The Nederlander Theatre (formerly the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar 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 208 West 41st Street in the
Theater District of
Midtown Manhattan in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Opened in 1921, it was designed by William Neil Smith for theatrical operator Walter C. Jordan. It has around 1,235 seats across two levels and is operated by the
Nederlander Organization. Since 1980, it has been named for American theater impresario David Tobias Nederlander, father of theatrical producer
James M. Nederlander
James M. Nederlander (March 31, 1922 – July 25, 2016) was an American theatrical producer who served as chairman of the Nederlander Organization, one of the largest operators of live theaters and music venues in the United States. . It is the southernmost Broadway theater in the Theater District.
The facade is relatively plain and is made of brick, with a
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 ...
at the center of the second and third floors. The auditorium was originally designed in the early Renaissance style, which has since been modified several times. Unlike other theaters operated by the
Shubert family
The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...
, the interior contained little plaster decoration. The venue has hosted a variety of shows, including the plays ''
Cyrano de Bergerac
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist.
A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...
'', ''
Inherit the Wind'', and ''
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...
''; live performances, including those by
Lena Horne; and the musical ''
Rent
Rent may refer to:
Economics
*Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property
*Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production
*Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
'', which is the theater's longest-running production .
The modern-day Nederlander Theatre was developed as a carpenter's shop in 1920 before being converted into the National Theatre the following year. When the National opened on September 1, 1921, the Shubert family managed bookings on Jordan's behalf. The Shubert brothers bought the National in 1927 and operated it for three decades. In 1956, as part of a settlement in an antitrust lawsuit, the Shuberts sold the venue to Harry Fromkes, who died shortly thereafter. The National was acquired in 1958 by theatrical producer
Billy Rose, who renovated the venue and renamed it after himself the next year. The Nederlander Organization and the Cooney-Marsh Organization acquired the theater in 1978, first renaming it the Trafalgar Theatre; the theater assumed its current name in 1980. Because there were few other Broadway theaters nearby, the Nederlander housed few productions in the late 20th century, becoming popular only after ''Rent'' opened.
Site
The Nederlander Theatre is on 208 West
41st Street, between
Seventh Avenue and
Eighth Avenue near the southern end of
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 of
Midtown Manhattan in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
The rectangular
land lot covers , with a
frontage of on 41st Street and a depth of .
The Nederlander Theatre abuts a hotel and a parking garage, both of which have existed since before the theater was completed in 1921.
The city block is shared with
the New York Times Building
The New York Times Building is a 52-story skyscraper at 620 Eighth Avenue, between 40th and 41st Streets, on the west side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Its chief tenant is the New York Times Company, publisher of ''The New York Time ...
to the west. Additionally, the building is near the
Candler Building,
Madame Tussauds New York
Madame Tussauds New York (UK /təˈsɔːdz/, US /tuːˈsoʊz/; the family themselves pronounce it /ˈtuːsoʊ/) is a tourist attraction located on 42nd Street in the Times Square neighborhood of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Madame Tussaud ...
,
Empire Theatre, and
Eleven Times Square
Eleven Times Square is an office and retail tower located at 640 Eighth Avenue, at the intersection with West 42nd Street, in the Times Square and West Midtown neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. The 40-story, tower rises , making it t ...
to the northwest; the
New Amsterdam Theatre
The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater on 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the New Amsterdam was built fro ...
and
5 Times Square
5 Times Square is a 38-story office skyscraper at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Located on the western sidewalk of Seventh Avenue between 41st and 42nd Street, the building measures ...
to the north; and the
Times Square Tower to the northeast.
The Nederlander is the southernmost
Broadway theater
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
in the Theater District.
When the theater was built, the
Metropolitan Opera House and seven other theaters were to the south and east, although all of them were closed and demolished by the late 20th century.
The lack of other Broadway theaters nearby, and its location at the extreme south end of the Theater District, contributed to its relative unpopularity in the late 20th century.
This sharply contrasted with venues on 42nd Street, a major crosstown artery, and venues on
44th and
45th Streets, which benefited from tourist traffic around
Shubert Alley
Shubert Alley is a pedestrian alley in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The alley, a privately owned public space, connects 44th and 45th Streets and covers about . It runs through the middle of a city block, paral ...
.
Design
The theater was designed by William Neil Smith for Walter C. Jordan.
[; ] The theater contains a floor area of , as well as of unused
air rights
Air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning, or renting, land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by others.
This lega ...
.
Facade
The brick facade is relatively plain, blending in with other buildings on 41st Street.
At ground level are entrances to the theater.
There is an iron fire escape on the second and third floors of the facade.
There are doors and windows on both levels that lead to the fire escape, and a metal canopy covers the fire escape. Above ground level, there are three arches on the facade: one to the left of the fire escape and two to the right. These archways originally contained windows at the second and third floors and are topped by
keystones. A
cornice with
modillions
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 ...
runs above the top of the facade.
