The Belasco Theatre is a
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
theater at 111 West 44th Street, between
Seventh Avenue and
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
, in the
Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres.
Places
*Theater District, Manhattan, New York City
*Boston Theater District
*Buffalo Theater District
*Cleveland Theater ...
of
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was built in 1907 and designed by architect
George Keister
George W. Keister (January 10, 1859 - December 27, 1945)"Keister, George," ''Leslie's History of the Greater New York'', vol. 3 (New York: Arkell Publishing Company, 1898): 640. was an American architect. His work includes the Hotel Gerard (189 ...
for impresario
David Belasco
David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...
. The Belasco Theatre has 1,016 seats across three levels and has been operated by
The Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters ...
since 1948. Both the
facade and interior of the theater are
New York City landmarks
These are lists of New York City landmarks designated by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission:
* New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan:
** List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan below 14th Street
** List o ...
.
The main facade on 44th Street is made of red brick in
Flemish bond
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall.
Bricks ...
, with terracotta decorative elements. The ground floor contains the entrance, while the upper stories are asymmetrical and topped by a
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
. Belasco and his company had their offices in the western wing of the theater. A ten-room duplex
penthouse apartment
A penthouse is an apartment or unit on the highest floor of an apartment building, condominium, hotel or tower
A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distingui ...
occupies the top of the eastern wing and contained Belasco's collection of memorabilia. The interior features
Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork, and expansive
mural
A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
s by American artist
Everett Shinn
Everett Shinn (November 6, 1876 – May 1, 1953) was an American painter and member of the urban realist Ashcan School.
Shinn started as a newspaper illustrator in Philadelphia, demonstrating a rare facility for depicting animated movement, a ...
. The auditorium consists of a ground-level orchestra and two overhanging balconies, with
boxes at the second balcony level.
The theater was developed by
Meyer R. Bimberg Meyer R. Bimberg (died March 25, 1908) was a successful seller of campaign buttons and a theatre builder. Known as "Bim the Button Man" after the 1896 Republican National Convention, he made his fortune selling campaign buttons and built five theatr ...
and operated by David Belasco as the Stuyvesant Theatre. It opened on October 16, 1907, and was expanded in 1909 with Belasco's apartment. Belasco renamed the venue for himself in 1910. After his death in 1931,
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.
Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by critic A ...
and then the wife of playwright
Elmer Rice
Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...
leased the space. The Shuberts bought the theater in 1948 and leased it to
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
for three years before returning it to
legitimate use in 1953. Through the late 20th century, despite a decline in the quality of productions hosted at the Belasco, it continued to show Broadway plays and musicals. The theater was renovated multiple times over the years, including in the 1920s, 1970s, and 2000s.
Site
The Belasco Theatre is on 111 West 44th Street, on the north sidewalk between
Seventh Avenue and
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
, near
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
in the
Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres.
Places
*Theater District, Manhattan, New York City
*Boston Theater District
*Buffalo Theater District
*Cleveland Theater ...
of
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
The rectangular
land lot
In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ...
covers ,
with a
frontage
Frontage is the boundary between a plot of land or a building and the road onto which the plot or building fronts. Frontage may also refer to the full length of this boundary. This length is considered especially important for certain types of ...
of on 44th Street and a depth of .
On the same block, the
Hotel Gerard
The Hotel Gerard, currently known as aka Times Square, is a historic hotel located in New York, New York. It had also operated at the Hotel Langwell and Hotel 1-2-3. The building was designed by George Keister and built in 1893. It is a 13-stor ...
,
Hudson Theatre
The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the Hudson was built ...
, and
Millennium Times Square New York
The Millennium Times Square New York (formerly the Hotel Macklowe and the Millennium Broadway) is a hotel at 133 and 145 West 44th Street (Manhattan), 44th Street, between Times Square and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theat ...
are to the west. Other nearby buildings include the
Algonquin Hotel
The Algonquin Hotel is a hotel at 59 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. The 181-room hotel, opened in 1902, was designed by architect Goldwin Starrett for the Puritan Realty Company. The hotel has hosted numer ...
to the east,
1166 Avenue of the Americas
1166 Avenue of the Americas (also known as the International Paper Building) is a tall office building at 1166 Sixth Avenue between 45th and 46th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It was completed in 1974 and has 44 ...
to the northeast, the
Americas Tower
Americas Tower, also known as 1177 Avenue of the Americas, is a 50-story, 692-foot (211 m) skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, at Sixth Avenue and 45th Street. Construction began in 1989 and was expected to be completed in 1991. This ...
and
High School of Performing Arts
The High School of Performing Arts (informally known as "PA") was a public alternative high school established in 1947 and located at 120 West 46th Street in the borough of Manhattan, New York City, from 1948 to 1984.
In 1961, the school was m ...
to the north, the
Lyceum Theatre and
1540 Broadway
1540 Broadway, formerly the Bertelsmann Building, is a 44-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the building was d ...
to the northwest,
1500 Broadway
1500 Broadway is a skyscraper located in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The skyscraper was completed in 1972 by Arlen Realty & Development Corporation, with a height of , and has 34 floors. 1500 Broadway is famous for the seven ...
to the southwest, and
Lambs Club
The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...
and
The Town Hall to the south.
Design
The Belasco Theatre was designed by
George Keister
George W. Keister (January 10, 1859 - December 27, 1945)"Keister, George," ''Leslie's History of the Greater New York'', vol. 3 (New York: Arkell Publishing Company, 1898): 640. was an American architect. His work includes the Hotel Gerard (189 ...
, the architect of the neighboring Hotel Gerard, in the
neo-Georgian style. It was constructed from 1906 to 1907 as the Stuyvesant Theatre and was originally operated by
David Belasco
David Belasco (July 25, 1853 – May 14, 1931) was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director, and playwright. He was the first writer to adapt the short story ''Madame Butterfly'' for the stage. He launched the theatrical career of m ...
.
The neo-Georgian style was selected because a similar style was used on many early government buildings of New York City.
The original name was a homage to
Peter Stuyvesant
Peter Stuyvesant (; in Dutch also ''Pieter'' and ''Petrus'' Stuyvesant, ; 1610 – August 1672)Mooney, James E. "Stuyvesant, Peter" in p.1256 was a Dutch colonial officer who served as the last Dutch director-general of the colony of New Net ...
, a director-general of
New Amsterdam
New Amsterdam ( nl, Nieuw Amsterdam, or ) was a 17th-century Dutch settlement established at the southern tip of Manhattan Island that served as the seat of the colonial government in New Netherland. The initial trading ''factory'' gave rise ...
, the 17th-century Dutch colony that later became New York City.
Compared to its contemporaries, the Belasco is relatively small.
A wing for offices and dressing rooms, separated from the rest of the theater by a thick wall, was constructed on the west side of the theater.
The eastern part of the theater is topped by a private
duplex apartment built in 1909.
Facade
The primary
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of the
facade faces south on 44th Street and is made of red brick in
Flemish bond
Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and Mortar (masonry), mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''Course (architecture), courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall.
Bricks ...
, with terracotta decorative elements. It is split into an office section to the west and the main theater section to the east. The side walls are faced in plain brick.
The 44th Street elevation is about tall,
while the rear elevation is cited as being
or tall.
To comply with fire regulations at the time of the Belasco's construction, the theater is surrounded by an alley measuring wide.
Due to the presence of the alley, the theater only measures .
Ground story
On 44th Street, the ground-story facade consists of a
water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
made of granite, above which is burnt brick in Flemish
bond
Bond or bonds may refer to:
Common meanings
* Bond (finance), a type of debt security
* Bail bond, a commercial third-party guarantor of surety bonds in the United States
* Chemical bond, the attraction of atoms, ions or molecules to form chemical ...
. There are four pairs of doors at the center of the facade, above which is an
entablature
An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...
made of
terracotta
Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based ceramic glaze, unglazed or glazed ceramic where the pottery firing, fired body is porous.
In applied art, craft, construction, a ...
. These doors are separated by terracotta
pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s in the
Tuscan style. On either side of the central doorways are wood-framed display boards.
The facade's westernmost portion corresponds to the office stories and has a granite
stoop with two steps. The steps are flanked by iron railings and lead to two pairs of wood-and-glass doors, which connect to the ticket lobby. These doorways are set within the same opening, with
Doric Doric may refer to:
* Doric, of or relating to the Dorians of ancient Greece
** Doric Greek, the dialects of the Dorians
* Doric order, a style of ancient Greek architecture
* Doric mode, a synonym of Dorian mode
* Doric dialect (Scotland)
* Doric ...
terracotta pilasters on either side and an entablature above. A metal gate leads to an alley on the west.
