New Book Tells the Unadulterated History of 'Naughty, Bawdy, Gaudy 42nd Street'

Long before Paris Hilton, there was the notorious Evelyn Nesbit.  Long before television soap operas, there was Michael Morton's The Yellow Ticket.  The Story of 42nd Street: The Theatres, Shows, Characters and Scandals of the World's Most Notorious Street chronicles the rise and fall of America's most important entertainment center, from its scintillating heyday to its perilous decay, and finally its anxiously awaited, yet controversial, reconstruction.  It is a story like no other—full of bigger-than-life personalities, juicy tabloid scandals, and underhanded betrayal.

Theatre historians Mary C. Henderson and Alexis Greene have written a lively, highly readable page-turner, packed with entertaining stories and the inside scoop.  At the turn of the last century, Forty-second Street was transformed into the central anchor of New York City's Theatre District.  Twelve theatres lined the street, each more lush than the next, hosting a wealth of musicals and plays, complete with nightly performances by big-name stars like John Barrymore and Julian Eltinge.

The Great Depression, coupled with the advent of movies and television, forced a period of rapid decline on Forty-second Street, leaving only rundown theatres as a faint reminder of this uniquely American dreamscape.  After decades of decay, politicians and private enterprise found the will to bring life back to these stages, and Forty-second Street finally received the spark it desperately needed to reclaim its rightful reputation as the theatre capital.

 Henderson and Greene interviewed government officials, architects, and theatre owners to create a rich history of Forty-second Street, complete with more than 100 years of photos, newspaper accounts, and other documentation from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.  Filled with never-before-seen archival images, this is the only pictorial history of Forty-second Street theatres during this period.  The result is The Story of 42nd Street, a fascinating read for theatre and history buffs, tourists, residents of New York City, and enthusiasts of urban renewal.

In its glory, Forty-second Street was a cradle for the talented women and men that brought American theatre into the modern era.  Now, replenished, the street lives as a vibrant entertainment center for audiences of all ages, from all over the world.  It is a story like no other: The Story of 42nd Street.

Mary C. Henderson is an internationally known authority on American theatre history.  For more than a decade she served as curator of the theater collection at the Museum of the City of New York.

Alexis Greene holds a PhD in theatre from the City University of New York's Graduate Center and has taught at Vassar College, Hunter College, and New York University.