{"id":139,"date":"2014-10-22T02:15:07","date_gmt":"2014-10-22T02:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=139"},"modified":"2015-01-09T17:03:13","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T22:03:13","slug":"1903-the-nixon-theater-for-nearly-50-years-the","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/10\/22\/1903-the-nixon-theater-for-nearly-50-years-the\/","title":{"rendered":"The Nixon Theater, beginning to end"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sam <\/a>
Sam Calhoun was the last stage door man at the old Nixon Theater, which was torn down in 1950. Sun-Telegraph Photo by Morris Berman <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div>
\"Here <\/a>
Here is the playbill for the last show at the old Nixon Theater in Downtown Pittsburgh. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The Nixon Theater circa 1900. (Photo credit unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

For nearly 50 years, the Nixon Theater was Pittsburgh\u2019s premiere playhouse.<\/p>\n

Opened in 1903, the French Beaux-Arts building stood on Sixth Avenue.<\/p>\n

Its stage hosted a truly memorable parade of great actors, including Maude Adams, Ethel and John Barrymore, Tallulah Bankhead, Katherine Cornell, Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, Helen Hayes, Henry Irving, Richard Mansfield, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Lillian Russell and Ellen Terry.<\/p>\n

The brick building\u2019s architectural grandeur matched the high level of talent. Boxes \u00a0that overlooked the orchestra seats were decorated in royal crimson, white and gold.<\/p>\n

By 1916, \u00a0Florenz Ziegfeld, the impresario famed for his Ziegfeld Follies, was using the Nixon as a place to try out candidates for his annual production. Broadway revues played the Nixon and movies were shown there, too.<\/p>\n

The last performer to appear on the Nixon stage was the voluptuous Mae West, who starred in a farce called \u201cDiamond Lil.\u201d The Nixon had 2,183 seats but on the last night, West played to a capacity audience of 2,256.<\/p>\n

On closing night in April 1950, actress Katherine Hepburn, who had starred in the stage version of \u201cThe Philadelphia Story\u201d at the Nixon, sent telegrams to staff members.<\/p>\n

To Johnny Branigan, property man for 43 years, Hepburn wired, \u201cNice to know you\u2019ll be at the Senator when we come again. Will miss the Nixon Theater. How about the hooks and hangers in my dressing room. Would love to have them.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Sam Calhoun, backstage door man, Hepburn wrote, \u201cYou must be at the other theater when we come back. It won\u2019t be the same unless you are there.\u201d<\/p>\n

When the Nixon Theater was razed to make way for the $10 million ALCOA building, the city and its theatergoers lost a great landmark from the Gilded Age.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For nearly 50 years, the Nixon Theater was Pittsburgh\u2019s premiere playhouse.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe Nixon Theater, beginning to end<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[945],"tags":[1166,1044,1046],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/tumblr_ndt61iB1xp1rr5swxo7_r1_1280.jpg?fit=915%2C900&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2527,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/12\/april-29-1950-the-nixon-theater-the-nixon\/","url_meta":{"origin":139,"position":0},"title":"The Nixon Theater","date":"September 12, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The Nixon Theater on Sixth Avenue was arguably the city\u2019s most elegant theater.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tumblr_ma78b3lW8P1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C873&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2530,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/12\/april-29-1950-lobby-of-the-nixon-theater-shortly\/","url_meta":{"origin":139,"position":1},"title":"Lobby of the Nixon Theater shortly before its doors closed","date":"September 12, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Nixon Theatre: \"Memories of almost half a century slip into the shadows...\u201d","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tumblr_ma77diZHQJ1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C844&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1626,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/07\/05\/barbara-feldon-and-the-64000-question\/","url_meta":{"origin":139,"position":2},"title":"Barbara Feldon and ‘The $64,000 Question’","date":"July 5, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Actress Barbara Anne Hall Feldon and Gene Kelly, who could sing, dance and act, both grew up in Pittsburgh and achieved fame.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/tumblr_mpbsutiLTv1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C923&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2635,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/15\/oct-28-1968-nixon-dresses-paper-souper\/","url_meta":{"origin":139,"position":3},"title":"Pittsburgh girls in Nixon paper dresses","date":"August 15, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"\"Souper Dress\" quickly became a fashion trend. Not sure how it survived the rain.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/Screen-Shot-2014-12-16-at-11.59.40-PM.png?fit=1200%2C632&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2634,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/15\/richard-m-nixon-at-the-civic-arena\/","url_meta":{"origin":139,"position":4},"title":"Richard M. Nixon at the Civic Arena","date":"August 15, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Republican presidential candidate Richard M. Nixon and his wife Pat shook hands on their way into the Civic Arena for a rally, six days before the election.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/nixon_civic_arena.jpg?fit=500%2C354&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2638,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/15\/nixon-rally-inside-the-civic\/","url_meta":{"origin":139,"position":5},"title":"Nixon rally inside the Civic Arena","date":"August 15, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"An enthusiastic crowd of some 17,000 cheered the Republican candidate.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/tumblr_m8rpjcAhvQ1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C931&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=139"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3822,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/139\/revisions\/3822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}