# Strand Theatre (Manhattan)
**Strand Theatre (Manhattan)** was a movie palace at 1579 Broadway at West 47th Street in [Times Square](https://www.edgepedia.org/times-square), opened on April 11, 1914 for the Mitchel Mark Realty Company and widely described as America's first "movie palace." Designed by Thomas W. Lamb and managed in its early years by Samuel "Roxy" Rothapfel, it seated 2,989 people, operated under several names, most of its life as a Warner Brothers house, and was closed and demolished in 1987.[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) • [2](https://www.silentera.com/theatres/USA/newYork/newYork/markStrand.html) • [3](https://www.history.com/articles/movie-theaters-origins-america)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Location | 1579 Broadway at West 47th Street, Manhattan (also given as 1577 and/or 1579 Broadway)[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) • [2](https://www.silentera.com/theatres/USA/newYork/newYork/markStrand.html) |
| Opened | April 11, 1914, with the photoplay *The Spoilers*[4](http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2975) |
| Architect / owner | Thomas W. Lamb for the Mitchel Mark Realty Company[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) |
| Seating | 2,989 originally, in orchestra and a single balcony; reduced to 2,750 in 1929[2](https://www.silentera.com/theatres/USA/newYork/newYork/markStrand.html) |
| Later names | Warner Theatre (1951), Warner Cinerama (1953), Warner Twin (early 1980s)[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) |
| Final configuration | Triplex from July 30, 1968: 1,000-seat main floor, 1,200-seat Penthouse Theatre, and the Cine Orleans[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) |
| Closed / demolished | February 8, 1987[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) |
## The first movie palace
When the Strand opened, motion pictures in America were still shown mostly in small storefront nickelodeons or in converted playhouses. The Strand changed the scale of film exhibition: HISTORY describes it as "America's first 'movie palace,' a luxuriously appointed, 3,000-seat theater designed for watching movies in comfort and style," and notes that it offered a moviegoing first, unobstructed views from every seat, achieved with massive cantilevered balconies that needed no support columns. The house held about 1,500 people in the orchestra and another 1,500 in the balcony.[3](https://www.history.com/articles/movie-theaters-origins-america) The RILM music encyclopedia calls it "the first great movie palace in the world" and says it began a progression of increasingly lavish theaters culminating in the Roxy Theater.[5](https://rme.rilm.org/articles/bae00254/1.0/bae00254)
The building itself covered a large piece of frontage. One account records that the theater covered 20 city lots, with a frontage of over 155 feet on Broadway and over 277 feet on 47th Street, on the site of the former Brewster Carriage Factory.[6](https://www.classicfilmfan.com/post/2007/04/12/first-movie-palace-opened-on-this-day-in-1914-in-new-york-city) • [7](https://historictheatres.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Michael-Miller-Index-Card-Collection-Full.pdf) The New York City Municipal Archives holds the building's Department of Buildings plans for 231-239 West 47th Street, including the 1913 new-building application filed by Thomas W. Lamb with 22 blueprints, later alteration, elevator, and air-conditioning applications from 1927, 1940, and 1945.[8](https://a860-collectionguides.nyc.gov/repositories/2/accessions/3262)
## Opening and early operation
The theater was built for the Mitchel Mark Realty Company, the firm of the Mark brothers, and placed under the early direction of Samuel L. "Roxy" Rothapfel, the impresario who had made his reputation at the Regent Theatre uptown.[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) • [9](https://www.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/5317ridgewood_theater_desig_rep.pdf) It opened on April 11, 1914 with the Selig photoplay *The Spoilers* starring William Farnum; a contemporary account in *The New York Times* headlined the opening as "New Strand Opens: Biggest of Movies," reporting a house of almost 3,500 seats, a figure higher than the 2,989 given by theater-history sources.[4](http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2975) • [10](https://mediehistorisktarkiv.se/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Media_popular_culture-2.pdf)
Music was part of the formula from the start. The house was equipped with an Austin Organ Company instrument, Opus 481 of 1914, a three-manual electro-pneumatic organ. In 1916 the trade press reported that organist Ralph H. Brigham, who had come to the Strand after ten years at the First Church of Christ in [Northampton, Massachusetts](https://www.edgepedia.org/northampton-massachusetts), played before an average of 10,000 people a day, with the instrument in use from noon until 11:30 at night.[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html)
The Strand began life with stage shows in addition to movies and had one of the largest stages in the city in 1914. After stage shows were dropped in 1929, seating was reduced to 2,750; stage shows and vaudeville were brought back in the late 1930s. During the latter part of the silent era, many major film productions premiered at the [Mark Strand](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-strand), which operated as a first-run house.[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) • [2](https://www.silentera.com/theatres/USA/newYork/newYork/markStrand.html)
