Artef Theatre
110 W. 41st St., New York, NY
Seats (approximate)
687
Built
1909
Demolished
1942
ABOUT THIS THEATRE
Mercury Theatre
Comedy Theatre
Collier's Comedy Theatre
Description
D. G. Malcolm, architect. The Shuberts built it for small-scale productions. They often rented it to other producers, including Cecil B. DeMille, comedian William Collier, and the Washington Square Players (later the Theatre Guild). The stock market crash rendered the theatre dark from 1931 to 1935. Attracted by its intimacy, Orson Welles and John Houseman re-opened it in 1937 as the Mercury, home to their Mercury Players. A brief stint as a Yiddish theatre (the Artef) preceded its 1942 demolition.