Icon

Criterion Theatre

1514-16 Broadway (44th St.), New York, NY
Seats (approximate)
1700
Built
1895
Closed
1920
Demolished
1935

ABOUT THIS THEATRE

Previously
known as
Previously known as
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.

LIST OF PRODUCTIONS

  • Vitagraph Theatre
    Showed movies
    View List
    Hide List
    Named 1914
    Named 1914
    No
    Productions
    Hide List