the Cohoes Music Hall
58 Remsen Street
Cohoes, NY 12047

(Map)

The Cohoes Music Hall opened in 1874.  The building was designed by the architectural firm of Nichols and Halcott of Albany.  James Maston, a newspaper publisher, and his partner, William Acheson, a textile manufacturer, had the theater built at a cost of $60,000.

On the first floor was a post office and three large stores. The second floor held eight offices, a storage room and the ticket office.  And on the third floor, the theater!  The first show, London Assurance, was by an Irish-American playwright who was poking fun at London Society.

One of the greatest stars of Vaudeville, the highest paid, and the best known in her day was Eva Tanguay .  Eva was raised in Cohoes and got her start in show business as a teenager performing at the Cohoes Music Hall.  Rumor has it she was booed her first time on the stage.  The hook came out and took her to the wings!

During its limited years of operation, some of the greats played at the Cohoes Music Hall: Buffalo Bill Cody, George M. Cohan, Lillian Russell, John Phillip Sousa, Jimmy Durante and Sarah Bernhardt, to name a few.

By1878, James Maston had sold his $30,000 interest in the Music Hall to Mary Acheson for $.25.  He claimed there was too many concerts and playhouses in the area for the theater to turn a profit.

In 1905, the National Bank of Cohoes owned the building and ran a bank on the first floor.  A sagging roof truss gave them the excuse to close the Music Hall.   The last production was a piece of exotica called Egypta.  The theater remained sealed off from the public until the City of Cohoes purchased the building in 1969 for $1.00.  After a full renovation, the

The 125th anniversary of the theater and the 25th year after the restoration will occur on November 23,  1999. 

Today, the theater lives on, restored to it nineteenth century magnificence.

Residents of the Music Hall