Ritz Theater Makes Broadway Return

The Ritz Theater, which began life as a legitimate playhouse 50 years ago and since then has worked as radio and television studio and, most recently, as house for pornographic films, was welcomed back to Broadway yesterday.

Dedication ceremonies celebrating its imminent reopening as a legitimate theater were held at 219 West 48th Street.

The return of the Ritz to footlight status increases the number of working Broadway houses to 35.

Leased for 15 Years

On hand to welcome the theater back to the fold were Broadway producers, performers and theater owners. There were brief speeches of greetings and good wishes by Brooks Atkinson, former drama critic of The New York Times; Gwen Verdon, the actress; Gloria Swanson, film and stage star; John F. Wharton, theatrical lawyer; Jo Mielziner, scenic designer, and Arthur Whitelaw, producer.

Declaring that he had almost forgotten the Ritz's location, Mr. Atkinson recalled that “some good plays” and a good number of “top performers” had passed through its portals. “It has been rescued from the lower classes and now I hope that it will resume legitimacy.”

Mr. Whitelaw disclosed that he and his partners, Seth Harrison, Ben Gerard and Joseph Hardy, had refurbished the theater at cost of $225,000. They have leased the playhouse for 15 years.

The theater will reopen officially on March 7 with the production of “Children! Children!” by Jack Harrigan, starring Miss Verdon.

Mr. Whitelaw said that the extensive and expensive refurbishing of the theater was “in line with the program of Mayor Lindsay and Police Commissioner Murphy to improve the Times Square area.”

Began in March, 1921

Bruno Bernabo, managing director of Mama Leone's, a neighbor of the Ritz, said that Leone's also will take part in the improvement of West 48th Street by pushing for the planting of trees, better street lighting and cleaner sidewalks and streets.

The glossy years of the Ritz began on March 21, 1921, when it was built for the Shubert enterprises. The architect was Herbert Krapp. The house boasted intricate plaster moldings and panel strips embroidered with goldleaf; lush carpeting covered its floors, stairs and inner lobby. Its first attraction was “Mary Stuart,” by John Drinkwater, the British playwright.

But the longest‐running hit (302 performances) was its second tenant — “The Bad Man,” with Holbrook Blinn, which opened April 25, 1921. Within the next decade such stars and would‐be stars as Ina Claire, Roland Young, Estelle Winwood, Mary Boland, Edward G. Robinson, William Boyd, Katharine Cornell, Francis Fay, Henry Hull, the Lunts (separately), Leslie Howard, Lew Fields„ Jimmy Savo, Frederic March, Charlotte Greenwood, George Arliss, Claudette Colbert, Ruth Chattartan, Helen Hayes, Florence Eldridge, Ruby Keeler, Sam Levine, Pat O'Brien, Miriam Hopkins and Leo Carroll appeared on its

In 1939, the Ritz became a Columbia Broadcasting System rape studio. Two years later, it was taken over by the National Broadcasting Company as a radio station. In 1943, it returned to the legitimate fold with “Tobacco Road,” starring John Barton.

From 1945 to 1964, it alternated as a radio and television studio, and was vacant from 1965 to 1969. Eddie Bracken leased it briefly in 1970 as a showcase for plays, but the deal was short‐lived. Since than it had deteriorated into a pornographic film and vaudeville house with a backstage massage parlor.

Pored Over Records

Early this year, Messrs. Whitelaw, Hardy, Harrison and Gerard took it over and had new red carpeting, new chairs and new lights installed.

The team of four also pored over old records at the Theater Collection of the Museum of the City of New York searching for old programs, pictures, records and memorabilia that will be mounted on the theater walls and displayed in the playhouse.

“Our purpose,” Mr. Whitelaw declared, “is to perpetuate Broadway through the restoration of the Ritz to its earlier stature and dignity.”