The easternmost section contains a stoop with three steps, which lead to a pair of wood-and-glass doors flanked by pilasters; this provides access to the balcony.
A large metal canopy hangs above the doorways.
An
egg-and-dart
Egg-and-dart, also known as egg-and-tongue, egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, is an Ornament (architecture), ornamental device adorning the fundamental quarter-round, convex ovolo profile of molding (decorative), moulding, consisting of alternating ...
molding and a
Greek key frieze runs above the ground story on 44th Street.
Upper stories
The upper stories are asymmetrical.
The office section of the theater is at the extreme western end of the facade, while a pair of pavilions flanks three vertical
bays
A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...
on the rest of the facade. The entire third story is topped by an entablature with a molded frieze, a set of dentils, and a heavy
cornice
In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...
with
modillion
A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...
s. The cornice wraps around to the side elevations of the facade.
The pavilions are made of burnt brick and generally lack windows. A metal sign assembly hangs in front of the west pavilion. The eastern corner of the east pavilion has a terracotta
quoin
Quoins ( or ) are masonry blocks at the corner of a wall. Some are structural, providing strength for a wall made with inferior stone or rubble, while others merely add aesthetic detail to a corner. According to one 19th century encyclopedia, t ...
. Belasco's apartment is on the fourth story above the eastern pavilion. On 44th Street, the apartment has quoins at either corner, a brick facade, and a Palladian window.
Engaged column
In architecture, an engaged column is a column embedded in a wall and partly projecting from the surface of the wall, sometimes defined as semi- or three-quarter detached. Engaged columns are rarely found in classical Greek architecture, and then ...
s and terracotta pilasters flank the center portion of the Palladian window, while multi-paned windows form the side portions of the window. An egg-and-dart molding runs above the apartment facade.
The three center bays are delineated by a pair of Ionic terracotta pilasters at each end, as well as two single pilasters in the center. At the second story, each of the center bays contains tripartite
casement window
A casement window is a window that is attached to its frame by one or more hinges at the side. They are used singly or in pairs within a common frame, in which case they are hinged on the outside. Casement windows are often held open using a cas ...
s. Above the windows are terracotta lintels, which are separated into three panels and are topped by a
course of
dentil
A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Reviv ...
s. At the third story, each center bay has a round-arched window, surrounded by paneled terracotta blocks and topped by a keystone. A rectangular terracotta panel with eared corners is placed above each window. Above the cornice, a brick triangular
pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
rises over the center three bays. There is an oval window at the center of the pediment, with a terracotta frame and keystones, as well as a cornice with modillions above the pediment.
The westernmost portion of the 44th Street elevation is the office section, which is designed in a similar style as the main theater facade, though it is distinctly demarcated from the rest of the facade.
which is flanked on either side by terracotta quoins. The second story of the office section has a tripartite window with a terracotta
lintel
A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...
. The third story of the offices contains a
Palladian window
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
, which consists of an arched window flanked by rectangular windows on each side. The Palladian window has Ionic terracotta pilasters and a terracotta
keystone above the arch. Above the entablature, the fourth story of the office section has quoins at either corner. There are three arched windows at the fourth story, surrounded by terracotta frames and topped by terracotta keystones. The windows are separated by Ionic pilasters, supporting a frieze and egg-and-dart molding of the same material.
Interior
The interior color scheme was devised largely by Wilfred Buckland, who worked for Belasco's studios.
Everett Shinn
Everett Shinn (November 6, 1876 – May 1, 1953) was an American painter and member of the urban realist Ashcan School.
Shinn started as a newspaper illustrator in Philadelphia, demonstrating a rare facility for depicting animated movement, a ...
designed murals for the theater.
The Belasco was outfitted with the most advanced stagecraft tools available including extensive lighting rigs, a
hydraulics
Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...
system, and vast wing and
fly
Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...
space. Like the neighboring Lyceum Theatre, it was built with ample workshop space underneath the stage.
Tiffany Studio
Tiffany glass refers to the many and varied types of glass developed and produced from 1878 to 1933 at the Tiffany Studios in New York City, by Louis Comfort Tiffany and a team of other designers, including Clara Driscoll, Agnes F. Northrop, an ...
designed lighting fixtures throughout the theater,
which were executed by theatrical-lighting specialists
Nimis & Nimis.
Nineteen emergency exits lead from the auditorium onto the street or the alley, including ten from orchestra level. According to news reports published when the theater opened, the entire theater could be evacuated in three minutes.
The theater was also mechanically advanced for its time, with heating, cooling, and ventilating systems. There were no radiators in the theater, but the floor contained a
plenum
Plenum may refer to:
* Plenum chamber, a chamber intended to contain air, gas, or liquid at positive pressure
* Plenism, or ''Horror vacui'' (physics) the concept that "nature abhors a vacuum"
* Plenum (meeting), a meeting of a deliberative assem ...
system with 350 ducts. The plenum system used to evenly distribute the heat from two boilers, either of which could heat the theater on its own. When a sufficient level of heat had been reached, the heat was shut off and fresh air was distributed through the plenum system, using large blowers. Air outflow passed through hidden openings in the ceiling of the auditorium. In addition, the cellar contained a fire pump capable of per minute, supplied by a
water tower
A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...
on the roof and a reserve tank in the basement. Below the stage was a mezzanine with heating coils. Each side of the theater had three separate sets of
fire escape
A fire escape is a special kind of emergency exit, usually mounted to the outside of a building or occasionally inside but separate from the main areas of the building. It provides a method of escape in the event of a fire or other emergency th ...
s, and the western side had a marble-and-stone staircase leading directly into the alley there.
Lobby
![Belasco Theatre box office](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5b/Belasco_Theatre_box_office.jpg)
The entrance lobby is a nearly square space, accessed from the westernmost entrance on 44th Street.
John Rapp designed the lobby.
It originally was decorated in a walnut-brown and gold color scheme,
but this was changed to black and gold sometime in the 20th century.
The floor is made of mosaic tiles and terrazzo. The walls of the lobby are
wainscoted
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a Millwork (building material), millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was deve ...
in Rouge Duranche marble, with paneling and Corinthian pilasters above the wainscoting. Partway up the wall is an entablature around the entire room, which contains a cornice with modillions. The wall surfaces above the entablature are designed to resemble leather. The side-wall panels have gilded sconces, and the ceiling has a chandelier suspended from it.
The main entrance is from the south wall, above which are murals by Everett Shinn. The east wall contains doors to the auditorium.
At the center of the north wall, directly opposite the entrance doors, is an ornate box office within an arched opening. The main ticket window is flanked by Corinthian-style
colonnette A colonnette is a small slender column, usually decorative, which supports a beam or lintel. Colonettes have also been used to refer to a feature of furnishings such as a dressing table and case clock, and even studied by archeologists in Roman ...
s on either side, which support an arched pediment; there are also arched panels to the left and right of the ticket window. In addition, there are Corinthian columns placed on marble bases on either side of the box office opening. Above the opening is the cornice and a carved
aedicule
In ancient Roman religion, an ''aedicula'' (plural ''aediculae'') is a small shrine, and in classical architecture refers to a niche covered by a pediment or entablature supported by a pair of columns and typically framing a statue,"aedicula, n." ...
with a pediment and a brass figure.
A brass standing rail originally was placed in front of the ticket window but was removed.
Auditorium
The auditorium has a ground-level orchestra,
boxes, two balconies, promenades on the three seating levels, and a large
stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage"
* ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper
* Sta ...
behind the
proscenium
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
arch. The auditorium's width is greater than its depth.
The auditorium has 1,016 seats.
These are divided into 527 seats at orchestra level, 283 on the first balcony, and 200 on the second balcony, as well as 24 box seats and 25 standing-only spots.
The orchestra was designed with 15 rows of seats. There were also twelve boxes in total.
The seats were all made by the American Seating Company.
Each seat was of heavy wood, upholstered in dark brown leather, and the back of each chair was embossed with an emblem of a bee.
= Seating areas
=
![Belasco Theatre auditorium](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Belasco_Theatre_auditorium.jpg)
The auditorium is accessed from the ticket lobby at the southwest corner of the orchestra.
The rear (south) end of the orchestra contains four octagonal columns containing
capitals
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of stained glass, which hold up the first balcony level, and emergency exit doors on the east wall.
The columns are placed behind the last row of seats.
