Undated Postcard of the Strand Theatre - New York City
 
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Strand Theatre

1579 Broadway at 47th Street
New York, N.Y. 10036








Cinema Treasures website: The Strand Theatre was opened in 1914 for the Mitchel Mark Realty Company and was under the early direction of Samuel "Roxy" Rothapfel as the Mark Strand. Designed by Thomas W. Lamb, the Strand originally had a seating capacity of 2,989.

Strand Theatre - New York City (credit: Cinema Treasures website)  
   
 
The Strand began its life with stage shows in addition to movies and also had one of the largest stages in the city in 1914. After stage shows were dropped in 1929, seating was reduced to 2750. In the late 1930's stage shows (and vaudeville) were brought back.

After dropping stage shows on July 3, 1951, the Strand was renamed Warner Theatre, and opened with "Stangers on a Train". During 1952 to 1953, the theatre closed, was renovated and renamed Warner Cinerama. Cinerama films moved here from the Broadway Theatre, starting with "This Is Cinerama" in 1953.

  Strand Theatre (c.1940) - New York City (credit: AJWB Collection)
In 1963, the auditorium was equipped with a 81 foot wide by 30 feet tall screen to show "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. World premieres of 70mm films included "Porgy and Bess" (June 24, 1959), "Exodus" (December 15, 1960), "The Greatest Story Ever Told" (February 15, 1965), "Grand Prix" (December 21, 1966 and "Camelot" (October 25, 1967).

On July 30, 1968, the theatre reopened as a triplex. The Warner Cinerama theatre with 1,000 seats occupied the main floor. The former balcony became the 1,200 seat Penthouse Theatre. A third theatre, called the Cine Orleans, was built in the Strand's stagehouse and had its own entrance on W. 47th Street. In the early 1980s the Cinerama and Penthouse were remodeled and renamed the Warner Twin.

Unfortunately, on February 8, 1987, after a long and eventful life, one of the greatest movie palaces of New York City closed and was demolished.
           
  1916 photo of Ralph Brigham at Austin Organ, Op. 481 (1914) in the Strand Theatre - New York City
  Ralph Brigham at Austin Organ (1916)
Austin Organ Company
Hartford, Conn. – Opus 481 (1914)
Electro-pneumatic action
3 manuals, 49 registers


The organ in the Strand Theatre was built in 1914 by the Austin Organ Company of Hartford, Conn. Specifications for this organ have not yet been located.

At right is a photo from The Diapason (July 1, 1916) along with this article:
     "Ralph H. Brigham, organist at the Strand Theater, New York, where he is heard by audiences which few organists can boast, plays before an average of 10,000 people a day on the beautiful Austin organ. The instrument is in use from noon until 11:30 at night.
     "Mr. Brigham went to the Strand from the First Church of Christ at Northampton, Mass., after having been organist there for ten years."
           
Sources:
     Cinema Treasures web site: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2975
     "Is Heard by 10,000 Daily," The Diapason (July 1, 1916). Courtesy Larry Trupiano.
     Ochse, Orpha. Austin Organs. Richmond: The Organ Historical Society, 2001.

Illustrations:
     AJWB Collection. Exterior (c.1940).
     Cinema Treasures web site. Interior.
     Wurts Bros. (New York, N.Y.). Exterior (1915). Collection of the Museum of the City of New York.