Unlike other Broadway theaters, the Nederlander does not have a dedicated
stage door
''Stage Door'' is a 1937 RKO film directed by Gregory La Cava. Adapted from the play of the same name, it tells the story of several would-be actresses who live together in a boarding house at 158 West 58th Street in New York City. The film ...
, so all performers use the main entrance.
When the theater was renamed the Billy Rose Theatre in 1959, the facade was repainted white, leading ''
Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'' magazine to describe it as "an architect's memory of New Orleans' French Quarter".
During the production of the musical ''
Rent
Rent may refer to:
Economics
*Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property
*Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production
*Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
'' between 1996 and 2008, the facade was covered with fake graffiti.
Auditorium
The Nederlander Theatre has an orchestra level and one balcony.
The theater was built with 1,200 seats.
According to
the Broadway League
The Broadway League, formerly the League of American Theatres and Producers and League of New York Theatres and Producers, is the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry based in New York, New York. Its members include theat ...
, the theater has 1,235 seats;
meanwhile, ''
Playbill'' gives a figure of 1,168 seats.
Only the orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible; the other seating levels can only be reached by steps.
The restrooms are at the first balcony level.
The balcony is raked, sloping downward toward the stage. In contrast to other theaters, the underside of the balcony slopes upward, increasing visibility at the rear of the orchestra.
The orchestra level slopes down toward a
orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...
in front of the stage. To improve acoustics, the floor of the orchestra pit contained shards of glass, which were then laid atop a concrete slab.
Originally, the auditorium was designed in the early Renaissance style.
Unlike other theaters operated by the
Shubert family
The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...
, the interior contained little plaster decoration.
The interior was made of concrete, which was decorated to resemble burnished Italian walnut panels decorated with gold.
The fake woodwork was decorated with "lyric and epic subjects", which protruded slightly from the walnut panels.
The walls and
balustrades
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...
were
grained to give the impression of woodwork.
Actual carved wood was used for
lintels
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 ...
and
sills.
There were 18 multicolored lights on the auditorium's ceiling,
and a crystal chandelier was suspended from the center of the ceiling.
At the rear of the auditorium was a
projector
A projector or image projector is an optical device that projects an image (or moving images) onto a surface, commonly a projection screen. Most projectors create an image by shining a light through a small transparent lens, but some newer types ...
.
The
proscenium arch
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 ...
at the front of the auditorium is tall.
The arch contained a few classical details,
and its keystone was originally decorated with the letter "N".
The arch was initially flanked by one tier of
boxes in a streamlined style.
The stage itself is wide, with a height of from the floor to the overhead
gridiron.
When
Billy Rose renovated the theater in 1959, he made a variety of changes, including repainting the auditorium red, white, and gold.
The auditorium's light boxes were originally flanked by plaster
cornucopias, but Rose largely replaced them with
curlicues.
In addition, the original lighting fixtures were replaced with 1950s-style chandeliers;
the central chandelier was surrounded by four smaller chandeliers.
The arch's keystone was replaced with an "R" keystone after Rose renovated the theater.
Rose added a second tier of Moorish-style boxes purely for decorative effect.
The carpet was redesigned in 1996 and again in 2008. Most of the original decoration was restored in 2008, when Rose's second tier of boxes was redesigned in a streamlined style.
The south wall of the auditorium contained emergency-exit doors to an alleyway,
which was converted into a smoking lounge in 1959.
Performers used this alleyway during
intermissions if they did not want to interact with members of the public.
The
backstage area contained
dressing rooms with bathrooms and windows, which local media described at the time as "the last word in utility and luxury".
The theater had been built as a fireproof structure with
skylights, water tanks, and hoses. The theater's offices were on the second floor, directly under the balcony, and were accessed from 41st Street.
During the 1959 renovation, Rose added a visitors' lounge for performers, and he replaced the roof and water tanks.
History
Development and early years
The Nederlander Theatre was constructed in 1920 as a carpenter's shop; plans filed with the New York City government called for a "3 sty
on-fireproofbrick Carpenter's shop and storage, club rooms, shower,
partmentsand tennis court".
It is one of a few Broadway theaters not constructed specifically to host Broadway shows.
In 1921, Walter C. Jordan acquired the building and spent $950,000 to convert it into a theater.
The stage house, mezzanine, proscenium, fire escape, and other theatrical equipment was built at a cost of $175,000.
Work was nearly completed by May 1921. The venue was originally supposed to be known as the Times Square Theatre, but this name was already being used by another structure at
217 West 42nd Street.
As such, Jordan renamed the structure the National Theatre at the end of July 1921,
shortly after booking ''Swords'' (
Sidney Howard
Sidney Coe Howard (June 26, 1891 – August 23, 1939) was an American playwright, dramatist and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1925 and a posthumous Academy Award in 1940 for the screenplay for ''Gone with the Wind''. ...
's first play
) as the theater's first production.
The
Shubert brothers
The Shubert family was responsible for the establishment of the Broadway district, in New York City, as the hub of the theater industry in the United States. They dominated the legitimate theater and vaudeville in the first half of the 20th cen ...
were hired as the theater's managers.
