Playbill

Olympia Theatre: Music Hall
 

The Olympia Music Hall opened in January 1895 as part of the Olympia Theatre. It was built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I and located on Broadway between 44th and 45th Street. This grand theatre was designed by architect J.B. McElfatrick and comprised three sections: the Music Hall, the Roof Garden, and the Lyric Theatre. In 1898, when the theatre was auctioned off, the Olympia came back as three separately operating theatres with their former names intact. Famed performer George M. Cohan appeared frequently at the Olympia in shows such as The Man Who Owns Broadway, Little Johnny Jones, and Forty-five Minutes from Broadway. At the Lyric Theatre, Lynn Fontanne and Laurette Taylor starred in the hit Happiness in 1917. The Olympia Theatre became a movie theatre in 1920 and was demolished in 1935. In 1989 it was rebuilt as the Criterion Center, which was gutted in 2000 to make way for the world's largest Toys 'R' Us.

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