- Herbert J. Krapp
Herbert J. Krapp (1887,
New York City , - 1973) was a theatrearchitect anddesigner in the early part of the twentieth century.Krapp was an apprentice with the
Herts & Tallant firm, where he was involved with designing the plans for the Lyceum, Shubert, Booth, New Amsterdam andLongacre Theatre s, among others. Between 1912 and 1916 Krapp began working directly with theShubert brothers ; eventually he would become their primary architect. He also designed theatres for theChanin brothers . Krapp was well-known for his ability to use his building space to its fullest potential. For theMajestic Theatre , Krapp incorporated stadium seating into the plans for the orchestra level, creating better sightlines and allowing for the creation of larger lounge and lobby areas. He designed the Ambassador Theatre on a completely diagonal plan to fit it into a small space. Krapp was responsible for completely renovating theWinter Garden Theatre and theHelen Hayes Theatre in the 1920s. He also designed theHotel Edison , theLincoln Hotel (now the Milford Plaza), and numerous other buildings.Although the stock market crash of 1929 brought an end to the theatre building boom, Krapp remained with the Shuberts until 1963, supervising the maitenance and renovations of the existing venues. He also experimented with inventing; one of the tools he created was patented and used by the
U.S. Air Force . He died inFlorida in 1973.Current Broadway theatres designed by Krapp
*Ambassador Theatre
*Brooks Atkinson Theatre
*Ethel Barrymore Theatre
*Biltmore Theatre
*Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
*Broadhurst Theatre
*John Golden Theatre
*Helen Hayes Theatre (redesign)
*Imperial Theatre
*Majestic Theatre
*Eugene O'Neill Theatre
*Richard Rodgers Theatre
*Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
*Neil Simon Theatre
*Winter Garden Theatre (redesign)Other notable buildings by Krapp
*
Ed Sullivan Theater (originallyHammerstein's Theatre ; New York)
*Forrest Theatre (Philadelphia )
*Hotel Edison (New York)
*Lincoln Hotel (New York)
*Morosco Theatre (New York; demolished 1982)
*The Sardi's Building (New York)External links and resources
* [http://www.forrest-theatre.com/history.htm Short history]
* [http://cinematreasures.org/architect/166/ Partial listing of theatre credits at Cinema Treasures]
*"Broadway Theatres: History and Architecture," William Morrison, 1999, Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-40244-4
*"Lost Broadway Theatres," Nicholas Van Hoogstraten, Princeton Architectural Press, 1997, ISBN 1-56898-116-3
*"The Shuberts Present: 100 Years of American Theater", Maryann Chach, Reagan Fletcher, Mark Evan Swartz, Sylvia Wang, Harry N. Abrams, 2001, ISBN 0-8109-0614-7
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