The Empire Theatre (originally the Eltinge Theatre) is a former Broadway theater at 234 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1912, the theater was designed by Thomas W. Lamb for the Hungarian-born impresario A. H. Woods. It was originally named for female impersonator Julian Eltinge, a performer with whom Woods was associated. In 1998, the building was relocated west of its original location to serve as the entrance to the AMC Empire 25, a multiplex operated by AMC Theatres, which opened on April 21, 2000. This AMC theater has the most screens ever in the United States of America.

The facade of the Empire Theatre is made of terracotta and is square in shape, with relatively little ornamentation compared to other theaters of the time. The center of the facade contains a three-story arch, which was intended to resemble a Roman triumphal arch; a fourth story was used for offices. The theater had about 900 seats in its auditorium, spread across three levels. It was decorated with ancient Egyptian and Greek details, as well as a sounding board depicting three dancing women. Most of the original detail was restored when the theater building was repurposed in 1998. The former auditorium serves as a lobby and lounge for the AMC Empire 25.

Woods leased the site in August 1911, and the Eltinge Theatre opened on September 11, 1912, with the play Within the Law. In its early years, the Eltinge was known as a "lucky house", with many long-running plays. The theater was less successful during the 1920s and was leased to various theatrical personalities. During the Depression, when legitimate productions were scarce, the Eltinge was leased for burlesque by Max Rudnick from 1931 until 1942. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, then burlesque comedians, first performed together at the Eltinge early in 1935. After its tenure as a burlesque house, the Eltinge became the Laff-Movie movie theater operated by the Brandt family and leased to J.J. Mage. The Brandts renamed the theater the Empire in 1954 and continued to present movies there until the late 20th century. The city and state governments of New York acquired the theater as part of the 42nd Street Redevelopment Project in 1990. Forest City Ratner developed an entertainment and retail complex on the site in the 1990s, relocating and renovating the Empire.

Site The Empire Theatre is on the south side of 42nd Street, between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue near the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The theater was originally located at 236–242 West 42nd Street, but it has been moved west of its original location. The Empire's modern-day site was formerly occupied by the Lew Fields Theatre, which was demolished in 1997. The theater is part of an entertainment and retail complex at 234 West 42nd Street, which includes the former Liberty Theatre and the Madame Tussauds New York museum. The complex's land lot covers and extends between its two frontages on 41st and 42nd Streets, with a frontage of on 41st Street and on 42nd Street.

The city block includes the Candler Building, New Amsterdam Theatre, and 5 Times Square to the east, as well as Eleven Times Square to the west. The E-Walk entertainment complex is directly across 42nd Street to the north. The Todd Haimes Theatre, Times Square Theater, Lyric Theatre, New Victory Theater, and 3 Times Square are to the northeast. In addition, the Port Authority Bus Terminal is to the west, the New York Times Building is to the south, and the Nederlander Theatre is to the southeast. An entrance to the New York City Subway's and stations, served by the , is just west of the theater.

The surrounding area is part of Manhattan's Theater District and contains many Broadway theaters. In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues for legitimate theatre were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The New Amsterdam, Harris, Liberty, Eltinge (now Empire), and Lew Fields theaters occupied the south side of the street. The original Lyric and Apollo theaters (combined into the current Lyric Theatre), as well as the Times Square, Victory, Selwyn (now Todd Haimes), and Victoria theaters, occupied the north side. These venues were mostly converted to movie theaters by the 1930s, and many of them had been relegated to showing pornography by the 1970s.

Design The Empire Theatre, originally the Eltinge 42nd Street Theatre, was designed by Thomas W. Lamb for the Hungarian-born impresario A. H. Woods. In the late 1990s, the former auditorium was converted into a lobby and lounge for a 25-screen multiplex operated by AMC Theatres. Known as the AMC Empire 25, it was AMC's first theater in New York City. The AMC Empire 25 complex was designed by a joint venture between Benjamin Thompson, Beyer Blinder Belle, Gould Evans Goodman, and the Rockwell Group. The Empire 25 is part of a larger retail and entertainment complex on the south side of 42nd Street, which covers . The theater itself covers and was New York City's largest multiplex movie theater at the time of its construction.

Facade The square facade of the Empire Theatre is made of terracotta and has little ornamentation compared with other theaters built around the same time. The center of the facade contains a three-story arch, which originally illuminated the rear of the auditorium. The arch was intended to resemble a Roman triumphal arch. It is surrounded by an ornately carved frame. The outermost sections of the facade are slightly projecting piers, which flank the arch. According to Christopher Gray of The New York Times, the facade was typical of Lamb's 1910s theater designs, which "emphasized broad swaths of cream- or white-colored glazed terra cotta with a bit of polychromy and deep dramatic piers, window recesses and other large elements".

