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 13-story Munsey Trust Building,
built in 1905. The Munsey 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, along with some evidence of re-building over the years.
Exposed brick walls of the stage house, possibly dating back
to the 1800's, 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 (and perhaps
by carriage) , this door opened onto an alley where horse-drawn
vans would deposit trunks full of costumes and props, and later
platforms, scenery and lighting equipment. These were then
handed down some 15 feet to the stage floor. This doorway
was undoubtedly used from the 1800's until 1983.
Two very tall arches in the upstage area of the east
wall of the stage-house have been bricked up but are still visible.
A reasonable conjecture is that these at one time opened into a
scenery storage area, and accommodated a stock of all flats which
theatres in the 1800's held ready for use by their touring companies.
One can imagine that a theatre like the National could offer to
a troupe coming by carriage or train an elegantly paneled drawing-room
setting, a forest glen with cut-canvas borders and elaborately painted
wings and backdrop, perhaps a rocky wall to represent a castle or
a prison, and the exterior of a humble cottage, As travel
and the transport of scenery became easier, troupes began to bring
their own drops and backgrounds.
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.
1922 - 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.
1922 - REBUILDING
The Knickerbocker tragedy and the laws whish followed prompted
a major rebuilding of the National Theatre from the walls inward,
accomplished within months of the Columbia Road tragedy. 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. . Columns supporting the "first"
and "second" balconies were removed, and concrete stairways
replaced wooden staircases.
THE NATIONAL THEATRE - circa 1922. The engraving below is from
an advertisement for limestone exteriors, in The Architectural
Record, August 1924, page 14.
Notes from the program of November 27, 1922, describe the uncompleted
amenities of the reopened National:
“The national Theatre does not propose to set forth in detail
the unavoidable delays which have made necessary the opening of
its rebuilt playhouse minus its interior decorations, its new curtain
its mezzanine lounge and the many other refinements and niceties
which will go to make up the completed home Of the leading dramatic
and musical attractions offered in the National Capital city.
“No attempt will be made during the current theatrical season
to interrupt engagements in order to carry on the work of decorating:
this must wait until the spring and summer of 1923.
“In the meantime, the management extends to its patrons a
cordial welcome to a theatre which has been reconstructed throughout.
The changes which will impress the patron at once are such features
as the street-level entrance; a lowered stage; a wider proscenium
opening; larger seating capacity ell the auditorium floor; and an
ingenious arrangement of the orchestra pit which will enable the
management to expand the orchestra for musical attractions without
“overflowing” so to speak, into the auditorium itself.
“One of the noteworthy improvements to be found in the new
theatre, which will have indirect effect upon the audience is the
provision made for dressing rooms located in a separate building.
Twenty-three spacious, admirably ventilated rooms with every modern
convenience will provide players with every comfort. Impatience
will provide players with every comfort and facility. Including
the large rooms for chorus and ballet, 150 entertainers may be accommodated.
“The Installation of a built-in booth, high in the front
wall of the auditorium, for the accommodation of motion picture
machines and for spot and calcium lights will prove a material advantage
to the patrons of the balcony.
“The exits are numerous and will enable the audience to depart
from the theatre with far greater celerity than previously, while
the sound-absorbing Kompolite floor will minimize the noise
made by late arrivals. The walls, finished in Ashlar, will provide
a charming interior whey the decorations are completed.
“When the new National stands completed in the months to
come, in addition to the theatre proper, there will be a model office
building of eight stories which will change materially the appearance
of the front elevation.
“We extend to our patrons a very cordial reception to the
new theatre which their distinguished presence will serve to make
a truly National institution of entertainment. and artistic achievement.
The auditorium of the National Theatre today (2009) is relatively
plain when compared with the interior of other theatres decorated
in the 1920's. Three possibilities for this can be conjectured,
based on the notes and photos above, the decorations may have been
mostly draperies and painted canvas applied to the plaster and long
ago removed; or the management may not have had on hand originally
the money needed to complete the “decorations”; or perhaps
they simply decided at “the end of the current theatrical
season” that no further decor was needed.
The ornate cornice shown in the engraving was never added to
the building, nor were the columns and arches over the second-floor
windows, nor the row of ornamentation at that level, nor the faux-balconies
shown above the two large arches at ground level. In fact,
an advertisement in a later program, placed by the supplier of the
limestone for the exterior, lauds the simplicity of the facade as
an example of a "modern building."
1962 - REDECORATION
In 1962, the auditorium was given a yellow-and-white color scheme.
In anticipation of the Kennedy presidency, the theatre was
redone The house-left Box was enlarged, reportedly on
the assumption that the new president would need a more advantageous
viewing point. It was probably at this time that a large white
plaster eagle, and an array of white stars, were placed over the
proscenium arch.
1975 - REDEORATION
Shortly after the National became a not-for-profit institution,
another renovation took place. Fabric was removed from the
walls, which were repainted. Red carpeting, a gift from The
Kennedy Center, was installed throughout the building.
1984 - RENOVATION
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 brick dressing room building,
dating back to the renovation of 1922, was razed and replaced in
1984 by a four-story cinder-block 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 the National Theatre building
-- albeit through an enclosed channel, the edifice 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.
Oliver Smith, who created the settings for such shows as West
Side Story and My Fair Lady, designed 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.
The auditorium was repainted blue. Seats recovered in peach
velvet, and carpets were replaced with a blue diamond pattern.
Brass candelabra light fixtures were replaced with crystal chandeliers.
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 basements
under the lobby, stage and dressing room wing. 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. |
