LEW FIELDS’ 44TH STREET ROOF GARDEN . 216–230 W. 44th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue. Architect: William Albert Swansey. Opening: June 5, 1913; All Aboard.
Fields’ theater was one of many rooftop theaters built in the days before air-conditioning and stringent fire codes. The auditorium had an erratic career as a number of different ventures. Soon after its premiere, it was reopened as the Folies Marigny in January 1914. A little more than a year later, it was rechristened...