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Disneyfication
New Amsterdam Facade 1903Since its presence on Broadway beginning in the early 1990s, the Disney Corporation has been credited as the driving force behind Times Square’s transformation into the ultimate tourist attraction. During the 1970s and 80s, the span of 42nd Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue had been covered in peep shows, private clubs and explicit storefronts. Now it is crowded with themed museums constructed as mazes, a casino disguised as a children’s arcade, and chain clothing stores selling bulk. For many people, the street is the epitome of US’s tourist culture, with its various themed buildings sandwiched together, each selling a unique experience.
It is commonly believed that this artificial development took force when the Mouse first emerged onto the Great White Way. It’s a valid allegation, since Disney revolutionized the industry of creating fabricated realities in its theme parks and attractions. From the Western frontier and country mountain to mainstreet America New Orleans, Disney has created life-sized diaromas in each of its five international amusement parks. But this time, Disney’s involvement did not encompass the construction of attractions that mimicked historic buildings to create nostalgic experiences. Rather, it involved the restoration of a building in order to preserve its overflowing history: the New Amsterdam Theatre.
THE THEATRE
Stage 1904 Located on 42nd Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue, the New Amsterdam Theatre was originally built and designed for stage producers Marc Klaw and Abraham Lincoln Erlanger. The development project was part of the movement of the theatre district from Union Square uptown in order to have larger stages and auditoriums at the turn of the century. Klaw and Erlanger purchased two adjacent lots between 41st and 42nd street in 1902 and embarked on creating an elaborate theatre complex complete with two auditoriums and an eleven story office tower.[1] The budget for the project was just over $1.5 million. Henry Herts and Hugh Tallent were chosen as the architects. The pair created a design not quite art nouveau, but rather eclectic in its mix of ornamental plaster reliefs and mural paintings. The abundant detail within the theatre depict scenes from Shakespeare, Wagner, creation, and inspiration.[2]
The New Amsterdam Theatre opened on October 26, 1903 with A Midsummer Night’s Dream. However the production was short-lived when the intricate details of the building upstaged the show itself. Following the sudden close of their first production, Klaw and Erlaner hoped to begin focusing on shows with grander spectacle. However, they struggled to find long running productions to bring in from other theatres. The majority of each season consisted of a series of short run productions
Nightclub 1914 Besides the auditorium located at street level, the New Amsterdam also possesses a smaller theatre above the mainstage, originally called the ‘Aerial Gardens’. At the time the theatre was built, rooftop performance spaces had become increasingly popular.[3] Numerous theatres were adapting their roof spaces into ‘garden theatres’ that were arranged more like outdoor cabaret. Designers Herts and Tallent took this concept into mind, developing a small, enclosed playhouse upstairs. The pair incorporated large windows that opened up onto a patio, recreating a café vibe in the summer, but also allowing the space to be sealed for use in the winter. Like the auditorium, the upper playhouse had multiple levels of seats, each with an unobstructed view of the stage.
But as with the mainstage auditorium, the producers struggled to fill the season of the garden playhouse. Shows were struggling to have runs longer than twenty performances. It wasn’t until the arrival of the Ziegfeld Follies that the New Amsterdam’s prosperity changed dramatically. Created and produced by Florenz Ziegfeld, the Follies dominated the New York stage with their diverse acts, massive sets, elaborate costumes, and gorgeous ladies. After the success of his first revue in the mainstage auditorium during the summer of 1913, Florenz Ziegfeld orchestrated annual revues at the New Amsterdam for the next 14 years.[4] In 1914, he aimed to expand his empire by transforming the smaller playhouse above into a nightclub. He had the seats removed to make room for individual tables, a dance floor, a stepped platform for performances, and a bandstand. A glass runway was constructed in front of the balcony for the showgirls to strut along above the heads of their audience.
Midnight Frolic 1914 A major draw to Ziegfeld’s nightclub was the replenished alcohol. But with the rise of Prohibition in 1921 forced the club to shut its doors. Ziegfeld however continued his revues down on the mainstage. Then the Depression and the rise of talking pictures took the final blows on the mainstage and the entire theatre community. And by 1937, the New Amsterdam theatre had been reopened as a cinema. After the death of owners of Klaw and Erlanger, the theatre was forfeited to the bank. They quickly sold it to Max Cohen, providing him with a mortgage under the condition that they could evict him if he ever presented live burlesque.[5] The bank was attempting to preserve the theatre from the adult industry that had overcome 42nd Street.
As for the nightclub, it had been converted back into a playhouse at the beginning of the Depression and temporarily served as a recording studio for the National Broadcasting Company.[6] By the end of the 1940s, it was converted into a television studio for NBC-TV.[7]
Years progressed, and 42nd Street became more and more obscene. In the late 1960s, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the then invading peep shows and explicit storefronts, arguing that they were protected under the First Amendment.[8] The adult industry continued to flourish around the New Amsterdam Theater, which continued to fight against the pressure to show pornography. By the 1980s, the theatre had gone through two more sets of owners and years of neglect which made it structurally unsound. The theatre had no choice but to officially closed its doors.
