The Tappan Zee Playhouse, housed within a historic 1911 movie theater located at the corner of South Broadway and Church Street, drew crowds to downtown Nyack from 1958 to 1976. This venue hosted a constellation of Broadway and Hollywood luminaries, including household names such as Helen Hayes, Shelly Winters, Joseph Cotton, James Mason, and Joan Blondell in its inaugural year alone. Subsequent years saw a parade of stars like Faye Dunaway, Alan Arkin, Joan Fontaine, Julie Harris, Jack Benny, Julie Newmar, Betty Grable, Maureen O’Sullivan, William Shatner, and Gloria Swanson gracing its stage.
Despite preservation efforts aimed at modernizing and securing a spot for the building on the National Register of Historic Places after its closure, the fate of the playhouse took a winding, unfortunate turn. The Village of Nyack took ownership in 1998, overseeing the dilapidated structure until its demolition in 2004. Here lies the tale of Nyack’s acclaimed Tappan Zee Playhouse.
The Wigwam
The playhouse’s history traces back to the construction of the Wigwam, a meeting hall and general store by A. L. Christie in 1868 at the corner of South Broadway and Church Street. Horace Greeley once addressed a packed audience there in 1868. Tragedy struck in 1892 when a fire claimed the nearby Van Houten stables and claimed the lives of fifteen horses, damaging the Wigwam in the process.
The Broadway Theater
James Kilby acquired the Wigwam site in 1907, transforming it into the Broadway Theater in 1911. This venue initially offered silent movies and vaudeville acts. Expansion in 1920 created a larger stage and additional facilities, seating up to 1,200 people. The new theater sported a lobby, dressing rooms, a balcony, box seats with decorated bannisters, and a new open, inviting exterior with a marquee. Despite its grandeur, the theater couldn’t accommodate ‘talking pictures’, leading to the establishment of a larger theater, the Rockland Theater, in 1928.
The Tappan Zee Playhouse
In 1956, Bruce Becker and Honey Waldman refurbished the old Broadway Theater into the Tappan Zee Playhouse. A new marquee and four large glass doors opened up the front of the building.Their journey as producers and theater owners involved handling unexpected challenges, from last-minute schedule changes to a dressing room fire in 1964, requiring improvised solutions like breaking through a theater wall to access rented trailers for cast dressing rooms.
Opening Night and Early Years
The theater’s grand opening in 1958, featuring Helen Hayes in a walk-on role, garnered national attention. The inaugural play, “Midsummer” by Vina Delmar, boasted a cast including James Mason, his wife, Pamela Killino,, and their daughter Portland. The debut season, running from July 1 to August 17, showcased eight plays, drawing packed audiences with productions ranging from dramas like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to musicals like Damn Yankees.
Pre-Broadway Tryouts and Notable Events
In 1959, the Tappan Zee Playhouse hosted pre-Broadway tryouts alongside the installation of a new air conditioning system. Significant events, such as Pete Seeger’s controversial performance in 1960 picketed by the American Legion and Jack Benny headlining a comic revue in 1965, added to the theater’s allure. Limos lined the street for the Jack Benny opener. Many spectators wore formal attire. After the show, 300 people went to a reception and buffet at the St. George Hotel.
The Show Must Go On
In a shocking development in 1965, Berth Lahr’s costar in Never Too Late, Nancy Carroll, died in Manhattan sometime before her Friday night performance. A supporting actress stepped into the lead role, and her role was read by an intern.
Interns & Children’s Theater
Interns worked at the theater collecting tickets, ushering, serving as a star’s dresser, assisting the stage manager, selling candy, working on sets, painting the seats, and anything else that needed doing.
Judith Ann Abrams’ children’s repertory theater proved to be a popular addition starting in 1965. Abrams, performing as Pixie Judy, opened the summer series with Sleeping Beauty followed by seven other musical fairy tales. Children mobbed Adams at intermission and after the show. Performances at 11a and 2p every Tuesday proved to be extremely popular.
Shifts in Management and Decline
Management changes in 1969 marked a turning point. While 1971 showed promise, subsequent years saw declining revenue attributed to economic challenges, rising production costs, and the theater’s limited capacity. Efforts to sell the playhouse in 1975 and sustain it under new ownership proved futile.
A Last Gasp
Intending to keep the house open year-round, local resident Richard Mundt, an opera singer and real estate executive, formed a non-profit to acquire the theater. The Tappan Zee Foundation of the Performing Arts was able to pull off a season of six plays including Oklahoma and Annie Get Yor Gun.