Other than those columns, the two balcony levels are cantilevered, allowing all rows an unobstructed view of the stage.
Four pairs of exit doors on the rear wall of the orchestra lead directly to the central doors on the sidewalk.
There are gilded wall
sconces next to and between two sets of the doors on the rear wall.
The orchestra has a raked floor and painted wood paneling on the side walls.
Four boxes, each with six seats, flanked the stage at the orchestra level,
though these have since been removed.
Staircases on either side of the rear doors connect the orchestra to the first balcony level.
The orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible via the side doors, but the balcony levels can only be accessed by steps.
The balcony levels have wainscoting on both the side and rear walls, as well as gilded wall sconces on the side walls. The balconies have paneled bands on their undersides, with light fixtures underneath. Small stained-glass chandeliers hang over the second balcony. In front of the balconies are
bosses topped by foliate bands. Until 2010, the second balcony was accessed by a different entrance from the other seats. This arrangement was a vestige of an operation in which theater patrons were separated into two classes, an arrangement more common in
West End theatre
West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1 ...
than Broadway theatre.
![Belasco boxes (14701171511)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Belasco_boxes_%2814701171511%29.jpg)
On either side of the stage is a wall section, which originally contained two boxes on either balcony level. The first balcony boxes had been removed before the 1980s,
but they were restored in 2010.
The boxes are supported on console brackets and contain angled railings with foliate decoration; a colonnette separates each pair of boxes. The boxes' wall sections are flanked by octagonal columns with capitals of stained glass, which support an arch with a molding.
At the tops of the boxes' wall sections are murals depicting love.
A staircase connects the orchestra level to the boxes on the east wall.
= Other design features
=
Next to the boxes is the
proscenium
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
arch, which consists of a wide band surrounded by foliate patterns, as well as a molding with brackets.
The proscenium is small in comparison to other Broadway theaters, measuring about high and wide.
There is a mural within the arch, measuring long by tall, except at the center where the mural is only tall.
The mural has 29 pairs of figures, which depict emotions such as music, grief, tranquility, allurement, blind love, and poetry.
Directly in front of the stage was an orchestra pit measuring 32 feet across and deep.
The stage itself originally measured wide and deep. In the 1910s, an adjustable apron measuring wide was built in front of the curtain, which could be used to widen the stage to .
A gridiron was placed above the stage, while the
fly galleries were on either side of the stage and above it.
At the center of the stage is an elevator
trap
A trap is a mechanical device used to capture or restrain an animal for purposes such as hunting, pest control, or ecological research.
Trap or TRAP may also refer to:
Art and entertainment Films and television
* ''Trap'' (2015 film), Fil ...
measuring about deep and either
or wide.
The trap could raise or lower an entire set to either of two basement levels below the stage.
The lower basement level is
or 32 feet deep.
A platform with the preceding scene's props, built similarly to a large wagon, could be loaded onto the trap, then swapped in the basement with another platform loaded with the next scene's props.
Some 4,500 electric lights were distributed in the stage area.
The footlights on the stage were arranged in seven sections. There were five sets of "border lights", with 270 lamps in each, as well as 88 sockets in the fly galleries.
The switchboard had 65
or 75 dimmers.
There is a large gilded-and-glass chandelier hanging from the auditorium's main ceiling. The ceiling was designed with 22 stained-glass panels, each depicting two shields and being illuminated from above.
Twenty of these panels depicted
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
in the
dexter
Dexter may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003
* Dexter, a fictional character in the British Diary of a Bad Man#Main, web series ''Diar ...
(right) position and various dramatists in the sinister (left) position. The arms of
Stuyvesant and
Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as treat ...
were depicted in the shield to the left of the stage, while the arms of
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
and Shakespeare were depicted in those to the right. Concealed behind the stained-glass panels are 500 lamps.
This illumination was meant to give an impression of "real daylight".
George Keister designed the dome lighting.
Other facilities
![The theatre through its stage door (1919) (14578179690)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/The_theatre_through_its_stage_door_%281919%29_%2814578179690%29.jpg)
David Belasco intended the
backstage
Backstage most commonly refers to backstage (theatre), also in motion picture and television production.
Backstage may also refer to:
Film and television
* ''Back Stage'' (1969 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy
* ''Back Stage'' (1942 fil ...
areas to be clean and comfortable, even prohibiting
stagehand
A stagehand is a person who works backstage or behind the scenes in theatres, film, television, or location performance. Their work include setting up the scenery, lights, sound, props, rigging, and special effects for a production.
General
S ...
s from spitting onto the floor.
There were chairs behind the stage for actors to rest, as well as padded floors behind the proscenium so actors could walk on and off stage without making noise.
Adjoining the auditorium was a six-story wing for dressing rooms. Each of the dressing rooms were arranged similarly to contemporary residential apartments, with concrete floors natural light, ventilation, hot and cold water, and a shower and bathtub on each floor. There were thirty-five rooms in total.
The dressing rooms overlooked the side and rear alleys for natural light exposure, and the eastern wall was a thick fireproof wall separating the dressing rooms from the rest of the theater.
The eastern portion of the theater contains a ten-room duplex apartment, which was built for Belasco in 1909.
The apartment's design complements the fourth story of the office wing to the west. The unit had its own small private elevator,
as well as a living room with a 30-foot ceiling.
The duplex contained eccentric items including a collection of ancient pieces of glass; a room containing
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
memorabilia, such as a strand of Napoleon's hair; and a bedroom designed with Japanese furnishings.
Also in the duplex were a dining room, a library leading to a dining room, large baths, and narrow passages.
Belasco had a collection of erotica and medieval art in a hidden Gothic-style room.
Scattered across the duplex were banners, rugs, books, and what one biographer called "a vast, confusing medley of collectors' treasures".
After Belasco died in 1931,
Sardi's
Sardi's is a Continental food, continental restaurant located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eighth Avenue, in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Manhattan, New Yo ...
restaurant received some artifacts for its "Belasco Room".
Some books went to the
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library (NYPL) is a public library system in New York City. With nearly 53 million items and 92 locations, the New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress ...
, but most objects were auctioned off.
The Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters ...
removed some decorations in the 1980s,
and air ducts were subsequently installed in the apartment.
History
Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and
the Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from
Union Square
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
and
Madison Square
Madison Square is a public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway at 23rd Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The square was named for Founding Father James Madison, fourth President of the United States. ...
during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, including the Belasco Theatre. David Belasco himself had been involved in operating
Oscar Hammerstein's Republic Theatre (now the
New Victory Theater
The New Victory Theater is a theater at 209 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, near Times Square. Built in 1900 as the Republic Theatre (also Theatre Republic), it was designed by Albert Westover and ...
), in the Theater District on
42nd Street, since 1902. Belasco was heavily focused on theatrical lighting; in many cases, he invested more money and devoted more time to a production's light rehearsal than to the combined total of all other production costs.
Belasco operation
Development and early years
![Belasco Theatre, Manhattan](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Belasco_Theatre%2C_Manhattan.jpg)
What is now the Belasco Theatre was developed by
Meyer R. Bimberg Meyer R. Bimberg (died March 25, 1908) was a successful seller of campaign buttons and a theatre builder. Known as "Bim the Button Man" after the 1896 Republican National Convention, he made his fortune selling campaign buttons and built five theatr ...
. In June 1906, Belasco announced he would manage the theater and name it after Peter Stuyvesant, the New Amsterdam director-general.
The theater would be designed by George Keister and would cost about $300,000.
Keister filed plans with the
New York City Department of Buildings
The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) is the department of the New York City government that enforces the city's building codes and zoning regulations, issues building permits, licenses, registers and disciplines certain construction tra ...
in September 1906,
by which the excavation was nearly completed.
On December 5, 1906, several hundred guests including
Bronson Howard
Bronson Crocker Howard (October 7, 1842 – August 4, 1908) was an American dramatist.
Biography
Howard was born in Detroit where his father Charles Howard was Mayor in 1849. He prepared for college at New Haven, Conn., but instead of ente ...
,
Blanche Bates
Blanche Bates (August 25, 1873 – December 25, 1941) was an American actress.
Early years
Bates was born in Portland, Oregon, while her parents (both of whom were actors) were on a road tour. As an infant, she traveled with them on a t ...
, and
Frances Starr
Frances Grant Starr (June 6, 1881 – June 11, 1973) was an American stage, film and television actress.
