Loew's State Theatre (New York City)

Theater in Manhattan, New York (1921–1987)

40°45′28″N 73°59′06″W / 40.757815°N 73.984877°W / 40.757815; -73.984877

The Loew's State Theatre was a movie theater at 1540 Broadway on Times Square in New York City. Designed by Thomas Lamb in the Adam style, it opened on August 29, 1921, as part of a 16-story office building for the Loew's Theatres company, with a seating capacity of 3,200 and featuring both vaudeville and films. It was the first theater on Broadway to cost $1 million. It was initially managed by Joseph Vogel, who later became president of Loew's Inc. and then MGM.

For several years it was a second-run theater featuring live acts and a feature (most often an MGM film that would have premiered at the Astor Theatre before having its initial run at the Capitol, both Loew's movie houses located just a few blocks from the State), although it also had frequent personal appearances and short subjects.

Loew's became the last theater in Times Square to continue booking vaudeville acts as that medium declined in the 1930s; when it hosted its last vaudeville show on December 23, 1947, sentimental goodbyes were made from the stage in recognition of the end of an era.

In March 1959 the theater completed an $850,000 remodeling that reduced the number of seats from 3,316 to 1,885 but made them wider and increased the space between rows. The proscenium arch also was eliminated and a wide-screen projector was installed to permit the showing of CinemaScope and VistaVision (but not Cinerama) motion pictures. The interior was redecorated using a beige-on-gold palette. The remodeled theater reopened with the New York premiere of Some Like It Hot, with Marilyn Monroe in attendance.

The theater held several world premieres including The Three Musketeers (1948), Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Ben-Hur (1959), Becket (1964), and Doctor Dolittle (1967).

The cinema was split into two in 1968 with the former balcony re-opening on December 18, 1968, as the State II with 1,214 seats with the U.S. premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The orchestra was renamed State I with 1,172 seats. In March 1972, State I held the world premiere of The Godfather, which also opened the following day at State II. The theater was sold to developer Bruce Eichner in 1986. It closed on February 19, 1987, and was replaced by the Bertelsmann Building.

References

"Loew's State Theatre - New York City". Nycago.org. Archived from the original on 2006-02-21. Retrieved 2016-03-15.
Balio, Tino (March 14, 2018). MGM. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-3174-2967-8. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
"Looking Backward: Loew's State '21". Variety. April 1, 1959. p. 17. Retrieved June 30, 2019 – via Archive.org.
"Broadway Brushes Self Off". Variety. April 1, 1959. p. 5. Retrieved June 30, 2019 – via Archive.org.
Cullen, Frank; Hackman, Florence; McNeilly, Donald (2007). Vaudeville Old & New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performances in America. Vol. 2. Routledge. pp. 696–697. ISBN 978-0-4159-3853-2. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
"New Loew's State Reopens Tonight". The New York Times. March 28, 1959. p. 11.
^ "Loew's State Theatre". Cinema Treasures. Archived from the original on 11 July 2014. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
Arceri, Gene (2009). Rocking Horse - A Personal Biography of Betty Hutton. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1-5939-3321-0. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
^ "Balcony Deer Park No Longer; Loew's State Into Happy Twinhood". Variety. December 18, 1968. p. 18.
"'Oliver' Cops 47G At Loew's State I". Variety. December 18, 1968. p. 9.
"It's Everybody's 'Godfather'". Variety. March 22, 1972. p. 5.
Ravo, Nick (1986-12-20). "Two Times Square Stalwarts Make Way for New Buildings; U.S.O. Center Facing Eviction After Decades as Beacon to Soldiers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
Henry, John (1986-02-22). "Loews State is sold". New York Daily News. p. 4. Retrieved 2022-05-28.
Stern, Robert A. M.; Fishman, David; Tilove, Jacob (2006). New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Bicentennial and the Millennium. New York: Monacelli Press. p. 660. ISBN 978-1-58093-177-9. OCLC 70267065. OL 22741487M.

Times Square and the Theater District

Manhattan, New York City

Buildings

Broadway theaters

Other attractions

Performance venues	Palladium Times Square Sony Hall The Town Hall
Events	Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve Good Riddance Day
Sites	Madame Tussauds New York Museum of Broadway Sardi's Times Square Studios
Art and sculpture	Statue of Francis P. Duffy Statue of George M. Cohan Times Square (Neuhaus) Times Square Mural
Signs and objects	Coca-Cola sign Nasdaq MarketSite National Debt Clock Times Square Ball
Personalities	Desnudas Naked Cowboy

Hotels
The Chatwal New York Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan Hotel Astor Hotel Claridge Hotel Edison The Knickerbocker Hotel Millennium Times Square New York New York Marriott Marquis Row NYC Hotel Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel

Transportation

Subway stations	42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal 49th Street 50th Street Times Square–42nd Street
Roads and streets	42nd Street Broadway Seventh Avenue Shubert Alley

History

Events and incidents	V-J Day in Times Square 2008 Times Square bombing 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt 2017 Times Square car attack 2017 New York City Subway bombing Stop Iran Rally
Defunct locations and attractions	Bond International Casino Discovery Times Square Hotel Carter Pabst Hotel Palladium Times Square Terminal Bar Unique Recording Studios
Defunct theaters	American Music Hall Astor Columbia Edison Fulton Gaiety Knickerbocker Liberty Loew's Lyric Morosco Olympia Paramount Rialto Strand Times Square Victoria

Other topics
High School of Performing Arts Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School for International Careers Midtown Community Court

See also: Manhattan Community Board 5

Structures on Broadway in Manhattan and the Bronx

Buildings (The Battery – Houston Street)

