The
Bowery Theatre was a playhouse on the
Bowery in the
Lower East Side of
Manhattan,
New York City. Although it was founded by rich families to compete with the upscale
Park Theatre, the Bowery saw its most successful period under the
populist, pro-American management of
Thomas Hamblin in the 1830s and 1840s. By the 1850s, the theatre came to cater to immigrant groups such as the
Irish,
Germans, and
Chinese. It burned down four times in 17 years, a fire in 1929 destroying it for good. Although the theatre's name changed several times (Thalia Theatre, Fay's Bowery Theatre, etc.), it was generally referred to as the "Bowery Theatre".