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It's Showtime

The first Wizard of Oz adaptation blows into Columbus Circle

The very first musical version of The Wizard of Oz opened at the Majestic Theatre (at 5 Columbus Circle) on January 20, 1903, after playing to enthusiastic audiences in Chicago.   L. Frank Baum wrote the book to the musical, based on his novel ‘The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’ which was published in 1900. The temperatures… Read More

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Film History Podcasts

The Magic of the Movie Theater: A History of Palaces and Arthouses

PODCAST In celebration of 125 years of movie exhibition in New York City — from vaudeville houses to movie palaces, from arthouses to multiplexes. On April 23, 1896 an invention called the Vitascope projected moving images onto a screen at a Midtown Manhattan vaudeville theater named Koster and Bial’s Music Hall. The business of movies… Read More

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Film History Landmarks

Cheers to the Ziegfeld Theatre, the ultimate screen for sweeping drama

The Ziegfeld Theater, one of Manhattan’s last single-screen movie theaters, closed for regular film exhibition in 2016.* Its final film was Star Wars: The Force Awakens, an appropriate choice as tens of thousands of movie lovers had gone to the Ziegfeld to see previous films in the series — including the 1977 original. I think… Read More

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Amusements and Thrills Film History

The Trans-Lux experience: New York’s ‘modern’ mini-movie houses

I’m a sucker for severe electric-laden art-deco theaters like the Trans-Lux Modern Theater which was once located in Midtown Manhattan on the corner of 58th Street and Madison Avenue. Most every Midtown movie theater by the 1920s dabbled into electric signage to grab attention. But Trans-Lux worked in the opposite direction. To underscore the importance… Read More

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Food History Health and Living

Upper West Side’s Astor Market: The future of grocery shopping

The Astor Market once sat on the corner of 95th Street and Broadway, a ‘model’ market built in 1915, devised by Vincent Astor, son of John Jacob Astor IV (and whose wife Brooke Astor may be better known to you) to combat some of the high food prices brought on by World War I. Astor… Read More

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Podcasts Those Were The Days

On the Radio: An early history of the airwaves, from the first broadcasts to ‘War of the Worlds’

Our latest podcast explores the early history of radio in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first commercial radio station (KDKA in Pennsylvania) and its first broadcast — the announcement of presidential election results. (Harding wins!) Amateur radio operators at the 92nd Street Y on the Upper East Side, 1940. Courtesy the Milstein Archives… Read More

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Neighborhoods Podcasts

The Astor Place Riot of 1849: Bloodshed and Shakespeare splits New York at a busy crossroads

“By the pricking of my thumbs / something wicked this way comes” — Macbeth PODCAST In old New York, one hundred and seventy years ago, a theatrical rivalry between two leading actors of the day sparked a terrible night of violence — one of the most horrible moments in New York City history. England’s great… Read More

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It's Showtime

The World of Fosse/Verdon: Eight addresses in Midtown that helped make two Broadway legends

The New York City entertainment world was never the same after Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon met at a rehearsal space in Midtown Manhattan in 1955. Tonight FX Network debuts its tribute to the lives of these collaborators and lovers in the series Fosse/Verdon, based upon the brilliant biography Fosse by Sam Wasson. This look at the complicated lives of two seminal… Read More

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It's Showtime Podcasts

Edwin Booth and the Players Club, New York’s home for high drama

PODCAST The thrilling tale of Edwin Booth and the marvelous social club he created for the acting profession Edwin Booth was the greatest actor of the Gilded Age, a superstar of the theater who entertained millions over his long career. In this podcast, we present his extraordinary career, the tragedies that shaped his life (on… Read More

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Bowery Boys

Info on the upcoming Bowery Boys live show (Sept. 13)

The first official Bowery Boys live event is coming up this September 13! We would really love to see a lot of you there for this.  It’s not strictly the two of us on the stage. We’re part of a bigger tribute and one we think you’ll love. 1. Who’s putting this whole thing together? The… Read More

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It's Showtime

The Bowery Boys — Live on Broadway! (well, for one night anyway)

Many of you have asked if we were ever going to do a live event in the near future. Finally you can see us live this September for one night only AND on Broadway! The Bowery Boys are pairing up with The Ensemblist podcast (hosted by wonderful Mo Brady and Nikka Graff Lanzarone) to present a one… Read More

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Landmarks

A celebration of New York City and the Leonard Nimoy Thalia

Last night the Guides Association of New York City (GANYC) presented their first-ever GANYC Apple Awards at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater (part of Symphony Space), honoring accomplishments in preservation, history, museum exhibition and tourism. It was a rather lively evening, thanks to the night’s hilarious hosts Kevin James Doyle and Olivia Petzy whom you may know from the… Read More

Categories
Amusements and Thrills

Bogie and Bacall meet Basie and Billie

This actually happened. For the debut of the new film Key Largo — starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall — the exhibitors at the Warner Strand Theater (at Broadway and 47th Street) has a special treat in store. The Strand Theatre, which opened in 1914, has already made history a few times in New York.… Read More

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It's Showtime

Maude Adams: Fashion icon and America’s first Peter Pan

Tonight NBC’s unveils its live theatrical experiment Peter Pan with Girls star Alison Williams in the cross-dressing role of the boy who never grows up. We can all have our debates about who’s been the greatest stage Peter Pan in history.  Most will say Mary Martin, a sizable minority will claim Sandy Duncan, and a… Read More

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Pop Culture

Meryl Streep, New York City and theater of the 1970s

Meryl Streep is one of New Jersey’s greatest natural resources. She was born in Summit, NJ, also the hometown of Ice-T, and grew up nearby in the town of Bernardsville. You may not otherwise associate Streep with New Jersey (at least, not in the same way we look at Bruce Springsteen) because, in 1975, after… Read More