However, not enough funds were generated to provide winter heating. Nonetheless, a national touring group performed Godspell, a musical, over the Christmas holidays. Space heaters filled in for central heating. No one suspected it would be the final act in the playhouse.
Preservation Efforts
Shocked at the loss of their beloved playhouse, villagers formed the Tappan Zee Playhouse Preservation Association’s to acquire and restore the empty playhouse. Over two decades, various fundraising events including plays and concerts were held in locations as diverse as the Nyack High School and the Hi-Ho restaurant. In a way, the Playhouse continued without any actual playhouse.
The association tried a variety of fundraising strategies including getting Liza Minelli, who once appeared at the Playhouse, to host a fundraiser at Carnegie Hall. A Celebrity memorabilia auction with Michael Jackson’s autographed fedora and Madonna’s polka-dot blouse added to the coffers. An executive director with fundraising skills was hired for two years.
More than a million dollars was raised yet the renovation costs grew ever faster dashing hopes. An optimistic cost estimate in 1979 of $100,000 became $4 million by the 1980s. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and renamed the Helen Hayes Theater in 1988, the playhouse couldn’t be revived.
The Demise of the Playhouse
Finally in 1996, the association gave up and moved the playhouse to the former home of Cinema East in the Nyack Plaza. The Playhouse was a shell with no roof. A metal skeleton held up the decaying walls. Boards covered the front windows. The Village of Nyack stepped in and took over the derelict building. Some thought it would make a good parking lot. Finally, the village sold the building in 2004 for a building to contain a grocery store and affordable apartments for volunteer firemen. The remaining sections of the building were demolished in April 2004 marking the end of a cherished era in Nyack history.
The Playhouse’s Legacy
Each passing year dims the memory of the time when Nyack sparkled during the summer months. The memory of the Tappan Zee Playhouse endures as a symbol of a bygone era, where celebrities and artists illuminated Nyack’s summers. Even today, passing by the former site, one can almost sense the echoes of a captivated audience’s applause on a tranquil summer evening.
Photo Credits: Unless otherwise indicated the photos come from the permanent collection of the Historical Society of the Nyacks
Michael Hays is a 35-year resident of the Nyacks. Hays grew up the son of a professor and nurse in Champaign, Illinois. He has retired from a long career in educational publishing with Prentice-Hall and McGraw-Hill. Hays is an avid cyclist, amateur historian and photographer, gardener, and dog walker. He has enjoyed more years than he cares to count with his beautiful companion, Bernie Richey. You can follow him on Instagram as UpperNyackMike
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Sun River Health. Sun River Health is a network of 43 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) providing primary, dental, pediatric, OB-GYN, and behavioral health care to over 245,000 patients annually.
Despite preservation efforts aimed at modernizing and securing a spot for the building on the National Register of Historic Places after its closure, the fate of the playhouse took a winding, unfortunate turn. The Village of Nyack took ownership in 1998, overseeing the dilapidated structure until its demolition in 2004. Here lies the tale of Nyack’s acclaimed Tappan Zee Playhouse.
The Wigwam
The playhouse’s history traces back to the construction of the Wigwam, a meeting hall and general store by A. L. Christie in 1868 at the corner of South Broadway and Church Street. Horace Greeley once addressed a packed audience there in 1868. Tragedy struck in 1892 when a fire claimed the nearby Van Houten stables and claimed the lives of fifteen horses, damaging the Wigwam in the process.
The Broadway Theater
James Kilby acquired the Wigwam site in 1907, transforming it into the Broadway Theater in 1911. This venue initially offered silent movies and vaudeville acts. Expansion in 1920 created a larger stage and additional facilities, seating up to 1,200 people. The new theater sported a lobby, dressing rooms, a balcony, box seats with decorated bannisters, and a new open, inviting exterior with a marquee. Despite its grandeur, the theater couldn’t accommodate ‘talking pictures’, leading to the establishment of a larger theater, the Rockland Theater, in 1928.
The Tappan Zee Playhouse
In 1956, Bruce Becker and Honey Waldman refurbished the old Broadway Theater into the Tappan Zee Playhouse. Their journey as producers and theater owners involved handling unexpected challenges, from last-minute schedule changes to a dressing room fire in 1964, requiring improvised solutions like breaking through a theater wall to access rented trailers for cast dressing rooms.
Opening Night and Early Years
The theater’s grand opening in 1958, featuring Helen Hayes in a walk-on role, garnered national attention. The inaugural play, “Midsummer” by Vina Delmar, boasted a cast including James Mason, his wife, Pamela Killino,, and their daughter Portland. The debut season, running from July 1 to August 17, showcased eight plays, drawing packed audiences with productions ranging from dramas like Cat on a Hot Tin Roof to musicals like Damn Yankees.
