The first Ziegfeld Theatre was built in 1927 by Florenz Ziegfeld. He was a Broadway actor and, with the financial help of newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, was able to build the theater. Ziegfeld Theatre's first show was a musical "Rio Rita," which opened on February 2nd, 1927. Ziegfeld Theatre's most famous show was the musical "Show Boat" by Jerome Kern. "Show Boat" opened on December 27, 1927.
The Ziegfeld Theatre lost a great deal of business during the Great Depression, in large part because few Broadway shows were opening during this time. In 1933, Loew's Cinema bought the theatre and turned it into a cinema for 11 years. Then, in 1944, another Broadway man, Billy Rose, purchased the theater. Rose hosted Broadway shows and leased the theater out to production studios, primarily NBC before reopening the theater officially in 1963 for Broadway shows only. Unfortunately, the theater had very few shows, ending with a 16-performance run of "Anya" in 1965.
Rose chose to tear down the Ziegfeld Theatre in order to build a skyscraper, now known as the Alliance Bernstein Building. The theatre was destroyed in 1966, despite public outcry against this decision. A few short years later, a new Ziegfeld Theatre would be built to remember the original.
The cinema version of the Ziegfeld Theatre was built in 1969. The theatre has a single movie screen and is considered a deluxe theater. The current Ziegfeld Theatre was given its name as a way to honor the original theatre. It was built as a movie palace, with orchestra seats and a tiered balcony. Its status as one of the great movie houses of America has caused the theatre to be used for many film premieres and special events. Today, the Ziegfeld Theatre is the largest single-screen theater in New York City.
The Ziegfeld Theatre was used as a television studio for NBC for nine years, from 1955 to 1963. The Emmy Awards were presented at Ziegfeld Theatre in 1959 and 1961 and the "Perry Como Show" was broadcast from there. "Ziegfeld Follies of 1931," "Brigadoon" and "Kismet" were other shows that opened at the Ziegfeld Theatre, while "Music in the Air," "Of Thee I Sing," "Antony and Cleopatra," "The Red Mill" and "Porgy and Bess" were Broadway revivals that showed at the Ziegfeld. The "Antony and Cleopatra" was the London version, starring Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh.