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Discovering the Hudson:New York's Landmark Theatre From Broadway's Beginnings to Live Television, Jack Paar and Elvisby Ward Morehouse III The cover of Ward Morehouse III's "Discovering the Hudson"  The Banquet of the Hudson Theater, where actors such as Ethyl Barrymore and Laurence Olivier once graced the stage  Ward Morehouse III is a celebrated theater personality, author, and contributor to TimesSquare.com The Hudson Theatre, which opened in 1903, is much more than a beautiful facade or a landmark Broadway playhouse with Tiffany glass mosaics and Roman friezes—complete with verde-antique in Greco-Roman marble—recently and painstakingly restored by Millennium Hotels. With as much drama going on off-stage as beneath its historic proscenium arch, The Hudson has been the theater home for such titanic 20th century actors as George M. Cohan, Ethyl Barrymore, Laurence Olivier, Alfred Lunt, and Jason Robards Jr. As if that weren't enough of a resume, the storied Broadway palace has also played the big time as the studio where Jack Paar and Steve Allen did their nationally broadcasted TV shows. Elvis, Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr. and many others not instantly associated with Broadway have been celebrated Hudson guests too. Ward Morehouse III, whose family has been identified with theater for generations, uses the Hudson as a launching pad to write about the golden age of Broadway, live TV and beyond into the new, international age of corporate-theatre synergy. Among the many anecdotes in Mr. Morehouse's book about The Hudson—which just may be the most colorful theater in Broadway history: Louis Armstrong: The Hudson's groundbreaking 1929 revue "Hot Chocolates," the first of many black Broadway musicals, was an important stepping stone for songwriters Fats Waller and Andy Razaf and entertainers Louis Armstrong and Cab Calloway. But Armstrong, who would go on to become one of the biggest stars of the 20th Century, didn't receive star billing. Dutch Schultz: Gangster Dutch Schultz, the "beer baron of the Bronx," who became one of the backers of "Hot Chocolates, ordered songwriter Andy Razaf to write a funny number for the show telling him if it wasn't funny enough he'd have a bullet through his head. When Schultz stopped laughing at the song Razaf thought he was done for but Schultz was pleased.. George M. Cohan: The great American songwriter, actor and producer was so fond of the theater he either produced or starred in (or both) 10 shows there during the roaring '20's. Yet a number of these were throwbacks to an earlier, gentler Broadway era when Cohan was a young actor with "The Four Cohans." Times Square: The Hudson almost miraculously escaped the wrecking ball more than a dozen times, avoiding the fate of its first owner, legendary producer Henry B. Harris, who died on the Titanic. Producer Robert Breen, who along with his family lived in the apartment above the Hudson for more than half a century, helped save it several times. Tiffany Glass: The discovery, through the meticulous and costly renovation of the theater of ornate and priceless Tiffany glass titles which had been cemented over during the Hudson's conversion to a TV studio, has been hailed by some experts as the Broadway counterpart of finding a treasure-filled Egyptian tomb. Elvis Presley: Elvis, appeared on "The Steve Allen Show," which along with "Jack Paar's Tonight Show," was done at the Hudson when it became a TV studio in the 1950's, was upset when Allen asked him to sing "You Ain't Nothing but a Hound Dog" to a basset hound dog. - - -What the critics are saying: "No one is more qualified to write a history of Broadway's landmark Hudson Theatre than Ward Morehouse III, a member of a family identified with the New York theater for generations and a theater columnist and historian in his own right. The story of how the Hudson has survived for more than a century of ups and downs as home to great plays and players, to big bands and radio dramas, rock and cabaret stars, is fascinatingly told and a very good read indeed. It burnishes Morehouse's reputation as a researcher and witty, anecdotal writer earned by several books on New York's grand hotels." —Frederick M. Winship, United Press International cultural critic-at-large "Ward Morehouse III, like his well-known father before him, is a natural storyteller, with countless stories to tell. His good-natured affection for New York--its characters, its cultures, its history-makers and its history--shines through his prose. He knows this city well,. and likes to share what he knows. For a couple of decades I've enjoyed his newspaper writings. And a new book from him is always welcome!" —Chip Defaa, author of "Blue Rhythms" and "Voices of the Jazz Age" |