Early years
Starr's parents were Charles Edward Starr and Emma (''née'' Grant). She had two half sisters, and her father died when s ...
attended the theater's cornerstone-laying ceremony, and the theater was formally dedicated as David Belasco's Stuyvesant Theatre. The total cost of the theater was estimated at more than $750,000.
David Belasco's Stuyvesant Theatre opened on October 16, 1907, with the
musical
Musical is the adjective of music.
Musical may also refer to:
* Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance
* Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...
''A Grand Army Man'' featuring
Antoinette Perry
Mary Antoinette "Tony" Perry (June 27, 1888June 28, 1946) was an American actress and director, and co-founder of the American Theatre Wing. She is the eponym of the Tony Awards.
Early life
Born in Denver, Colorado, she spent her childhood aspi ...
. One critic called the theater "the most complete and satisfactory playhouse in existence".
Another publication said that the interior was "much the most beautiful in New York".
Belasco served as the producer or director of almost 50 productions at the theater for the next two decades; the majority of these ran for at least a hundred performances. Among the early productions at the theater were ''
The Warrens of Virginia'', which premiered in 1908,
and ''
The Devil
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...
'', which premiered simultaneously at the Stuyvesant and the
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
that year.
Also played at the Stuyvesant were ''The Fighting Hope'' (1908)
[; ] and ''The Easiest Way'' (1909).
During 1909, Belasco constructed the duplex apartment above the eastern part of the theater.
The same year, Belasco made an agreement with
Klaw and Erlanger
Klaw and Erlanger was an entertainment management and production partnership of Marc Klaw and Abraham Lincoln Erlanger based in New York City from 1888 through 1919. While running their own considerable and multi-faceted theatrical businesses ...
, enabling their respective firms to display products at each other's theaters.
1910 to 1930
''
Just a Wife
''Just a Wife'' is a 1910 play by Eugene Walter that was adapted to silent film in 1920.
It was performed on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre in 1910, and was made into a silent film released in 1920 and directed by Howard C. Hickman.(December ...
'' was produced at the Stuyvesant in early 1910.
The Stuyvesant Theatre was renamed the Belasco Theatre on September 17, 1910, and the first Belasco Theatre on 42nd Street became Hammerstein's Republic Theatre.
Not long afterward, the Belasco hosted ''
The Concert'' (1910) and ''Return of Peter Grimm'' (1911), both with over 200 performances.
The Belasco also hosted some musical performances, such as a wind instrument ensemble led by
Georges Barrère
Georges Barrère (Bordeaux, October 31, 1876 - New York, June 14, 1944) was a French flutist.Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001)
Early life
Georges Barrère was the son of a cabinetmaker, Gabriel Barrère, and Marie Périne Courtet, ...
, as well as a performance by the Trio de Lutece. In 1914, the theater hosted Molnár's ''The Phantom Rival'', which introduced the concept of blacking out the lights to change sets and costumes, rather than lowering the curtain.
The following year, the Belasco premiered ''The Boomerang'',
and the stage apron was adjusted for ''The Boomerang''. Other notable productions in the 1910s included
''Seven Chances'' (1916)
and
''Polly With a Past'' (1917).
![The theatre through its stage door (1919) (14741856376)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7d/The_theatre_through_its_stage_door_%281919%29_%2814741856376%29.jpg)
In the 1910s and 1920s, David Belasco was particularly involved in the theatrical development of several actresses, including Blanche Bates,
Ina Claire
Ina Claire (born Ina Fagan; October 15, 1893February 21, 1985) was an American stage and film actress.
Early years
Ina Fagan was born October 15, 1893 in Washington, D.C. After the death of her father, Claire began doing imitations of fellow bo ...
,
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.
Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by critic A ...
,
Jeanne Eagels
Jeanne Eagels (born Eugenia Eagles; June 26, 1890 – October 3, 1929) was an American stage and film actress. A former Ziegfeld Girl, Eagels went on to greater fame on Broadway and in the emerging medium of sound films. She was posthumously no ...
, and
Lenore Ulric
Lenore Ulric (born Lenore Ulrich; July 21, 1892 – December 30, 1970) was a star of the Broadway theatre as well as Hollywood films of the silent-film and early sound era.
Discovered in 1913 by theater director David Belasco, who would go on t ...
.
[; ] Among the films in which they starred were ''Polly With a Past'', featuring Claire; ''Daddies'' (1918), with Eagles; and ''The Son-Daughter'' (1919), with Ulric.
During the 1920s, Ulric appeared in ''Kiki'' (1921), ''The Harem'' (1924), ''
Lulu Belle'' (1926), and ''Mima'' (1928).
Theatrical historian
Ken Bloom
Ken Bloom is a New York-based, Grammy Award-winning theatre historian, playwright, director, record producer, and author.
He began his theatre career in the mid-'70s at the New Playwrights Theatre of Washington. Along with some friends, Bloo ...
characterized the actresses as "Belasco heroines".
Belasco initially paid close attention to accurate representation of details in the theater's productions. He was adamant that laundry scenes should contain functioning laundries capable of washing and ironing real clothes, and for one production he made a mockup of a
Childs Restaurants
Childs Restaurants was one of the first national dining chains in the United States and Canada, having peaked in the 1920s and 1930s with about 125 locations in dozens of markets, serving over 50,000,000 meals a year, with over $37 million in as ...
franchise.
The Belasco hosted several other productions in the 1920s.
Lionel Atwill
Lionel Alfred William Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the U.S., he subsequently appeared in various Broadway plays and Hollywood f ...
starred in ''
Deburau
''Deburau'' is a 1918 French play by Sacha Guitry that also played on Broadway in a translation by Harley Granville-Barker at the Belasco Theatre in 1920–21 Mantle, BurnsThe Best Plays of 1920-21 and the Year Book of the Drama in America pp. 1 ...
'' during 1920,
and ''Kiki'' ran 580 performances the following year.
The Belasco hosted ''Laugh, Clown, Laugh!'' with
Lionel Barrymore
Lionel Barrymore (born Lionel Herbert Blythe; April 28, 1878 – November 15, 1954) was an American actor of stage, screen and radio as well as a film director. He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''A Free Soul'' (1931) ...
in 1923, as well as ''Tiger Cats'' with
Katharine Cornell
Katharine Cornell (February 16, 1893June 9, 1974) was an American stage actress, writer, theater owner and producer. She was born in Berlin to American parents and raised in Buffalo, New York.
Dubbed "The First Lady of the Theatre" by critic A ...
in 1924.
''Lulu Belle'' was another successful production at the Belasco, with 461 performances.
The Belasco also hosted the musical
''Hit the Deck'' in 1927,
one of the few to take place in the theater.
David Belasco renovated the theater for the production of ''Mima.'' Though he redesigned the proscenium arch's decorations and added metal sheathing to the balconies and orchestra boxes, he lost $250,000 on the productions.
''The Bachelor Father'' (1928) and ''It's a Wise Child'' (1929) were among the other successful productions of the 1920s.
His last-ever production at the theater was ''Tonight or Never'', which premiered in November 1930.
Since Belasco missed the original opening performance of ''Tonight or Never'' due to illness, a second one was hosted for his benefit in March 1931.
After Belasco's death
David Belasco died in May 1931 after a long illness, and theatrical manager B. F. Roeder was appointed as the executor of Belasco's estate, continuing to operate the theater. That August, Katherine Cornell and her husband
Guthrie McClintic
Guthrie McClintic (August 6, 1893 – October 29, 1961) was an American theatre director, film director, and producer based in New York.
Life and career
McClintic was born in Seattle, attended Washington University and New York's American Academ ...
signed a lease to operate the theater for two years. At the time, the theater was appraised at $800,000. McClintic directed ''Brief Moment'', the first production to take place at the theater under Cornell's management.
Cornell herself appeared in two productions: ''Lucrece'' (1932) and ''Alien Corn'' (1933).
Cornell and McClintic had six productions total, including ''
Criminal at Large
''The Frightened Lady'' is a 1932 UK, British thriller film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Emlyn Williams, Cathleen Nesbitt, Norman McKinnel and Belle Chrystall. It was adapted by Bryan Edgar Wallace from his father Edgar Wallace's 193 ...
'' (1932).
Hazel Rice, whose husband was playwright
Elmer Rice
Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, '' Street Sce ...
, purchased the Belasco in August 1934 for $330,000.
She made minor alterations to the theater but generally found it in "good condition".
Rice had two productions, ''Judgment Day'' (1934) and ''Between Two Worlds'' (1934), both of which were flops.
The Belasco estate filed to foreclose upon the theater in February 1936
and reacquired the theater from Rice that March.
