126 Second Avenue Building Date : 1837-39 Original Use : Theater Original Owner : Gerard Stuyvesant Original Architect : Unknown Description & Building Alterations A three-story with basement and attic house was originally built on site in 1837-39 and its street number through part of the 19th cenutyr was No. 124. It was raised to four stories between 1895 and 1899. The building was altered into two stories in either 1914 or 1916. The present Georgian Palladian facade features denticulated cornice with brick parapet above and curvilinear pediment at center, triple-arched windows on the second floor, enframed by moldings with scroll keystones, and divided by columns standing on pedestals. Other characters include decorative frieze, beltcourses, projecting brick piers flanking the facade, and figural carving above the corners of the first story. The building was altered into a first floor restaurant and upper floor apartments in 1892, and served as a meeting space for the New-York Chess Club, the Liberty Cycle Club, and the Austro-Hungarian Republic League. The building held the Moving Picture Theatre by 1913, before and after being converted into two stories. It became the Orpheum from 1929 until 1958, after which it housed an off-Broadway theater. Eileen Brennan, Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach, Marian Seldes, Robert Livingston, Gary William Friedman, Will Holt, Eric Bogosian, Danny Apolinar, Hal Hester, Donald Driver, Kevin Wade, Alan Menken, Howard Ashman, all won awards at the Orpheum. The building continues to serve as a theater today.

Orpheum Theater, 126 Second Avenue, ca. 1979. In 1868, Elizabeth Blackwell established at 126 Second Avenue the Women's Medical College of the New York Infirmary, at the time, the only institution that would train women to be doctors in New York City. The year after the College's establishment, Blackwell left for England, leaving the College under her younger sister Emily's directorship. It remained open until 1899. After the college closed, the site became the alleged destination of a concert-garden and, in 1904, a theatre. 126 Second Avenue remains one of the oldest continuously operating places of entertainment in Manhattan. Originally called the Players Theatre, it was part of what was then a vibrant Yiddish theatre scene on Second Avenue, also known as the "Jewish Rialto." During the heyday of Yiddish productions, theaters along Second Avenue hosted as many as 20 to 30 shows a night. In 1958, the theatre became the official home for Off-Broadway productions. It has been the home of the production, Stomp, with over 5,000 performances since its opening night in 1994.