Fay's Bowery Theatre
46 Bowery, New York, NY
Built
1826
Demolished
1929
ABOUT THIS THEATRE
Thalia Theatre
Bowery Theatre
New York Theatre
Description
Ithiel Town, architect. Built as the New York, audiences stayed away, perhaps due to its proximity to the dangerous Five Points area. Renamed the Bowery, it flourished even as the neighborhood became a slum. Presented varied popular fare through the years, including spectacle, variety, melodrama, Italian vaudeville (c. 1915), and Chinese theatre (1920s). Burned down (and rebuilt) five times: 1828, 1836, 1838, 1845, and 1923--until a June 5, 1929 fire closed the theatre for good.