Lights Fade To Black On Manhattan's Iconic Ziegfeld Theatre

Last night's 10pm screening of STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, provided the swan song for New York's iconic Ziegfeld Theatre, Manhattan's last-remaining single-screen movie house.

As previously reported on BroadwayWorld, the building's owner, Fisher Brothers real estate company had notified the cinema's leaseholder, Cablevision that its lease won't be renewed.

The W. 54th Street venue will now go through a two-year renovation that will convert the 1,300 seat space into the Ziegfeld Ballroom, a mecca for society galas and corporate events. The new 10,000 square-foot column-free ballroom will be run by most of the partners who operate Gotham Hall, the event venue inside a landmarked former bank at Broadway and West 36th Street.

Not to be confused with the legit Broadway house of the same name, which closed in 1966, the Ziegfeld, opened in 1969 and has been a favorite among New York cinema fans for viewing first-run films, but in recent year has lost over $1 million annually.