The National Theatre Building - History

The National Theatre as it appeared in the 1800's is seen to the right of the Imperial Hotel in this photo. The Miller Billiard Parlor was at this time located on the second floor of the National Theatre building, where the Helen Hayes Gallery exists now.   Actor and assassin John Wilkes Booth was reputed to frequent this pool hall.

The Imperial Hotel site was later home to the Washington Post Building, and subsequently the Muncey Building.  The Muncey housed offices of the Embassy of Finland from 1921 to 1923, and many other offices over the years. On the site now is the J.W. Marriott Hotel, flagship of the Washington-based Marriott hotel chain.

The original rock foundations of the National Theatre building date back to 1835, and can be viewed in the area under the stage. The original exposed brick walls of the stage house are still visible.  High up In the rear stage wall is a doorway -- now blocked up -- the size of a freight train door.  In the years when shows toured by railroad, this door opened onto an alley where horse drawn vans would deposit scenery and trunks full of costumes and props.  These were then handed down some 15 feet to the stage floor.  This doorway was in use from 1835 until 1983.

The auditorium and front of the building were rebuilt in whole or in part four or five times. Two fires in the 1800s (with no fatalities) have been reported, and on one occasion a hasty rebuilding was cited as the cause of a subsequent collapse of one wall.

THE KNICKERBOCKER TRAGEDY

On Columbia Road in Washington, the Knickerbocker Theater was hastily built in 1915 during the early enthusiasm for "moving pictures."  A snowstorm on January 28, 1922 piled 28 inches of snow onto the theatre's wood-beam roof.  During a silent-film intermission, with an orchestra still playing in the pit, the auditorium roof collapsed, killing 98 people and injuring 136 more, in what was Washington's all-time worst theatrical disaster. 

Soon after, the District Government passed a new building code requiring that all theatre ceilings be supported by steel I-beams.  This prompted a major rebuilding of the National Theatre from the walls inward. While the original stage house remains unchanged from 1835, the portion of the building from the proscenium to the street was re-built in the configuration seen today.  An adjacent old dressing room building was untouched. Columns supporting the "first" and "second" balconies were removed, and concrete stairways replaced wooden staircases.   The current extremely plain exterior facade may have been created somewhat later.

THE RENOVATION OF 1984

The current interior of the National is generally colonial in style.  A major interior renovation of the building was completed in 1984 under the auspices of Quadrangle Associates and the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation. The old original 1835 brick dressing room building was razed and replaced with a new four-story structure housing large modern dressing facilities with lavatories and showers between each pair of rooms.  A backstage freight elevator was installed.

The National Theatre building sits atop Tiber Creek, which at one time ran through an open channel under the stage.  Later, the creek was redirected through a culvert system.  In the early 1980's the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation was created to update Pennsylvania Avenue.  It's first project involved the 1300 block.  All buildings except the National Press Club and the National were demolished, and these two buildings were earmarked for renovation.  With its adjacent buildings removed, and  the Tiber Creed still flowing beneath it -- albeit through an enclosed channel, the National Theatre building became somewhat unstable.  Engineers inserted steel caissons down through many feet of moist gray clay to stabilize the building.

In the public areas at the front of the theatre, restrooms were enlarged on the second floor and added at the Mezzanine and Balcony levels. The street level outer lobby was tripled in size, as was the second floor lobby, which was renamed the Helen Hayes Gallery. A new lobby and bar were added at the Balcony Level with space reclaimed from what was a floor of the National Theatre office building.  An elevator was added for access to the upper floors.

The auditorium was repainted, seats recovered, and new carpets and chandeliers added.  Oliver Smith, who created the settings for such shows as West Side Story and My Fair Lady, was asked to design the interior.  This was his first redecoration of a theatre, and he chose variations of two of his favorite colors: peach and peacock blue.  These colors were used, Smith noted, by the Adams brothers, famed home interior designers in London in the 1800's.  The Adams's thought that bright colors counteracted the effect of gray and sometimes foggy English weather.

President and Mrs. Ronald Reagan attended a gala performance of 42nd STREET  to celebrate the reopening of their "neighborhood theatre," as the President referred to the National.

   
circa 1850                          circa 1890                                                                     

   
circa 1984                        circa 1984                                                                                  

The theatre now comprises four floors and a basement.   The outer and inner lobbies, box office and Orchestra seating are accessed at street level.  The Helen Hayes Gallery is on the second level.  The National Theatre Management offices and the mezzanine are on the third level. The Balcony, Balcony Bar and National Theatre Corporation offices are on the fourth level.

The Wardrobe Room, Head Carpenter's Office, Head Electrician's Office, Orchestra pit access, electrical vault and storage areas are on the basement level.  Leased offices unrelated to the theatre occupy the top three floors of the building are accessed through the separate National Theatre Office Building lobby and elevator to the west of the theatre entrance.  Between 1984 and 2007, further interior modifications were made in the building to improve access and facilities for the disabled.

The building's historical importance derives less from its architecture than its use: Every man who has been president of the United States since the building opened in 1835 has attended performances here. President Lincoln reportedly attended most often. Mrs. Roosevelt, in quieter times, came with her purse to the box office to buy tickets. The box on the left side of the auditorium was enlarged at the time of John F. Kennedy's Inaugural, to accommodate anticipated visits by the president's large family.