AMC Empire Theater along 234 West 42nd Street

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AMC Empire Theater, NY

 

AMC Empire 25 is along 234 West 42nd Street in New York, which runs between 7thand 8th Avenues.
The 4,916-seat theater was designed architect Thomas Lamb from Gould Evans Associates was opened in 1912. When it first started operations, it was called the Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre in honor to Julian Eltinge who was, at that time, considered the best female impersonator to grace the American stage.

 

For decades, the theater functioned as the venue for legitimate productions and burlesque.
In 1942, Eltinge was converted into a movie theater named “The Laffmovie”. The name was later changed to “The Empire”. During the mid 1980s, the theater closed. Fortunately, AMC decided to

re-open the theater as its new state-of-the art 25-screen megaplex showing first run mainstream and

art films . The multi-level multiplex, designed by Beyer Blinder Belle, showcases the best of theater

reuse and renovation.

The Empire was lifted and moved to its present location in order to build the five-level complex.

The interiors have undergone major renovations, but the façade, save for the addition of a new marquee, has been unchanged.

A mural made by French artist, Arthur Brounet, is above the box office. Throughout the years, the

mural has lost some of its luster, so director of Rustin Levenson Art Conservation, Harriet Irgang restored the painting.