Fifth Avenue Theatre

Fifth Avenue Theatre (New York). The name was given to two different playhouses, neither of which was on Fifth Avenue and both of which were for a time connected with Augustin Daly. The first was built on 24th Street in 1862 as an adjunct to the once‐famous Fifth Avenue Hotel and stood at the rear of the hostelry. Conceived as a stock exchange, it was not turned to theatrical uses until 1865, when it was occupied by George Christy's Minstrels. In 1867 it began booking other sorts of light entertainment but closed soon after when a playgoer was murdered in a brawl. James Fisk then bought the house, redecorated it, and leased it to John Brougham, who failed miserably, so Daly took it over later in 1869 and housed his first great company there until the building was destroyed by fire in 1873. Frou‐Frou, Saratoga, Horizon, and Divorce were among Daly's notable hits at the theatre. It lay in ruins for several years until shortly before Steele MacKaye obtained control. Since by that time Daly had opened his new Fifth Avenue Theatre, MacKaye called his auditorium the Madison Square Theatre. Meanwhile, Daly had immediately set about remodeling Gilsey's Apollo Hall on 28th Street, just west of Broadway. The New Fifth Avenue Theatre's beginnings were inauspicious, for while Daly had retained most of his ensemble intact, he could not at first find plays to please critics and playgoers. Moreover, the 1873 financial panic was hurting all theatrical trade. Daly was close to bankruptcy when his 1875 production of The Big Bonanza saved the day. After Daly went into temporary retirement in 1878 the theatre came under the management of others. The world premiere of The Pirates of Penzance was offered there in 1879 and Mary Anderson and Helena Modjeska both made their New York debuts on its stage. The house underwent several name changes, burned in 1891, was rebuilt and served as a vaudeville, film, and cheap burlesque theatre before being torn down in 1938.