## The Strand name and the Mark chain
The name came from the Strand, the theater district street in London. The New York theater was so successful that the Mark brothers formed the Mark Strand Theater Company and launched a chain; it was later bought by Warner Brothers and spread across the country, and hundreds of Strand theaters operated in the United States at their peak between the 1920s and 1940s.[11](https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2026/02/new-york-states-strand-theaters/) The Manhattan house was the prototype: Lamb's Strand design, developed with Roxy's showmanship, "became a model for a more elaborate design that was emulated in movie theaters all over the country," according to the [New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission](https://www.edgepedia.org/new-york-city-landmarks-preservation-commission).[9](https://www.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/5317ridgewood_theater_desig_rep.pdf)
## Warner years, Cinerama, and triplex
After dropping stage shows on July 3, 1951, the Strand was renamed the Warner Theatre and opened with *Strangers on a Train*. During 1952 to 1953 it closed, was renovated, and reopened as the Warner Cinerama, with Cinerama films moving from the Broadway Theatre starting with *This Is Cinerama* in 1953.[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html)
The house hosted large-format showcases. In 1963 the auditorium was equipped with a screen 81 feet wide by 30 feet tall to show *It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World*. World premieres of 70mm films included *Porgy and Bess* (June 24, 1959), *Exodus* (December 15, 1960), *The Greatest Story Ever Told* (February 15, 1965), *Grand Prix* (December 21, 1966), and *Camelot* (October 25, 1967).[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html)
On July 30, 1968 the theater reopened as a triplex: the Warner Cinerama with 1,000 seats occupied the main floor, the former balcony became the 1,200-seat Penthouse Theatre, and a third house, the Cine Orleans, was built in the stagehouse with its own entrance on West 47th Street. In the early 1980s the Cinerama and Penthouse theaters were remodeled and renamed the Warner Twin.[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html)
## Closure and demolition
On February 8, 1987, after 73 years of operation under the names Mark Strand, Strand, Warner Theatre, Warner Cinerama, and Warner Twin, the theater closed and was demolished. Cinema Treasures records its final operators as including RKO, Cineplex Odeon, and Warner Bros. Circuit Management, and lists the site's later identity as the RKO Warner Twin Theatre, 2,750 seats, status demolished.[1](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html) • [4](http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2975) The Landmarks Preservation Commission's survey of Times Square-area theaters likewise records the Strand (1913-14, demolished) at 1579 Broadway among Lamb's demolished Broadway movie palaces, a group that also included the Rialto, Rivoli, Capitol, and Loew's State.[9](https://www.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/5317ridgewood_theater_desig_rep.pdf)
## Distinguishing this Strand from others
Many theaters named Strand existed in New York and across the country, and they are easily confused. The Manhattan Strand described here is the 1914 Lamb movie palace at Broadway and 47th Street, demolished in 1987. It is distinct from the Brooklyn Strand Theatre, a 1919 Lamb movie and vaudeville house on Fulton Street that survives as the home of BRIC and UrbanGlass;[12](https://www.nyc.gov/html/designawards/html/bric/brichouse-urbanglass.shtml) from the Strand Theatre in Boston's Upham's Corner, which opened November 11, 1918 and still operates as a city-run performing arts center;[13](https://content.boston.gov/departments/arts-and-culture/strand-theatre) and from the Lakewood, New Jersey Strand designed by Thomas Lamb in 1922.[14](https://www.nj.gov/dca/njht/funded/sitedetails/strandtheatre.shtml)
## References
1. [Strand Theatre, New York City, NYC AGO (Organ Historical Society)](https://www.nycago.org/Organs/NYC/html/StrandTheatre.html)
2. [Mark Strand Theatre, Silent Era: Theaters](https://www.silentera.com/theatres/USA/newYork/newYork/markStrand.html)
3. [How Movie Theaters Got Their Start in America, HISTORY](https://www.history.com/articles/movie-theaters-origins-america)
4. [RKO Warner Twin Theatre in New York, NY, Cinema Treasures](http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2975)
5. [Strand Theater, RILM Music Encyclopedias](https://rme.rilm.org/articles/bae00254/1.0/bae00254)
6. [First Movie "Palace" Opened on This Day in 1914 in New York City, Classic Film Fan](https://www.classicfilmfan.com/post/2007/04/12/first-movie-palace-opened-on-this-day-in-1914-in-new-york-city)
7. [Michael Miller Index Card Collection, Historic Theatre Photography](https://historictheatres.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Michael-Miller-Index-Card-Collection-Full.pdf)
8. [Building plans for the Strand Theatre, Manhattan block 1019, lot 24, NYC Municipal Archives Collection Guides](https://a860-collectionguides.nyc.gov/repositories/2/accessions/3262)
9. [Ridgewood Theater Designation Report, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission](https://www.nyc.gov/html/records/pdf/govpub/5317ridgewood_theater_desig_rep.pdf)
10. [Media and Popular Culture (anthology with 1914 Strand opening press citations)](https://mediehistorisktarkiv.se/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Media_popular_culture-2.pdf)
11. [New York State's Remaining Strand Theaters, New York Almanack](https://www.newyorkalmanack.com/2026/02/new-york-states-strand-theaters/)
12. [About the Strand Theatre, BRIC and UrbanGlass, NYC Public Design Commission](https://www.nyc.gov/html/designawards/html/bric/brichouse-urbanglass.shtml)
13. [Strand Theatre, Boston.gov](https://content.boston.gov/departments/arts-and-culture/strand-theatre)
14. [Strand Theatre, Lakewood, New Jersey Heritage Trust Fund](https://www.nj.gov/dca/njht/funded/sitedetails/strandtheatre.shtml)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film industry, institutions, festivals, and awards › Exhibition, venues, and film technology*
*Initially written Oct 15, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license