Nightclub 1998 In 1984, New York City and the State Urban Development Corporation initiated a proposal called the 42nd Street Development Project to revive the stretch between Broadway and 8th Avenue.[9] The project called for the restoration of nine historic theatres and the construction of four office towers, a hotel, and a merchandise mart.[10] Falling under the umbrella of the project, the New Amsterdam Theatre was assessed for restoration and obtained by the city. In order to find a proper tenant, an architectural firm was brought in to stabilize the structure. However the theatre had fallen in such disrepair with vines growing across the stage, a waterfall frozen into the box seats, and a pond brewing in the basement lounge rooms. Simultaneously, the real estate market fell in the late 80s, making it impossible for the project leaders to find tenants. They were forced to reconsider their plans. A new initiative was announced in 1992 to shift the focus of the plan to tourism under the name 42nd Street Now![11] Project leaders turned to Michael Eisner, then the chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Corporation, as a prospective investor. After visiting the decaying New Amsterdam Theatre, Eisner recalled his visits to the theatre as a kid and was determined to restore it back to its original beauty: “There was magic there that was only somewhat asleep.”[12] Revitalizing the theatre would also allow him to be seen ‘in the role of Renaissance patron, not just another corporate CEO.’[13]
A NEW DISNEY
After signing a ninety-nine year lease in 1995 and with a projected budget of $36 million, Disney had to decide what was to be made of the investment. At the time, Disney’s Broadway division hadn’t developed. The idea of producing live theatrical performances was only brewing; Beauty and the Beast would not appear in New York for yet another year. However Eisner wanted to leave the option open for if they ever pursued the industry. He decided to return the building to its original purpose as a theatre house.
Stage 2006 Luckily, a thick paint layer, added when the theatre was converted to a cinema, preserved the majority of Herts and Tallent’s architectural details. But rather than returning the structure to its original design, Disney creatives felt it was important to preserve the entire history of the complex as a playhouse that had been converted into a movie theatre: ‘It had to show its age and prove that it had weathered time and events.’[14] This concept of preserving layers of time greatly contrasts to the aesthetic usually associated with the brand. The fabrication of the Disney’s theme parks thrives off the construction of a simulated realities depicting one period at a time: the western frontier, the jungle, the pirates, period New Orleans. As Kunstler discusses in his book The Geography of Nowhere there is this reoccurring theme of death in each of the attractions; death of various eras of time that we nostalgically yearn for. The only attraction conveying any passage of time is the Haunted Mansion, which simulates the organic decay of an old home. But even then, you are being haunted by the various ghosts that roam the mansion. The renovation of the New Amsterdam Theatre, on the other hand, has an entirely different theme, a theme of passage and of life. It is not determined to create a simulated period of time that we will nostalgically yearn for. Rather, it is there to show us the passage of time and the layers it leaves behind. For instance, the interior of the mainstage auditorium has been restored to its original design with obvious modern technological advancements added in. The façade of the theatre, however, has not been reconverted back to the original design, but instead remains the movie marquee from 1951.
Facade 2006 As a result of overexposure to the idea of creating nostalgic realities, specifically designed to portray one theme, Disney’s renovation project of the New Amsterdam Theatre was commonly misinterpreted as an entirely new design created specifically for the premiere of Julie Taymor’s The Lion King. [The Lion King opened in the New Amsterdam theatre in the fall of 1997. The production was moved up to the Minskoff Theatre in 2006 to make room for the premiere of Mary Poppins, which currently plays in the mainstage auditorium] Many believed the intricate details of the plaster reliefs and murals were an extension of the set out into the theatre. Disney’s appreciation for history and time went completely unnoticed by the common crowd. As Umberto Eco discusses in his book Travels in Hyperreality, the US culture had become entirely obsessed with the fake:
'When there is a fake, it is not so much because it wouldn’t be possible to have the real equivalent but because the public is meant to admire the perfection of the fake and its obedience to the program.'[15]
Because they were so used to experiencing the fabricated environments of the theme parks, the audience perceived the New Amsterdam as another themed attraction rather than the historic landmark that it is.
Also contrastingly different to the generalized Disney brand is the principal of the New Amsterdam being a theatre. Attending the theatre is a communal event that involves the interaction of the audience with the group of performers. Each audience member has left his or her daily schedule in order to attend a performance at a specific time at a specific location. This contrasts drastically to the Disney format for television, cinema, and the theme parks which focus on the individual experience where one is free to roam. Theatre has to yet to become a commodity.
A NEW 42nd STREET
During the renovation of the theatre, Disney also acquired the building located next door to the New Amsterdam to open a retail store. However the building was raised to make way for a new office complex, and the Disney store vacated its corner premises in 1998. Since acquiring the theatre and retail space, and now the ABC Times Square Studios the corporation has served only as a participant in the transformation of Times Square, not a leader. The initiation for tourist culture began with the city itself in its legislature. Disney was, though, the first tenant to take such a risky investment, leading apprehensive investors to jump at the opportunity. But unlike the many other developers, Disney did not attempt to create a new simulated tourist attraction. Rather it embraced the city’s history and strove to preserve the life of New York still present in the New Amsterdam Theatre. Perhaps then the word Disneyfication is the incorrect term to use to describe the redevelopment of 42nd Street. Because if it was Disneyfied, 42nd Street wouldn’t be the simulated tourist attraction it is today but rather a historic landmark.
NY TIMES Press release covering the New Am’s reopening:
**Disney Podcast: Olive Thomas, The ghost of the New Am
http://www.playbillradio.com/podcast/podcast.html?item_id=1145
[1] Henderson, Mary C. The New Amsterdam: The Biography of a Broadway Theatre. New York: Hyperion, 1997. 11.
[2] Ibid. 7.
[3] Ibid. 41.
[4] Ibid. 61.
[5] Ibid. 105.
[6] Ibid. 107.
[7] Ibid. 113.
[8] Ibid. 115
[9] Ibid. 119.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid. 126.
[12] Ibid. 127.
[13] Stewart, James B. Disney War. New York: Simon & Schuster. 2005. 146.
[14] Ibid. 129.
[15] Eco, Umberto. Travels in hyper reality essays. San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986.