In late 1934, the
Group Theatre started showing its productions at the Belasco, relocating ''
Gold Eagle Guy
''Gold Eagle Guy'' is a 1934 Broadway five scene drama written by Melvin Levy,
produced by the Group Theatre with D. A. Doran, Jr., staged by Lee Strasberg,
choreography by Helen Tamiris with scenic design by Donald Oenslager and costume desig ...
'' from another theater. The Group Theatre's subsequent productions included ''
Awake and Sing!
''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935.
Summary and characters
The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It co ...
'', ''
Dead End
Dead End or dead end may refer to:
* Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''.
Film and television
* ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by David ...
'', ''
Golden Boy'', and ''
Rocket to the Moon''.
''Dead End'' had 684 performances before closing in 1937,
making it the Belasco's longest-running play, a record that stood for eight decades.
The following decade commenced with the production ''My Dear Children'' in 1940.
[; ] The play featured
John Barrymore
John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...
's last Broadway appearance and was generally negatively panned, even though its $50,000 of advance ticket sales was among the largest such figure of any Broadway show.
More successful were ''
Johnny Belinda'' (1940), ''Mr. and Mrs. North'' (1941), and
''Dark Eyes'' (1943).
The Belasco Theatre Corporation, a syndicate headed by John Wildberg, purchased the Belasco in May 1944 and leased it to Max Jelin for two years that July. A particularly controversial production was ''Trio'', which discussed the topic of lesbianism when it opened in December 1944, but which was forced to close two months later in February 1945.
In the aftermath of the ''Trio'' controversy, the theater's owners evicted Jelin, who was only reinstated in January 1946 after suing in the
New York Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...
. Meanwhile,
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday (born Judith Tuvim, June 21, 1921 – June 7, 1965) was an American actress, comedian and singer.Obituary ''Variety'', June 9, 1965, p. 71.
She began her career as part of a nightclub act before working in Broadway plays and music ...
had her first major success in ''Kiss Them for Me'' (1945),
[; ] while
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
had his first widely noticed success in ''
Truckline Cafe
''Truckline Cafe'' was the title of a 1946 Broadway play written by Maxwell Anderson, directed by Harold Clurman, produced by Elia Kazan, and starring Marlon Brando and Karl Malden. The short-lived play ran only 10 performances and is best reme ...
'' (1946). Other productions during the 1940s included
''Home of the Brave'' (1945),
[; ; .] ''Burlesque'' (1946) with
Bert Lahr
Irving Lahrheim (August 13, 1895 – December 4, 1967), known professionally as Bert Lahr, was an American actor. He was best known for his role as the Cowardly Lion, as well as his counterpart Kansas farmworker "Zeke", in the MGM adaptation of ...
, ''
Me and Molly
''Me and Molly'' is a play by Gertrude Berg based on Berg's long-running radio drama '' The Goldbergs''. It premiered on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre on February 26, 1948, running for 156 performances through July 10, 1948.
The show starred Ber ...
'' (1948) with
Gertrude Berg
Gertrude Berg (Born Tillie Edelstein; October 3, 1899 – September 14, 1966) was an American actress, screenwriter, and producer. A pioneer of classic radio, she was one of the first women to create, write, produce, and star in a long-running hi ...
,
and ''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (1948) with
Martita Hunt
Martita Edith Hunt (30 January 190013 June 1969) was an Argentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance as Miss Havi ...
and
Estelle Winwood
Estelle Winwood (born Estelle Ruth Goodwin, 24 January 1883 – 20 June 1984) was an English actress who moved to the United States in mid-career and became celebrated for her wit and longevity.
Early life and early career
Born Estelle Ruth Go ...
.
Jelin initially refused to leave the theater when his lease expired in 1947, but the New York Supreme Court ultimately forced him to do so.
Shubert operation
1950s to 1970s
![A great day in Manhattan, NYC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/A_great_day_in_Manhattan%2C_NYC._%282954271497%29.jpg)
The Belasco Theatre was sold in November 1948 for $442,000 in cash.
Although the new owners planned to demolish the theater in the future,
the Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters ...
took over management in the interim.
The Shuberts themselves were subsequently reported as having been the buyers; by mid-1949, they were negotiating to lease it to
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
as a broadcast studio. NBC used the theater as a broadcast location for four years.
At that time, several Broadway theaters had been converted to broadcast studios due to a lack of studio space in New York City. The studio broadcasts included plays from the
Theatre Guild of the Air series and
NBC Symphony Orchestra
The NBC Symphony Orchestra was a radio orchestra conceived by David Sarnoff, the president of the Radio Corporation of America, especially for the conductor Arturo Toscanini. The NBC Symphony performed weekly radio concert broadcasts with Tosca ...
concerts. The game show
''Take It or Leave It'' was also broadcast from the Belasco while it was an NBC studio.
The Belasco reopened as a legitimate Broadway venue on November 5, 1953, with ''The Solid Gold Cadillac''.
Other Broadway productions in the 1950s included ''
The Flowering Peach
''The Flowering Peach'' is a 1954 dramatic play by American playwright Clifford Odets with music by Alan Hovhaness. The plot is a modern take on the Bible stories of Noah and Noah's Ark.
It was the last original play by Odets produced in his li ...
'' (1954),
''
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' is a 1957 American satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortco ...
'' (1955),
and ''
Nude with Violin
''Nude with Violin'' is a play in three acts (later revised into two acts) by Noël Coward. A light comedy of manners, the play is a satire on " Modern Art", criticism, artistic pretension and the value placed on art. It is set in Paris in 195 ...
'' (1957).
The Belasco's production of
''All the Way Home'', which premiered in 1960,
won the
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...
.
Other notable productions included ''
Write Me a Murder
''Write Me a Murder'' is a mystery play in three acts by Frederick Knott, which premiered on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre on October 26, 1961, presented by the Compass Productions, Inc., directed by George Schaefer (director), George Schaefer ...
'' (1961),
''Seidman and Son'' (1962),
''The Last Analysis'' (1964),
''
Inadmissible Evidence
Admissible evidence, in a court of law, is any testimonial, documentary, or tangible evidence that may be introduced to a factfinder—usually a judge or jury—to establish or to bolster a point put forth by a party to the proceeding. Fo ...
'' (1965),
and ''
The Subject Was Roses
''The Subject Was Roses'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1964 play written by Frank D. Gilroy, who also adapted the work in 1968 for a film with the same title.
Background
The play premiered on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on May 25, 1964, s ...
'' (1966).
''
The Killing of Sister George
''The Killing of Sister George'' is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was later adapted into a The Killing of Sister George (film), 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.
Stage version
Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio ser ...
'', which was hosted at the Belasco in 1966,
was shown without incident, despite being more explicit about lesbian themes than ''Trio'' had two decades prior.
The 1969 production ''
Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?
''Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?'' is a play written in 1969 by Don Petersen. It has three acts, and helped to launch the careers of actors Al Pacino and Ron Thompson.
Title
The title of the play is explained by the character Fullendorf, who sai ...
'' featured the Broadway debut of
Al Pacino
Alfredo James Pacino (; ; born April 25, 1940) is an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he has received numerous accolades: including an Academy Award, two Tony Awards, and two Primetime Emmy ...
.
With the decline of the Broadway-theater industry in the late 1960s, the quality of the Belasco's productions also decreased.
A ''New York Times'' article in 1975 said the theater had "not seen the opening night of a hit since 1966", though the Belasco was still the second-oldest remaining Broadway theater, after the Lyceum.
The
off-Broadway
An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...
production ''
Oh! Calcutta!
''Oh! Calcutta!'' is an avant-garde, risque theatrical revue created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in London ...
'', a revue in which all the cast members were nude,
[; ] moved from the
Eden Theatre
Village East by Angelika (originally the Louis N. Jaffe Art Theatre, also Village East, and formerly known by several other names) is a movie theater at 189 Second Avenue, on the corner with 12th Street, in the East Village of Manhattan in N ...
to the Belasco in 1971.
[; ; ] Despite the quality of the productions, the Shubert Organization retained the Belasco in nearly original condition.
For the production of ''
The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple ...
'' (1975),
the Shuberts added stands and temporarily removed some orchestra seating.
This was followed by a series of short runs including ''An Almost Perfect Person'' (1977),
''
The Goodbye People
''The Goodbye People'' is a play by Herb Gardner. The play had a brief run on Broadway in 1968 and was made into a film which was released in 1986.
Plot
The dramedy focuses on elderly Max Silverman, who is determined to reopen the Coney Islan ...
