It was built in 1882 more than 15 blocks north of where the theatre district was then centered, 23rd Street. The Casino Theatre, designed in Moorish Revival style by architects Francis Hatch Kimball and Thomas Wisedell, was the first theatre in New York to be lit entirely by electricity. History Souvenir illustration from the theatre's production The Yeomen of the Guard, 1888 It closed in 1930 and was demolished the same year. It hosted a number of long-running comic operas, operettas and musical comedies, including Erminie, Florodora, The Vagabond King and The Desert Song. It originally seated approximately 875 people, however the theatre was enlarged in 1894 and again in 1905, after a fire, when its capacity was enlarged to 1,300 seats.

The theatre was the first in New York to be lit entirely by electricity, popularized the chorus line and later introduced white audiences to African-American shows. Built in 1882, it was a leading presenter of mostly musicals and operettas until it closed in 1930. The Casino Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 1404 Broadway and West 39th Street in New York City. Francis Hatch Kimball and Thomas Wisedell