it was the scene of the annual Police Department ceremonies to honor officers who had died the previous year.

The Greenwich Village Follies had been staged for several years at the Greenwich Village Theatre.  But by 1918 its success had outgrown the neighborhood venue.  On November 19, 1922 The Evening Telegram reported on the fourth annual production at the Shubert.  It had run 11 weeks at the time with no end in sight.

The Shubert Theatre saw illustrious plays and illustrious thespians throughout the decades.  On March 28, 1939 Katharine Hepburn opened in Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story; the following year in August 1941 Pal Joey moved here from the Barrymore Theatre because of the Shubert's larger capacity.   The Rodgers & Hart musical starred the 29-year-old Gene Kelly opposite the significantly older Vivienne Segal.

Two months later, on October 22, Maxwell Anderson's Candle in the Wind opened, starring Helen Hayes.  It was directed by Alfred Lunt and the cast included actress and singer Lotte Lenya.

Among the Othello cast members in this 1943 photo are Richard Basehart and Jose Ferrer.  from the collection of the New York Public Library

Productions which became American classics that opened here included Paint Your Wagon, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Bye Bye Birdie, Oliver!, The Roar of the Greasepaint-The Smell of the Crowd, and A Little Night Music.  In 1975 A Chorus Line opened in the Shubert and ran for fifteen years--a total of 6,137 performances.  It set the record for the longest running play on Broadway.

The large capacity of the auditorium has made it a repeat venue for the Tony Awards ceremonies.

Other than the removal of the pediments of the rooftop dormers, inside and out the Shubert Theatre has changed little.  Its location on Shubert Alley makes it one of the most recognizable of the Broadway theater icons.

photographs by the author

The B'nai Jeshurun Community Center -- 270 West 89th Street

In 1926, nine years after Congregation B’nai Jeshurun relocated to West 88^th Street, it purchased the three four-story houses at Nos. 266, 268 and 270 West 89^th Street.  The plots were directly behind the impressive synagogue building, and The New York Times, on May 25, noted “The Congregation contemplates erecting a nine-story community centre building, which will be used in connection with the Synagogue in the rear.”

The Congregation was formed in 1825 when a faction broke from the Congregation Shearith Israel (in Manhattan since 1654).  It moved repeatedly until completing its Moorish Revival synagogue in 1918.   If some New Yorkers found its hulking facade somewhat foreboding, they would find the Community Center much more so.

Architect Henry Beaumont Herts received the commission to design the structure.  While he signed his name to the plans, his associate, Louis Allen Abramson is given the credit for its design.  Faced in dark brown Roman brick and trimmed in variegated stone, the fortress-like structure might be seen as more menacing than welcoming.

The architects’ design included several unique and fascinating elements.  Just below the stone cornice five gigantic flowers projected, cannon-like, above the paired openings.  The windows of the third and fourth floors were joined vertically by stonework reminiscent of Florentine balconies.  But most unusual of all was the treatment above the two entrances.  Here rows of disconnected Gothic arches hung like stalactites, prompting the AIA Guide to New York City to say that the building “drools ‘Moorish’ tentacles from its entry cornice.”

The dripping ornament over the entrances is unique.  Note the carved panels within the entrance and the fasces motif along the perimeter.

While the exterior of the Herts and Abramson structure hinted at dungeons and cells within; such was not the case.  The interiors were lavishly decorated in period styles.  The staircase hall was Elizabethan Revival, with oak paneling and carved newels and balusters.  The Reception Room picked up the Moorish theme, with an arched entry and intricately-carved ceiling.  Other rooms included the auditorium, classrooms, a ballroom, club rooms and a salon and library for women.

Wurts Bros. photographed the building in 1928, shortly after completion.  from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

The Community Center was multi-functional.  Funerals, weddings and musical programs, among other events, were held here over the decades.  And it was the scene of lectures, discussions and meetings regarding political, social and religious topics.  They most often dealt with the hot-button issues of the day.

On February 27, 1930, for instance, Louis Lipsky, President of the Zionist Organization of America, addressed the first open forum of the West Side Zionist District here.  His topic was “The Arab Problem, Dr. Magnes and the British.”  A month later a lecture and discussion on “The American Palestine Settlers” was held.