'' (1979),
[; ] and ''Hide and Seek'' (1979).
In the late 1970s, there were also plans to convert the Belasco to a
cabaret
Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...
venue.
1980s and 1990s
![W 44 St Oct 2021 13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/W_44_St_Oct_2021_13.jpg)
Through the late 20th century, the Shuberts generally used the theater for the final runs of productions that had previously played at other Shubert venues.
These productions included
''Ain't Misbehavin'' (1981)
and ''
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' ( it, Morte accidentale di un anarchico) is a play by Italian playwright Dario Fo that premiered in 1970. Considered a classic of 20th-century theater, it has been performed across the world in more than fort ...
'' (1984).
[; ] Afterward, the Belasco remained inactive for two years,
though the Shuberts agreed in 1985 to let the
New York Shakespeare Festival
Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions are ...
use the Belasco rent-free. The festival opened in November 1986
and hosted students' Shakespeare productions at the theater through 1987.
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created a y ...
led the program, whose $2.5 million cost was partly funded by the city government and several local newspapers.
During the 1980s, the Shuberts renovated the Belasco as part of a restoration program for their Broadway theaters. To raise money for the Belasco Theatre's upkeep, the Shubert Organization leased some of the site's unused
air development rights to Feldman Equities in November 1986. The air rights were used to increase the height of the adjacent skyscraper being built at 120 West 45th Street.
Under the terms of the deal, the Belasco had to remain active for as long as the skyscraper used the air rights. To increase the occupancy of the Belasco and other little-used Broadway theaters, the
League of American Theaters and Producers negotiated with Broadway unions and guilds during the late 1980s.
The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
(LPC) had started considering protecting the Belasco as an official city landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. The LPC designated both the facade and the interior as landmarks on November 4, 1987. This was part of the LPC's wide-ranging effort in 1987 to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters. The
New York City Board of Estimate
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...
ratified the designations in March 1988. The Shuberts, the
Nederlanders
The Dutch (Dutch language, Dutch: ) are an ethnic group and nation native to the Netherlands. They share a common history and culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, ...
, and
Jujamcyn
Jujamcyn Theaters LLC , formerly the Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation, is a theatrical producing and theatre-ownership company in New York City. For many years Jujamcyn was owned by James H. Binger, former Chairman of Honeywell, and his wife, Virg ...
collectively sued the LPC in June 1988 to overturn the landmark designations of 22 theaters, including the Belasco, on the merit that the designations severely limited the extent to which the theaters could be modified. The lawsuit was escalated to the New York Supreme Court and the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
, but these designations were ultimately upheld in 1992.
The Shuberts, the Nederlanders, and Jujamcyn formed the Broadway Alliance in June 1990, wherein each company set aside one of its theaters to present dramas and comedies at reduced ticket prices. The program covered the Belasco,
Nederlander, and
Walter Kerr
Walter Francis Kerr (July 8, 1913 – October 9, 1996) was an American writer and Broadway theatre critic. He also was the writer, lyricist, and/or director of several Broadway plays and musicals as well as the author of several books, genera ...
theaters. The Belasco hosted
''The Speed of Darkness'' in 1991.
The
National Actors Theatre The National Actors Theatre (NAT) was a theatre company founded in 1991 by Tony Randall, whose dream it was to create such an organization. He was chairman until his death in 2004, when the theatre also subsequently closed down. At first the company ...
, led by
Tony Randall
Anthony Leonard Randall (born Aryeh Leonard Rosenberg; February 26, 1920 – May 17, 2004) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying the role of Felix Unger in a television adaptation of the 1965 play ''The Odd Couple'' by Neil Sim ...
, began showing productions at the Belasco later the same year.
The Shuberts had leased the Belasco to the National Actors Theatre so the venue could remain active as part of the agreement concerning the theater's air rights. The National Actors Theatre had a "favorable" lease agreement, paying only for taxes, fixed expenses, and utility use.
The group's inaugural program included revivals of ''
The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...
'', ''The Little Hotel on the Side'', and ''
The Master Builder
''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works.
Performance
The play was published ...
''.
The National Actors Theatre's productions at the Belasco were mostly flops.
The Belasco was then used to host the puppet show ''A Little More Magic'' in 1994.
The Belasco then hosted other productions such as ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', ''
A Doll's House
''A Doll's House'' (Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having bee ...
'',
''Honour'', and ''
Ring Round the Moon
''Ring Round the Moon'' is a 1950 adaptation by the English dramatist Christopher Fry of Jean Anouilh's ''Invitation to the Castle'' (1947). Peter Brook commissioned Fry to adapt the play and the first production of ''Ring Round the Moon'' was ...
'' in the late 1990s.
Feldman Equities considered buying the Belasco in 1996 but ultimately did not do so.
2000s to present
![Belascotheatre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Belascotheatre.jpg)
The first musical to play the Belasco in the 2000s was ''
James Joyce's The Dead
''James Joyce's The Dead'' is a Broadway musical by Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey based upon James Joyce's short story " The Dead".
Productions
The musical was originally presented Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, starting on October 1, ...
''.
This was followed by the musical ''
Follies
''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.
The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...
'' in 2001
and ''
Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
''Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune'' is a two-character play by Terrence McNally that was first performed off-Broadway in 1987.
Plot
The play focuses on two lonely, middle-aged people whose first date ends with their tumbling into bed. The ...
'' in 2002.
As part of a settlement with the
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United State ...
in 2003, the Shuberts agreed to improve disabled access at their 16 landmarked Broadway theaters, including the Belasco. There were two short productions in that year:
''Enchanted April'' and ''
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks
''Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks'' is a 2001 play by American playwright Richard Alfieri. It is a play with only two characters: Lily Harrison, the formidable widow of a Baptist minister, and Michael Minetti, a gay and acerbic dance instructor ...
''. More productions followed later in the 2000s, including ''
Dracula, the Musical
''Dracula, the Musical'' is a musical based on the original 1897 Victorian novel by Bram Stoker. The score is by Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics and book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.
The show had its regional premiere at the La Jolla Play ...
'', ''
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
'', ''
Awake and Sing!
''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935.
Summary and characters
The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It co ...
'', ''
Journey's End
''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry comp ...
'', ''
Passing Strange
''Passing Strange'' is a comedy-drama rock musical about a young African American's artistic journey of self-discovery, with strong elements of philosophical existentialism, metafiction (especially self-referential humor), and the artistic jou ...
'', ''
American Buffalo
American Buffalo may refer to:
*American Buffalo (play), ''American Buffalo'' (play), a play by David Mamet
*American Buffalo (film), ''American Buffalo'' (film), a 1996 film of Mamet's play directed by Michael Corrente
*American Buffalo (coin), a ...
'', and ''
Joe Turner's Come and Gone
''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' is a play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience, ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. The play was first staged 1984 at the Euge ...
''.
During the production of ''Awake and Sing!'' in 2006 and ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' in 2009, the theater was leased by
Lincoln Center Theater
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broad ...
.
In mid-2009, after ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' closed, the Belasco closed for a renovation.
By then, producers considered the theater to be small compared to most other Broadway venues.
Francesca Russo oversaw the restoration of the auditorium, while
McLaren Engineering Group was the primary contractor. The boxes at the first balcony level were restored, and the segregated entrance providing access to the second balcony was removed.
Decorative elements such as the stained glass and murals were restored, and amenities such as restrooms and seats were replaced.
The theater reopened on October 2, 2010, with a showing of ''
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' ( es, Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas. The film brought Almodóvar to ...
.'' In 2014, ''
Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' opened its first Broadway production and became the longest running show at the Belasco.
Other shows to play the Belasco in the 2010s included ''
End of the Rainbow
''End of the Rainbow'' is a musical drama by Peter Quilter, which focuses on Judy Garland in the months leading up to her death in 1969. After a premiere in Sydney, Australia in 2005, the show has played on the West End in London and a Broadway ...
'', ''
Golden Boy'', a double bill of ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
'' and ''
Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
'', ''
Blackbird'', ''
The Glass Menagerie
''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic persona ...
'', ''
The Terms of My Surrender
Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and Left-wing politics, left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism.
Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Docum ...
'', ''
Farinelli and the King
''Farinelli and the King'' is a 2015 play with music by Claire van Kampen. The play involves King Philip V of Spain who is troubled with insomnia. It premiered in London in 2015 and on Broadway in 2017.
Productions
The play made its world premi ...