In the original design, there were four pairs of doors at ground level, underneath a steel-and-glass marquee that protruded onto the sidewalk. Both the entrance and the stage door were on 42nd Street, in contrast to other theaters along the same block (including the New Amsterdam and Harris), which had their stage doors on 41st Street. On either side of the main entrance, the lowest section of the ground-level facade contained a granite water table, above which were doorways set within a rusticated stone facade. The original water table was removed when the theater was relocated in 1998. The second and third floors are mostly devoid of ornamentation. The center of the arch is topped by a cartouche, and the outer piers also contain cartouches at the third story. A carved cornice runs above the third story.

The fourth story contains six recessed rectangular windows, which overlooked the offices of the theater's manager A. H. Woods and his brother Martin Woods. The theater was topped by a mansard roof. By 1993, the original facade had become so dilapidated that Columbia Pictures covered the original facade with a stucco-and-plywood replica for the film The Last Action Hero. The modern multiplex contains a five-story glass facade that rises above the original Empire Theatre's facade.

Interior The superstructure of the theater is composed of a steel frame with brick walls measuring thick. The Eltinge Theatre could not contain interior columns because they would obstruct audience members' sightlines, so the side walls and the ceiling were designed to be stronger and more rigid than in a conventional building. Above the auditorium was Woods's office, which had green carpets and walnut-paneled walls.

Original design

The theater had 750 seats on three levels. These were proportioned in "slender", "medium", and "stout" widths for patrons of different sizes. The side walls were steeply angled to give the impression that the auditorium was larger than it actually was. The auditorium was decorated with ancient Egyptian and Greek details. These included a proscenium arch decorated with sphinxes and winged disks. The proscenium was flanked by smaller arches, each of which contained two levels with two boxes each. The boxes stepped down toward the stage, and the fronts of each box were decorated with sculpted medallions, flanked by sculpted figures. The boxes were removed in the 1930s when the theater was converted into a burlesque venue.

The sounding board above the proscenium arch contained a mural, which depicted three robed women dancing to music and was painted by French artist Arthur Brounet. According to The New York Times, the women depicted in the mural may have been based on different outfits Eltinge wore. The auditorium contains a domed ceiling. There was originally a chandelier hanging from the center of the ceiling, but it was removed in the 1930s.

Current design When the theater building was repurposed in 1998, the steeply-raked balcony levels were replaced with mezzanines that contained restaurants. Escalators pass through the former proscenium arch to the newer multiplex screens above. There are three levels of lobbies, which lead to the screening rooms. The former auditorium comprises the first two stories, while the concession stand is on the third story. The movie screens are spread across five stories, connected by 14 escalators. The multiplex contains an additional six mezzanines, which are connected by elevators. In addition to the proscenium arch, other decorative details remain intact within the multiplex's lobby. A portion of the AMC multiplex is located on a truss above the original Empire Theatre building, which measures deep and is placed above ground level.

The screening rooms originally had 4,916 seats in total, although this had been reduced to 4,764 seats by 2011. Each of the 25 rooms contains a curved screen spanning the width of the room. The rooms contain stadium seating, with each row being higher than the one in front of it. The rooms each contain up to 600 seats. On the sixth story are seven smaller screens, which are used for independent, foreign-language, and art films. Two of the screening rooms include leather seats, which were intended for large gatherings such as business presentations and private parties. In addition, there is a private 60-seat screening room that can be rented out for events. In total, the multiplex had 34 plasma screens and seven projectors when it opened; some of the screens were located within the lobby. When the theater opened, all of its screening rooms contained digital audio systems.

History Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression. Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from Union Square and Madison Square during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. Furthermore, A. H. Woods and American actor Julian Eltinge signed a contract in 1909, wherein Woods acted as Eltinge's manager for seven years. Both men earned several hundred thousand dollars from the contract. Eltinge, who gained fame as a female impersonator, never performed there.

Legitimate shows

1910s

In August 1911, Woods announced that he had signed a 21-year lease for an plot just west of the Liberty Theatre. Woods planned to build a 1,000-seat theater named in honor of Julian Eltinge. It would be the eighth theater to be constructed on 42nd Street, after the New Amsterdam, Liberty, Harris, American, Lyric, Republic, and Victoria theaters. The George A. Just Company received the contract for the theater's structural steel, while the Fleischmann Brothers received the general construction contract. By January 1912, Variety magazine reported that the Eltinge Theatre was nearly completed and was ready to open that April. Woods moved his executive offices from the Putnam Building to the entire upper floor in August 1912.