The Elizabethan Revival staircase hall featured a handsome stained glass window on the landing.  photo by Wurts Bros. from the collection of the Museum of the City of New York

Three years later American Jews would turn their focus from Palestine to Germany.  On January 30, 1933 Adolph Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany and soon after the Nazi Party began eliminating political opposition.    As nervousness and fear grew, the Rev. Dr. Everett R. Clinchy, director of the National Conference of Jews and Christians, addressed 400 women of the Sisterhood of Congregation B’nai Jeshurun at a luncheon in the Community Center on October 17.

Clinchy did not blame the Germans, but Hitler, and stressed “the nations of the world must adopt a generous and tolerant attitude toward Germany that she may rid herself of the leaders who control the picture.”  Another speaker that afternoon, Bernard S. Deutsch, rather surprisingly partially blamed the Nazi rise on Jews.  The New York Times reported “Dr. Deutsch denounced the German Jewish industrialists who, he said, afraid of the ‘bugagboo of communism,’ supplied ‘the ammunition which paved the way for the ascendancy of Hitler.’”

The following week, on October 29, delegates from 50 synagogues throughout New York City assembled in the Community Center to discuss the Nazi problem.  They resolved to carry out a boycott of German goods, and to appeal to New York shopkeepers to “remove goods of German make from their shelves and to substitute American-made products.”  Once again, reason was called for.  Jacob Weinstein, who had been an advisor to Jewish students at Columbia University, stressed the importance that “no innocent German storekeeper in this country suffers from the boycott movement.”  He told the assemblage “It must be made clear that we are not being vindictive, but that only by making the program of German anti-Semitism untenable can we end the persecution of our co-religionists.”

Louis Abramson stepped away from the Moorish Revival theme of the Reception Room by adding stylish Art Deco chandeliers, seen here in 1930.  from A Century of Judaism in New York: B'nai Jeshurun 1825-1925

In the meantime, the Community Center continued to be an important cultural spot on the Upper West Side.  On December 9 that year an “operatic bill” was offered; and on March 26, 1934 Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera was performed.

Zionism and Nazism were sensitive and heated issues.  They collided in the Community Center on December 2, 1937 when a debate was held by the Men’s Club between Supreme Court Justice Joseph M. Proskauer and author Maurice Samuel.

Proskauer spoke first, saying he was against the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine.  He explained “that such a political division with its political military and diplomatic status was bound in the long run to be harmful to Jews in other parts of the world, especially in Europe.”

In his rebuttal, Samuel said a Jewish home in Palestine would not increase anti-Semitism and, in fact, it was the “moral privilege” of Jews to support the cause.  He then took a shot at Justice Proskauer saying “there were some [Jews] who were willing to compromise with Hitlerism.” 

That ended the debate.

Proskauer stormed off the stage and left the building, later saying he resented the implication.  Maurice Samuel simply told the audience “He can dish it out, but he can’t take it.”

The fears of the Jewish community concerning Adolph Hitler’s growing program of hatred were realized on November 9, 1938--the first of two days of terror that would become known as Kristallnacht.  At least nine Jewish people were murdered, 30,000 were arrested, and more than 7,000 Jewish businesses were damaged or destroyed.  Synagogues were burnt to the ground.  The New York Times reported on the horror saying “No foreign propagandist bent upon blackening Germany before the world could outdo the tale of burnings and beatings, of blackguardly assaults on defenseless and innocent people, which disgraced that country yesterday.”

The regime offered Jewish Germans one way out—an offer that would not last long.  They could leave the country on the condition that they left their wealth behind in the form of “taxes” and “contributions.” 

On December 17, 1938 Rabbi Israel Goldstein railed against the proposal from the dais in the Community Center.  He said it “is on the same level with a kidnapper’s ransom” and called Germany “the gangster among the governments of the world today.”

Throughout the rest of the 20^th century the Community Center would continue to serve the congregation and the neighborhood.   Operas were still held here through the 1940s and The Abraham Joshua Heschel School was established in the building in 1983. 

The school was named for the theologian who walked alongside the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march in 1965; and of whom literary critic Edward Rothstein said in 2007 “no modern Jewish thinker has had as profound an effect on other faiths as Heschel has.”   In 2007 the school began construction of a new facility on West End Avenue, eventually leaving West 89^th Street.

In the meantime, famed preservation architect Giorgio Cavaglieri worked on a restoration of the Community Center building in the last years of the 20^th century.  Perhaps best known for his work on the Jefferson Market Library in Greenwich Village, he brought the aging structure back to its 1928 appearance.  

photographs by the author