'', ''
Gettin' the Band Back Together
''Gettin' the Band Back Together'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Mark Allen and a book by Ken Davenport and the Grundleshotz, a group of performers and writers including Sebastian Arcelus, Fred Berman, Michael Hirstreet, Jenna Coker Jones, ...
'', and ''
Network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
''.
During November 2019,
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
leased the theater to screen the
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
film ''
The Irishman
''The Irishman'' (subtitled onscreen as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 nonfiction book '' I Heard You Paint Hou ...
''.
For ''The Irishman'', the Belasco's first film screening in its history, the theater was retrofitted with a production booth, surround sound, and a projection screen. The theater staged ''
Girl From The North Country
"Girl from the North Country" (occasionally known as "Girl ''of'' the North Country") is a song written by Bob Dylan. It was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City in April 1963, and released the following month as the second tra ...
'' in early 2020
before it closed on March 12, 2020, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. The theater reopened on October 13, 2021, with ''Girl From The North Country''. That show closed in January 2022
before returning for a limited engagement from April to June. ''
Ain't No Mo''' was staged at the Belasco during December 2022.
[
]
Alleged haunting
The Belasco Theater is the subject of an urban legend that David Belasco's ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
haunts the theater every night. According to actors and backstage personnel, the ghost would be seen in clerical-like wear, sitting in an empty box during the opening night of a production. Several actors have reported that the ghost would try to speak to them. One caretaker reportedly also heard rattling from the chains of Belasco's private elevator, which had long since been abandoned. Other accounts have described unexplained footsteps; doors and curtains moving randomly; and the elevator moving while not in use. Sightings of a second ghost, called the "Blue Lady", have been reported at the theater. This ghost, reported as an "icy cold blue mist", was supposedly an actress that fell to her death in an elevator shaft.
After ''Oh! Calcutta!'' played at the theater, the ghost of David Belasco reportedly stopped appearing. By the 2000s, people had begun to report that the ghost had reappeared. In ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'', Hedwig briefly discusses the history of the Belasco and references the ghost of Belasco, claiming that if the ghost appears on a show's opening night, then the show is blessed. She then asks audience members in one of the boxes to tell her if the ghost appears.
Notable productions
* 1908: ''The Devil
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehood. ...
''
* 1908: '' The Warrens of Virginia''
* 1910: ''Just a Wife
''Just a Wife'' is a 1910 play by Eugene Walter that was adapted to silent film in 1920.
It was performed on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre in 1910, and was made into a silent film released in 1920 and directed by Howard C. Hickman.(December ...
''
* 1910: '' The Concert''
* 1916: ''Seven Chances
''Seven Chances'' is a 1925 American silent comedy film directed by and starring Buster Keaton, based on the play of the same name by Roi Cooper Megrue, produced in 1916 by David Belasco. Additional cast members include T. Roy Barnes, Snitz Ed ...
''
* 1917: '' Polly With a Past''[; ]
* 1921: ''Deburau
''Deburau'' is a 1918 French play by Sacha Guitry that also played on Broadway in a translation by Harley Granville-Barker at the Belasco Theatre in 1920–21 Mantle, BurnsThe Best Plays of 1920-21 and the Year Book of the Drama in America pp. 1 ...
''[
* 1926: '' Lulu Belle''][; ]
* 1927: '' Hit the Deck''
* 1932: ''The Truth About Blayds
''The Truth About Blayds'' is a three-act comedy by A. A. Milne, first performed in London in December 1921. It depicts the turmoil into which the family of a revered poet, Oliver Blayds, is plunged when it emerges immediately after his death tha ...
''
* 1932: ''Criminal at Large
''The Frightened Lady'' is a 1932 UK, British thriller film directed by T. Hayes Hunter and starring Emlyn Williams, Cathleen Nesbitt, Norman McKinnel and Belle Chrystall. It was adapted by Bryan Edgar Wallace from his father Edgar Wallace's 193 ...
''
* 1935: ''Awake and Sing!
''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935.
Summary and characters
The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It co ...
''[; ]
* 1935: ''Waiting for Lefty
''Waiting for Lefty'' is a 1935 play by the American playwright Clifford Odets; it was his first play to be produced. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor str ...
''
* 1935: ''Dead End
Dead End or dead end may refer to:
* Dead end (street), a street connected only at one end with other streets, called by many other official names, including ''cul-de-sac''.
Film and television
* ''The Dead End'' (1914 film), directed by David ...
''
* 1937: '' Golden Boy''
* 1938: '' Rocket to the Moon''
* 1940: '' Johnny Belinda''
* 1941: '' The Man with Blond Hair''
* 1941: ''Clash by Night
''Clash by Night'' is a 1952 American film noir drama directed by Fritz Lang and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Paul Douglas, Robert Ryan, Marilyn Monroe and Keith Andes. The film is based on the 1941 play by Clifford Odets, adapted for the screen ...
''
* 1942: ''Nathan the Wise
''Nathan the Wise'' (original German title: ', ) is a play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing from 1779. It is a fervent plea for religious tolerance. It was never performed during Lessing's lifetime and was first performed in 1783 at the Döbbelinsch ...
''
* 1942: ''Magic
Magic or Magick most commonly refers to:
* Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces
* Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic
* Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...
'' and '' Hello Out There!''
* 1943: '' Dark Eyes''
* 1945: '' Kiss Them for Me''[; ]
* 1945: '' Home of the Brave''
* 1946: ''Truckline Cafe
''Truckline Cafe'' was the title of a 1946 Broadway play written by Maxwell Anderson, directed by Harold Clurman, produced by Elia Kazan, and starring Marlon Brando and Karl Malden. The short-lived play ran only 10 performances and is best reme ...
''
* 1946: ''Lysistrata
''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', "Army Disbander") is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's extraordinary mission to end the Peloponne ...
''
* 1947: '' Sundown Beach''
* 1948: ''Me and Molly
''Me and Molly'' is a play by Gertrude Berg based on Berg's long-running radio drama '' The Goldbergs''. It premiered on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre on February 26, 1948, running for 156 performances through July 10, 1948.
The show starred Ber ...
''[; ]
* 1948: ''The Madwoman of Chaillot
''The Madwoman of Chaillot'' (french: La Folle de Chaillot) is a play, a poetic satire, by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux, written in 1943 and first performed in 1945, after his death. The play is in two acts. The story concerns an eccentric woma ...
''
* 1954: ''The Flowering Peach
''The Flowering Peach'' is a 1954 dramatic play by American playwright Clifford Odets with music by Alan Hovhaness. The plot is a modern take on the Bible stories of Noah and Noah's Ark.
It was the last original play by Odets produced in his li ...
''
* 1955: ''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' is a 1957 American satirical
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortco ...
''
* 1956: '' Fanny''
* 1957: ''The First Gentleman
''The First Gentleman'' is a 1948 British historical drama film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, and starring Jean-Pierre Aumont, Joan Hopkins, and Cecil Parker. It portrays the relationships and marriage of George, Prince Regent and his tense de ...
''
* 1957: ''Nude With Violin
''Nude with Violin'' is a play in three acts (later revised into two acts) by Noël Coward. A light comedy of manners, the play is a satire on " Modern Art", criticism, artistic pretension and the value placed on art. It is set in Paris in 195 ...
''
* 1958: ''Present Laughter
''Present Laughter'' is a comic play written by Noël Coward in 1939 but not produced until 1942 because the Second World War began while it was in rehearsal, and the British theatres closed. The title is drawn from a song in Shakespeare's ''T ...
''
* 1959: ''A Raisin in the Sun
''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chi ...
''
* 1960: '' All the Way Home''
* 1961: ''Write Me a Murder
''Write Me a Murder'' is a mystery play in three acts by Frederick Knott, which premiered on Broadway at the Belasco Theatre on October 26, 1961, presented by the Compass Productions, Inc., directed by George Schaefer (director), George Schaefer ...
''
* 1964: ''The Seagull
''The Seagull'' ( rus, Ча́йка, r=Cháyka, links=no) is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 and first produced in 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramatises t ...
''
* 1964: ''The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...
''
* 1965: ''Inadmissible Evidence
Admissible evidence, in a court of law, is any testimonial, documentary, or tangible evidence that may be introduced to a factfinder—usually a judge or jury—to establish or to bolster a point put forth by a party to the proceeding. Fo ...
''
* 1966: ''The Subject Was Roses
''The Subject Was Roses'' is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1964 play written by Frank D. Gilroy, who also adapted the work in 1968 for a film with the same title.