Pre-Broadway Tryouts and Notable Events
In 1959, the Tappan Zee Playhouse hosted pre-Broadway tryouts alongside the installation of a new air conditioning system. Significant events, such as Pete Seeger’s controversial performance in 1960 picketed by the American Legion and Jack Benny headlining a comic revue in 1965, added to the theater’s allure. Limos lined the street for the Jack Benny opener. Many spectators wore formal attire. After the show, 300 people went to a reception and buffet at the St. George Hotel.
The Show Must Go On
In a shocking development in 1965, Berth Lahr’s costar in Never Too Late, Nancy Carroll, died in Manhattan sometime before her Friday night performance. A supporting actress stepped into the lead role, and her role was read by an intern.
Interns & Children’s Theater
Interns worked at the theater collecting tickets, ushering, serving as a star’s dresser, assisting the stage manager, selling candy, working on sets, painting the seats, and anything else that needed doing.
Judith Ann Abrams’ children’s repertory theater proved to be a popular addition starting in 1965. Abrams, performing as Pixie Judy, opened the summer series with Sleeping Beauty followed by seven other musical fairy tales. Children mobbed Adams at intermission and after the show. Performances at 11a and 2p every Tuesday proved to be extremely popular.
Shifts in Management and Decline
Management changes in 1969 marked a turning point. While 1971 showed promise, subsequent years saw declining revenue attributed to economic challenges, rising production costs, and the theater’s limited capacity. Efforts to sell the playhouse in 1975 and sustain it under new ownership proved futile.
A Last Gasp
Intending to keep the house open year-round, local resident Richard Mundt, an opera singer and real estate executive, formed a non-profit to acquire the theater. The Tappan Zee Foundation of the Performing Arts was able to pull off a season of six plays including Oklahoma and Annie Get Yor Gun.
However, not enough funds were generated to provide winter heating. Nonetheless, a national touring group performed Godspell, a musical, over the Christmas holidays. Space heaters filled in for central heating. No one suspected it would be the final act in the playhouse.
Preservation Efforts
Shocked at the loss of their beloved playhouse, villagers formed the Tappan Zee Playhouse Preservation Association’s to acquire and restore the empty playhouse. Over two decades, various fundraising events including plays and concerts were held in locations as diverse as the Nyack High School and the Hi-Ho restaurant. In a way, the Playhouse continued without any actual playhouse.
The association tried a variety of fundraising strategies including getting Liza Minelli, who once appeared at the Playhouse, to host a fundraiser at Carnegie Hall. A Celebrity memorabilia auction with Michael Jackson’s autographed fedora and Madonna’s polka-dot blouse added to the coffers. An executive director with fundraising skills was hired for two years.
More than a million dollars was raised yet the renovation costs grew ever faster dashing hopes. An optimistic cost estimate in 1979 of $100,000 became $4 million by the 1980s. Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and renamed the Helen Hayes Theater in 1988, the playhouse couldn’t be revived.
The Demise of the Playhouse
Finally in 1996, the association gave up and moved the playhouse to the former home of Cinema East in the Nyack Plaza. The Playhouse was a shell with no roof. A metal skeleton held up the decaying walls. Boards covered the front windows. The Village of Nyack stepped in and took over the derelict building. Some thought it would make a good parking lot. Finally, the village sold the building in 2004 for a building to contain a grocery store and affordable apartments for volunteer firemen. The remaining sections of the building were demolished in April 2004 marking the end of a cherished era in Nyack history.
The Playhouse’s Legacy
Each passing year dims the memory of the time when Nyack sparkled during the summer months. The memory of the Tappan Zee Playhouse endures as a symbol of a bygone era, where celebrities and artists illuminated Nyack’s summers. Even today, passing by the former site, one can almost sense the echoes of a captivated audience’s applause on a tranquil summer evening.
Photo Credits: Unless otherwise indicated the photos come from the permanent collection of the Historical Society of the Nyacks
Michael Hays is a 35-year resident of the Nyacks. Hays grew up the son of a professor and nurse in Champaign, Illinois. He has retired from a long career in educational publishing with Prentice-Hall and McGraw-Hill. Hays is an avid cyclist, amateur historian and photographer, gardener, and dog walker. He has enjoyed more years than he cares to count with his beautiful companion, Bernie Richey. You can follow him on Instagram as UpperNyackMike
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by Sun River Health. Sun River Health is a network of 43 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) providing primary, dental, pediatric, OB-GYN, and behavioral health care to over 245,000 patients annually.
