Gramercy Theatre is located on the corner of East 23rd street and Lexington Avenue right at the M23 stop. But, what changes has the theatre gone through since its creation by architect Charles A. Sandblom in 1937 (cinematreasures). I’m going to compare Gramercy Theatre, from the way I see today to the way it has been seen in the past.
Well the first thing I noticed as I look up at the sign for Gramercy Theatre is the name. Surely I thought the name hasn’t transformed much over time. But, I was wrong. It actually started out as The Gramercy Park Theatre (cinematreasures). So I wondered why change 
the name? What’s the difference? Well, turns out that there was another theatre that was actually called the Gramercy Theatre and they couldn’t have the same name so they added the word park. But, the original Gramercy Theatre closed down in 1947 because it couldn’t compete with television and Gramercy Park Theatre became the new Gramercy Theatre. (cinematreasures)
But, this wasn’t the only name change that Gramercy Theatre undertook, in 2007 Live Nation bought the theatre and renamed it. (last.fm) It was renamed Blender Theatre at Gramercy for Blender magazine and copies of some issues can be found framed inside the building (stubhub). However, by 2009 it had been renamed to ‘The Gramercy Theatre’, which is its standing name. (cinematreasures)
Secondly I realized the names of the bands performing written on the side and they for sure weren’t there when the theatre opened up in the Depression. So, turns out that originally Gramercy Theatre was a movie theatre. A movie theatre in the middle of the Depression just doesn’t seem like a smart business transaction, if the country is barely able to make ends meat there last trouble should be entertainment. Well that’s not the way president Franklin Roosevelt saw it. He said, “During the Depression, when the spirit of the people is lower than at any other time, it is a splendid thing that for just 15 cents an American can go to a movie and look at the smiling face of a baby and forget his troubles.” He was clearly correct because during the Great Depression, Hollywood was one of the only industries that were not suffering. (virginia.edu)
Throughout Gramercy Theatre’s existence, it went through various changes, but it pretty much always served it’s primary service of being a place for the arts. However, it started failing as a theatre when a nine-screened theatre opened up in Chelsea and most of the people started heading over there. Because of this it closed down, but had brief moments where it came back and shut down again, with it’s final shut down being in 2004. However, then Live Nation bought it in 2006 it became a concert hall, mainly for upcoming rock and indie bands. (Thegramercytheatre)
So, Gramercy Theatre has seen a lot of changes from its creation in 1937. It has changed so much that if you would take someone from the 1930’s who has been to Gramercy Theatre and put him there today, lets just say he might have a heart attack when he hears the blasting Rock music instead of a pleasant movie.
Works Cited
Cinema Treasures. “Gramercy Theater.” Gramercy Theatre. Cinema Treasures. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. <http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/6113>.
Cinema Treasures. “Gramercy Theater.” Gramercy Theatre. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. <http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/21781>.
“Hollywood in the Depression.” Hollywood in the Depression. Virginia.edu. Web. 5 May 2012. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug02/film/hollywooddepression.html>.
Last.fm. “Blender Theater at GramercyNew York, NY, New York, United States.” Last.fm. Last.fm. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. <http://www.last.fm/venue/8855557 Blender Theater at Gramercy>.
Stubhub. “Blender Theater at Gramercy.” Blender Theater At Gramercy New York Metro New York. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. <http://venues.stubhub.com/venues/new-york/new-york-metro/blender-theater-at-gramercy/>.
Stubhub. “Gramercy Theatre.” Gramercy Theatre. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. <http://www.stubhub.com/venue/gramercy-theatre/>.
TheGramercyTheatre. “The Gramercy Theatre Venue Information | Seating Chart.” Gramercy Theatre. Live Nation. Web. 16 Mar. 2012. <http://thegramercytheatre.com/venue-information>.
This post uses photos and graphics more effectively than any of the others have up to this point. That’s really nice to see!
I think the post would be more effective, however, if you focused more on the forest and less on the trees. In other words, the name changes don’t tell us all that much that’s important. The post would be more useful and interesting if you talked about why the original owners were able to build a theater in the midst of the Depression and why its function has changed today. Since you probably won’t be able to get the original owners’ balance sheets, this kind of exploration will rely on a broader discussion of mass entertainment in the 1930s and how it has changed today. For example, movies were cheap and thus incredibly popular in the Depression–they were one of the few bright spots in the economy. Over time, changes in the neighborhood, the movie theater business (new kinds of distribution networks, the need to adopt expensive technologies, competition from television) made theaters less profitable. This may explain why the theater’s function changed.
I’d also like to see you work on the prose of the post. You tend to jump from past to present tense, which can be a little confusing. Also, there’s no need to ask a question that you’re going to answer, or say that you’re going to do a comparison between past and present. It’s simply more effective to just do the comparison in an effective manner without announcing it.
Hi David! Your post is very simple yet informative. I suggested this to Josh as well, but maybe you could strengthen your post by including how the Recession affected the economics of Gramercy Theatre.