Criterion Theatre
1514-16 Broadway (44th St.), New York, NY
Seats (approximate)
1700
Built
1895
Closed
1920
Demolished
1935
ABOUT THIS THEATRE
Vitagraph Theatre
Criterion Theatre
Olympia Theatre: Lyric
Description
In 1895, Oscar Hammerstein opened an entertainment complex for which one fifty-cent ticket admitted you to two main auditoriums (Lyric, Music Hall), two small theatres (Concert Hall, Roof Garden), an Oriental cafe, bowling, and billiards. On June 29, 1898, the debt-laden Olympia was auctioned. Charles Frohman leased the Lyric and renamed it the Criterion. In 1914, it showed movies as the Vitagraph, but soon returned to live theatre. In 1935, after another fifteen years as a cinema, it was razed.