Now that life has changed and the girls are doing online school, I added an architectural class to their weekly work load. This past week, I asked each to write a report on a work of architecture that they each appreciate. Here is the report from Sophie Hendricks.
The task for this week was to pick an architect with work built in the U.S. I picked Herbert J. Krapp. He lived from 1887 to 1973. He lived for 86 years! One of his buildings is the Richard Rodgers Theatre. I picked this one in particular because it is the theatre that Hamilton plays in.
That theatre was built in 1924. The architect, Herbert J. Krapp, worked alongside Irwin Chanin. The theatre was built for Irwin Chanin. They decided to make the large theatre sloped so that everyone would be able to see the stage. They also wanted everyone to seem like equals, as Irwin Chanin, so whether you have a cheaper seat or a very expensive one, everyone comes in through the same doors. Even the people sitting in the balconies enter through the same doors. The message Irwin was trying to portray is equality. He thinks that everyone is equal. The Richard Rodgers Theatre has a white brick wall with triple-arched loggia and Corinthian columns. Irwin Chanin, and his brother Henry, built six broadway theatres in their lives. The Richard Rodgers Theatre was their first. They would have built more, but they lost control during the great depression. Three of their theatres, the Majestic Theatre, Royal Theatre, and Theatre Masque were taken over by the Shuberts. Later, in 1931, the Shuberts also took possession of The Richard Rodgers Theatre. In 1945, they sold it to City Playhouses, which is an investment group. In 1982, the Nederlander bought the theatre and renamed it to the Richard Rodgers Theater after the composer, Richard Rodgers. Before Richard Rodgers, it had been called the 46th Street Theatre.
