Belmont Theatre

This article is about the theatre in New York City. For the theatre in York, Pennsylvania, see The Belmont Theatre.

The Belmont Theatre, also known during its existence as the Norworth Theatre and the Theatre Parisien, was a Broadway theatre located at 125 W. 48th St., New York, New York. It was designed by architect Eugene De Rosa. It was active as a Broadway theatre from 1918 through 1933. It went dark in August 1933 after a revival of St. John Greer Ervine's John Ferguson closed. It did not reopen again until 1936 when it was active for one more year before being sold in 1937. It then operated as a movie theatre, mainly showing foreign language film, until 1951 when the building was demolished.

History

Designed by architect Eugene De Rosa, the theatre was originally named the Norworth Theatre, and was named for its builder, the songwriter and actor Jack Norworth (best known for writing the lyrics to "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" and "Shine On, Harvest Moon"). Norworth built the theatre with the intent of managing it and using it as a place for he and his wife, the actress Nora Bayes, to perform. The theatre opened on January 28, 1918, with the musical revue Odds and Ends of 1917; a production which had transferred from the Bijou Theatre. Both Northworth and Bayes starred in the production along with the comedian Harry Watson Jr. and actress Lillian Lorraine.

Norworth's tenure as the operator and owner of the theatre was short lived, and he sold it just four months after it opened. Under its new owners, the theatre was renamed the Belmont Theatre with its first performance under its new name being Theresa Helburn's Crops and Croppers on September 12, 1918.

External links

• Belmont Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database