[1][2] Located at 1239 Broadway, between 30th and 31st Streets, the building had been converted from a drinking and gambling establishment into a theatre for variety, and opened August 26, 1878, with Jerry Thomas as proprietor.

Considerable money was spent and when they reopened the house on March 31, 1880, as the Bijou Opera-house, it looked like a modern and well-regulated theatre.

[10] The first production was Orpheus and Eurydice, an adaption by Max Freeman of Jacques Offenbach's Orfée aux enfers.

"[3][11][12] Adonis, starring Henry E. Dixey, played its record-breaking run of 603 performances at the Bijou beginning September 4, 1884.

Another long run was The Music Master, starring David Warfield, transferred from the Belasco Theatre on January 9, 1905,[13] and playing 511 performances, for a total at the two theaters of 635, before closing September 29, 1906.