Adelphi Theater

The Adelphi Theatre (1934-1940 and 1944-1958), originally named the Craig Theatre, opened on December 24, 1928. The Adelphi was located at 152 West 54th Street in New York City, with 1,434 seats. The theater was taken over by the Federal Theater Project in 1934 and renamed the Adelphi. The theater was renamed the Radiant Center by The Royal Fraternity of Master Metaphysicians in 1940. It was then the Yiddish Arts Theater (1943), and renamed the Adelphi Theater on April 20, 1944. It became a DuMont Television Network studio in the 1950s. The "classic 39" episodes of The Honeymooners were filmed in this facility. The theater returned to legitimate use in 1957, was renamed the 54th Street Theater in 1958, and finally the George Abbott Theater in 1965. The building was razed in 1970, after hosting several expensive flops, and is the current location of the Hilton New York.

In 1946 Orson Welles opened his adaption of Jules Verne's classic "Around The World In 80 Days" at the Adelphi Theatre in New York he called "Around the World". In it, Welles featured in a seven minute Japanese scene that closed the first act, performing as the Great Foo San, using livestock routines from his "Mercury Wonder Show." The show was running through the heat of the summer months, which during those pre air-conditioned days spelled box office disaster, and closed after 74 performances.

See also: Adelphi Theatre (London).

References

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• Orson Wells and the Mercury Wonder Show by David Charvet, Magic, August 1993
• New Conjurers' Magazine , October, 1946