Buildings (Houston Street – Times Square)
611 (Cable) 640 721 (Tisch School) 770 800 (Grace Church) 828 (Strand Bookstore) 889 (Gorham) 900 (Goelet) 935–939 Flatiron Building Madison Green 1181 (Baudouine) 1200 (Gilsey) 1232 (Grand Hotel) 1260 (Martinique Hotel) 1300 (Hotel McAlpin) 1313 Macy's 1328 (Marbridge) 1352 (Greenwich Savings Bank) Holy Innocents Church Times Square Tower 1466 (Knickerbocker Hotel)

Buildings (Times Square – Columbus Circle)

Buildings (Columbus Circle – The Bronx)

Parks and plazas
Bowling Green Zuccotti Park City Hall Park Union Square Madison Square Greeley Square Herald Square Times Square Columbus Circle Verdi Square Van Cortlandt Park

Subway stations

Former

Midtown (42nd–59th Streets)

Manhattan, New York City

Buildings

West of
5th Av

Rockefeller Center	1 Rockefeller Plz 10 Rockefeller Plz 30 Rockefeller Plz 50 Rockefeller Plz 75 Rockefeller Plz 1211 6th Av 1221 6th Av 1251 6th Av 1271 6th Av British Empire Building International Building La Maison Francaise
Times Square	1 Astor Plz 1 Times Sq 3 Times Sq 4 Times Sq 11 Times Sq 20 Times Sq 229 W 43rd St 255 W 43rd St 1500 Broadway 1501 Broadway 1540 Broadway 1552 Broadway 1585 Broadway TSX Broadway

East of
5th Av

Former

Theaters

Broadway theaters	Ambassador August Wilson Belasco Bernard B. Jacobs Booth Broadhurst Broadway Circle in the Square Ethel Barrymore Eugene O'Neill Gerald Schoenfeld Gershwin Hayes Hudson Imperial James Earl Jones John Golden Lena Horne Longacre Lunt-Fontanne Lyceum Lyric Majestic Marquis Minskoff Music Box Neil Simon Palace Richard Rodgers St. James Samuel J. Friedman Shubert Stephen Sondheim Studio 54 Todd Haimes Walter Kerr Winter Garden
Other venues	55th Street Playhouse Carnegie Hall Ed Sullivan Theater The ImaginAsian New Victory Theater New York City Center Paris Theater Radio City Music Hall Sony Hall The Theater Center The Town Hall York Theatre
Closed/demolished	44th Street 48th Street Apollo Center Capitol Earl Carroll Edison Embassy Fulton George M. Cohan's Loew's State Lyric New Century Olympia Roxy Strand Times Square Victoria Ziegfeld (1927) Ziegfeld (1969)

Hotels

Current

Former

Other points of interest

Restaurants/ nightlife	21 Club 54 Below Alto Anthos Aureole Burger Heaven Le Bernardin Cafe Chambord Campbell Apartment La Caravelle Caviar Russe Del Pezzo Restaurant Ellen's Stardust Diner Four Twenty Five Gabriel Kreuther Gallagher's Steakhouse Grand Central Oyster Bar & Restaurant La Grenouille Iridium Jazz Club Le Jardinier King Cole Bar Kurumazushi Latin Quarter Lespinasse Marea Naro The Pool and the Grill Oceana The Original Soupman P. J. Clarke's Patsy's Le Pavillon Prime Burger The Quilted Giraffe Rainbow Room Restaurant Aquavit Rumpelmayer's Russian Tea Room Sardi's Satsuki Shun Lee Palace Stage Deli The Campbell
Museums/ cultural centers	Austrian Cultural Forum New York Girl Scout Museum and Archives John M. Mossman Lock Museum Korean Cultural Center New York Madame Tussauds New York Museum of Arts and Design Museum of Broadway Museum of Modern Art New York Transit Museum Paley Center for Media Rose Museum Spyscape
Stores	Argosy Book Store Gotham Book Mart
Clubhouses	American Fine Arts Society The Brook Century Association Cornell Club of New York Harvard Club of New York City New York Athletic Club New York City Bar Association New York Friars Club New York Yacht Club Penn Club of New York Racquet and Tennis Club University Club of New York Women's National Republican Club Yale Club of New York City
Clubhouses (former)	Princeton Club of New York
Green spaces	Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden Central Park Grand Army Plaza Greenacre Park Paley Park
Educational institutions	53rd Street Library Circle in the Square Theatre School CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies High School of Performing Arts Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School for International Careers Saint Thomas Choir School SUNY College of Optometry
Art galleries	Galerie St. Etienne Rehs Galleries

Transportation

Subway stations	Fifth Avenue/53rd Street Fifth Avenue–59th Street Seventh Avenue 42nd Street–Bryant Park/Fifth Avenue 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center 49th Street 50th Street 50th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue 57th Street 59th Street–Columbus Circle Grand Central–42nd Street Lexington Avenue/51st Street Lexington Avenue/59th Street Times Square–42nd Street
Railroad stations	Grand Central Madison Grand Central Terminal
Streets and intersections	Third Avenue Fifth Avenue Sixth Avenue Six and a Half Avenue Seventh Avenue Eighth Avenue 42nd 47th 50th 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th 57th 59th Broadway Columbus Circle Duffy Square Grand Army Plaza George Abbott Way Lexington Avenue Madison Avenue Park Avenue Park Avenue Viaduct Pershing Square Shubert Alley Times Square Vanderbilt Avenue

Related topics
Billionaires' Row Little Brazil Midtown South Minnesota Strip

See also: Manhattan Community Board 5

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