Princess Theatre - 1930s To 1950s

1930s To 1950s

However, in 1937, legitimate theater returned to the theater, now called the Labor Stage, with a surprise hit. The revue Pins and Needles became the longest-running Broadway show of the day, running for 1,108 performances. When the show moved to the Windsor Theatre, the ILGWU reclaimed the Labor Stage briefly as its recreation hall.

On October 5, 1947, Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow met in a rehearsal space at the Labor Stage to form what would become the Actors Studio. The same year, movies returned to the theater, now renamed the Cinema Dante, screening foreign features. A year later, it got another name change, The Little Met, and in 1952, yet one final name, the Cine Verdi. By the mid-50s, the old Princess was on the outskirts of the theater district, which had migrated north, and in 1955, the little theater was torn down, replaced by an office building.