"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
Thanks for the article. And especially the list at the end of similar places that are actually still there for now. I've pasted the list into my ny file. Ready to explore on my next trip.
The author of the article is Jennifer Ashley Tepper. I need to buy one of her Broadway books.
"Noel [Coward] and I were in Paris once. Adjoining rooms, of course. One night, I felt mischievous, so I knocked on Noel's door, and he asked, 'Who is it?' I lowered my voice and said 'Hotel detective. Have you got a gentleman in your room?' He answered, 'Just a minute, I'll ask him.'" (Beatrice Lillie)
The Mayfair became the De Mille theater home to many roadshow movies such as Spartacus & Barabbas. On the bottom of the structure was a Grays Papaya type of store selling hot dogs, soda & burgers etc plus the usual gift shop. I miss this Times Square. Times Square today is sanitized . If I were a tourist coming here I would say. "This is it"? It looks like a mall on steroids . It has no heart or feelings.
I wonder when the Brill Building will be pounded to dust in the name of progress.
Not sure I would call it a Broadway landmark but I spent a good deal of time at Tin Pan Alley on 49th Street in the early 80's. It was a vibrant artistc hangout that I have fond as well as bittersweet memories of.
I will group them all together but I mourn the loss of every picture palace in Times Square. Most cities have at least one. LA has a slew of them.NY has zilch.
What, no mention of the Gaiety Theater on the west side of Broadway at 46th? Heresy! The number of dances that have been choreographed from atop those seats could fill a book...
The block long billboard atop the Astor and Victoria theaters and the old Ripleys Museum all across the street from the old Virgin megastore .It was originally the site of the Loews State theater building. It also was the home base in NY of MGM.
The one thing that struck me about the demise of Colony Records was the number of people of my generation and younger who posted statuses about how said they were that it was closing because it was "a great place to browse." However, when pressed, they admitted that was all they used it for, browsing. They still went home and made their purchases on Amazon and other online outlets.
The RKO Keith's theater in Flushing was designated. It was overturned and only given partial status when a developer came in with a ****load of money and he met up with a crooked politician . The politician had it overturned and only the lobby is now designated. It was a hollow victory as the developer kind of gutted the lobby before fleeing the country after the mafia, Chinese mafia & US government came after him.
The building now sits there rotting away and has for almost 30 years. It could have become a performing arts center.
When I was doing two shows a day (attending, not performing), my lunch stop was always JR's on 46th Street. They were reasonably priced and their burgers were to die for! I miss it every time I go to the city now.
Re: The Mayfair. In December 2010, my husbear and I had a quick drink in the Tex-Mex restaurant that had been the Mayfair. You could see it had once been a theater. I asked the bartender if he knew anything about the history of the place and he said it had been a porno theater at one time. The place had great nostalgic value for me as my husbear died just a month later.