Morosco Theatre

[1][2] Located at 217 West 45th Street, the Morosco Theatre was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp for the Shubert family, who constructed it for Oliver Morosco in gratitude for his helping them break the monopoly of the Theatrical Syndicate.

After an invitation-only preview performance on February 4, 1917, it opened to the public the next day with a production of Canary Cottage, a musical with a book by Morosco and a score by Earl Carroll.

[1][2][3] The Shuberts lost the building in the Great Depression, and City Playhouses, Inc. bought it at auction in 1943.

It was sold in 1968 to Bankers Trust Company[1] and, after a massive "Save the Theatres" protest movement led by Joe Papp and supported by various actors and other theatrical folk failed,[4][5] it was razed in 1982, along with the first Helen Hayes, the Bijou, and remnants of the Astor and the Gaiety theaters; it was replaced by the 49-story Marriott Marquis hotel and Marquis Theatre.

[3] Source:[1] Notes Media related to Morosco Theatre (New York City) at Wikimedia Commons

The Morosco Theatre as seen from an angle during the daytime. There are buildings on both sides.
1981