Background
The play premiered on Broadway at the Royale Theatre on May 25, 1964, s ...
''
* 1966: ''The Killing of Sister George
''The Killing of Sister George'' is a 1964 play by Frank Marcus that was later adapted into a The Killing of Sister George (film), 1968 film directed by Robert Aldrich.
Stage version
Sister George is a beloved character in the popular radio ser ...
''[; ]
* 1967: '' Dr. Cook's Garden''
* 1968: '' Don't Drink the Water''
* 1969: ''Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?
''Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?'' is a play written in 1969 by Don Petersen. It has three acts, and helped to launch the careers of actors Al Pacino and Ron Thompson.
Title
The title of the play is explained by the character Fullendorf, who sai ...
''
* 1971: ''Oh! Calcutta!
''Oh! Calcutta!'' is an avant-garde, risque theatrical revue created by British drama critic Kenneth Tynan. The show, consisting of sketches on sex-related topics, debuted Off-Broadway in 1969 and then in the West End in 1970. It ran in London ...
''
* 1975: ''The Rocky Horror Show
''The Rocky Horror Show'' is a musical with music, lyrics and book by Richard O'Brien. A humorous tribute to the science fiction and horror B movies of the 1930s through to the early 1960s, the musical tells the story of a newly engaged couple ...
''
* 1977: ''American Buffalo
American Buffalo may refer to:
*American Buffalo (play), ''American Buffalo'' (play), a play by David Mamet
*American Buffalo (film), ''American Buffalo'' (film), a 1996 film of Mamet's play directed by Michael Corrente
*American Buffalo (coin), a ...
''
* 1979: ''The Goodbye People
''The Goodbye People'' is a play by Herb Gardner. The play had a brief run on Broadway in 1968 and was made into a film which was released in 1986.
Plot
The dramedy focuses on elderly Max Silverman, who is determined to reopen the Coney Islan ...
''
* 1980: ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God
''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God: A Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance'' is a Broadway musical based on the Biblical Book of Matthew, with music and lyrics by Alex Bradford and a book by Vinnette Carroll, who also directed. Micki Grant was ...
''
* 1981: '' Ain't Misbehavin''
* 1983: ''Marcel Marceau
Marcel Marceau (; born Marcel Mangel; 22 March 1923 – 22 September 2007) was a French actor and mime artist most famous for his stage persona, "Bip the Clown". He referred to mime as the "art of silence", and he performed professionally worldw ...
On Broadway''
* 1984: ''Accidental Death of an Anarchist
''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' ( it, Morte accidentale di un anarchico) is a play by Italian playwright Dario Fo that premiered in 1970. Considered a classic of 20th-century theater, it has been performed across the world in more than fort ...
''
* 1986: ''Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
''
* 1986: ''As You Like It
''As You Like It'' is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has b ...
''
* 1986: ''Macbeth
''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
''
* 1991: '' The Speed of Darkness''
* 1991: ''The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...
''
* 1992: ''The Master Builder
''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen.
It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works.
Performance
The play was published ...
''
* 1995: ''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''
* 1997: ''A Doll's House
''A Doll's House'' (Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having bee ...
''
* 1998: ''Honour
Honour (British English) or honor (American English; American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, see spelling differences) is the idea of a bond between an individual and a society as a quality of a person that is both of socia ...
''
* 1999: ''Ring Round the Moon
''Ring Round the Moon'' is a 1950 adaptation by the English dramatist Christopher Fry of Jean Anouilh's ''Invitation to the Castle'' (1947). Peter Brook commissioned Fry to adapt the play and the first production of ''Ring Round the Moon'' was ...
''
* 2000: ''James Joyce's The Dead
''James Joyce's The Dead'' is a Broadway musical by Richard Nelson and Shaun Davey based upon James Joyce's short story " The Dead".
Productions
The musical was originally presented Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, starting on October 1, ...
''
* 2001: ''Follies
''Follies'' is a Musical theater, musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman.
The plot takes place in a crumbling Broadway theater, now scheduled for demolition, previously home to a musical revue (based on t ...
''
* 2002: ''Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
''Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune'' is a two-character play by Terrence McNally that was first performed off-Broadway in 1987.
Plot
The play focuses on two lonely, middle-aged people whose first date ends with their tumbling into bed. The ...
''
* 2003: '' Enchanted April''
* 2004: ''Dracula, the Musical
''Dracula, the Musical'' is a musical based on the original 1897 Victorian novel by Bram Stoker. The score is by Frank Wildhorn, with lyrics and book by Don Black and Christopher Hampton.
The show had its regional premiere at the La Jolla Play ...
''
* 2005: ''Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
''
* 2006: ''Awake and Sing!
''Awake and Sing!'' is a drama written by American playwright Clifford Odets. The play was initially produced by The Group Theatre in 1935.
Summary and characters
The play is set in The Bronx borough of New York City, New York, in 1933. It co ...
''
* 2007: ''Journey's End
''Journey's End'' is a 1928 dramatic play by English playwright R. C. Sherriff, set in the trenches near Saint-Quentin, Aisne, towards the end of the First World War. The story plays out in the officers' dugout of a British Army infantry comp ...
''
* 2008: ''Passing Strange
''Passing Strange'' is a comedy-drama rock musical about a young African American's artistic journey of self-discovery, with strong elements of philosophical existentialism, metafiction (especially self-referential humor), and the artistic jou ...
''
* 2008: ''American Buffalo
American Buffalo may refer to:
*American Buffalo (play), ''American Buffalo'' (play), a play by David Mamet
*American Buffalo (film), ''American Buffalo'' (film), a 1996 film of Mamet's play directed by Michael Corrente
*American Buffalo (coin), a ...
''
* 2009: ''Joe Turner's Come and Gone
''Joe Turner's Come and Gone'' is a play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the second installment of his decade-by-decade chronicle of the African-American experience, ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. The play was first staged 1984 at the Euge ...
''
* 2010: ''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
''Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown'' ( es, Mujeres al borde de un ataque de nervios) is a 1988 Spanish black comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas. The film brought Almodóvar to ...
''
* 2011: '' Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony''
* 2012: ''End of the Rainbow
''End of the Rainbow'' is a musical drama by Peter Quilter, which focuses on Judy Garland in the months leading up to her death in 1969. After a premiere in Sydney, Australia in 2005, the show has played on the West End in London and a Broadway ...
''
* 2012: '' Golden Boy''
* 2013: ''Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...
'' and ''Richard III
Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Battl ...
''
* 2014: '' Hedwig and the Angry Inch''
* 2016: '' Blackbird''
* 2017: ''The Glass Menagerie
''The Glass Menagerie'' is a memory play by Tennessee Williams that premiered in 1944 and catapulted Williams from obscurity to fame. The play has strong autobiographical elements, featuring characters based on its author, his Histrionic persona ...
''
* 2017: '' Michael Moore: The Terms of My Surrender''
* 2017: ''Farinelli and the King
''Farinelli and the King'' is a 2015 play with music by Claire van Kampen. The play involves King Philip V of Spain who is troubled with insomnia. It premiered in London in 2015 and on Broadway in 2017.
Productions
The play made its world premi ...
''
* 2018: ''Gettin' the Band Back Together
''Gettin' the Band Back Together'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Mark Allen and a book by Ken Davenport and the Grundleshotz, a group of performers and writers including Sebastian Arcelus, Fred Berman, Michael Hirstreet, Jenna Coker Jones, ...
''
* 2018: ''Network
Network, networking and networked may refer to:
Science and technology
* Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects
* Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks
Mathematics
...
''
* 2020: ''Girl From The North Country
"Girl from the North Country" (occasionally known as "Girl ''of'' the North Country") is a song written by Bob Dylan. It was recorded at Columbia Recording Studios in New York City in April 1963, and released the following month as the second tra ...
''
* 2022: '' Ain't No Mo'''
* 2023: ''Good Night, Oscar
''Good Night, Oscar'' is a comedy-drama play written by Doug Wright. The story revolves around Oscar Levant portrayed by Sean Hayes who appears on the ''The Tonight Show'' with Jack Paar.
It began previews at the Belasco Theatre on April 7, 2 ...
''
See also
* List of Broadway theaters
There are 41 active Broadway theaters listed by The Broadway League in New York City, as well as eight existing structures that previously hosted Broadway theatre. Beginning with the first large long-term theater in the city, the Park Theatre ...
*
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
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{{Midtown North, Manhattan
1907 establishments in New York City
Broadway theatres
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City interior landmarks
Shubert Organization
Theater District, Manhattan
Theatres completed in 1907