![Cornell-Will-Shakespeare-1923](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b4/Cornell-Will-Shakespeare-1923.jpg)
The theater opened on September 2, 1921, with ''Swords''.
John Willard's melodrama ''
The Cat and the Canary'', which opened at the National in February 1922,
was a major critical success
and ran for three months.
Walter Hampden
Walter Hampden Dougherty (June 30, 1879 in Brooklyn – June 11, 1955 in Los Angeles), known professionally as Walter Hampden, was an American actor and theatre manager. He was a major stage star on Broadway in New York who also made numerou ...
leased the National for a year beginning in 1923,
paying $1 million, which at the time was a record for a Broadway theater.
Hampden presented a revival of the play
''Cyrano de Bergerac'',
which was a success, lasting for 250 performances.
The theater building was less successful, having gone into
receivership
In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...
in November 1923 after Jordan failed to make payments on a mortgage.
When his lease expired, Hampden chose to instead operate his own theater.
The National then hosted the melodrama ''Silence'' in 1924, with
H. B. Warner, and the farce ''The Bride Retires'' in 1925, with
Lila Lee
Lila Lee (born Augusta Wilhelmena Fredericka Appel; July 25, 1905 – November 13, 1973) was a prominent screen actress, primarily a leading lady, of the silent film and early sound film eras.
Early life
The daughter of Augusta Fredericka Appe ...
.
Later in 1925, the theater staged ''
The Gorilla'', which transferred from the
Selwyn,
as well as a revival of ''
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 ...
''.
During 1926, the National hosted live performances by magician
Harry Houdini;
[; ] the play ''The Half-Caste'', starring
Fredric March
Fredric March (born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975) was an American actor, regarded as one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 1940s.Obituary '' Variety'', April 16, 1975, ...
;
and
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.
Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
's adaptation of the play ''Yellow''.
Jordan, who continued to own the theater, was charged with tax fraud in late 1926 after failing to pay the theater's property taxes.
Shubert management
1920s and 1930s
In February 1927, the Shubert brothers bought the National Theatre from the Sanjor Corporation, which had owned the theater for eight years.
Later that year, Willard staged a short-lived play, ''Fog'', at the theater.
This was followed in September 1927 by
Bayard Veiller
Bayard Veiller (January 2, 1869 – January 16, 1943) was an American playwright, screenwriter, producer and film director. He wrote for 32 films between 1915 and 1941.
Biography
He was born on January 2, 1869, in Brooklyn, New York to Phi ...
's melodrama ''
The Trial of Mary Dugan
''The Trial of Mary Dugan'' is a play written by Bayard Veiller.
The 1927 melodrama concerns a sensational courtroom trial of a showgirl accused of killing her millionaire lover. Her defense attorney is her brother, Jimmy Dugan. It was first pr ...
'', which ran at the National for nearly a year before relocating.
Subsequently, the
Martin Flavin
Martin Archer Flavin (November 2, 1883 – December 27, 1967) was an American playwright and novelist.
Biography
Flavin was born on November 2, 1883, in San Francisco, California.
He was a Sigma Chi at the University of Chicago, which he atte ...
play ''
The Criminal Code'' opened at the National in 1929 and lasted for 174 performances.
A troupe led by Chinese actor
Mei Lanfang
Mei Lan (22 October 1894 – 8 August 1961), better known by his stage name Mei Lanfang, was a notable Peking opera artist in modern Chinese theater. Mei was known as "Queen of Peking Opera". Mei was exclusively known for his female lead ...
briefly performed at the theater in early 1930,
followed later that year by the play ''Grand Hotel'' (based on
Vicki Baum
Hedwig "Vicki" Baum (; he, ויקי באום; January 24, 1888 – August 29, 1960) was an Austrian writer. She is known for the novel ''Menschen im Hotel'' ("People at a Hotel", 1929 — published in English as '' Grand Hotel''), one of h ...
's book ''
Grand Hotel''),
which ran for 459 performances.
At the onset of the
Great Depression, many Broadway theaters were impacted by declining attendance,
and the theater largely hosted
flops in 1932 and 1933.
Alfred E. Aarons and Harry J. Sommers leased the National for a year beginning in August 1933,
and they renovated the National's auditorium the next month.
Meanwhile, the Dry Dock Savings Bank took over the theater that September as a result of a foreclosure auction. By then, the National was in danger of being demolished because of a sharp increase in real-estate values.
The theater hosted
Sean O'Casey
Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; anglici ...
's play ''Within the Gates'' in 1934.
Subsequently,
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 Acad ...
's production of the drama ''
Ethan Frome
''Ethan Frome'' is a 1911 book by American author Edith Wharton. It is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. The novel has been adapted into a '' film of the same name''.
Plot
The novel is a framed narrative. The framing sto ...
'' was presented there in January 1936,
as well as
Noel Coward's anthology of plays ''
Tonight at 8:30'' that November.
The
Mercury Theatre
The Mercury Theatre was an independent repertory theatre company founded in New York City in 1937 by Orson Welles and producer John Houseman. The company produced theatrical presentations, radio programs and motion pictures. The Mercury als ...
company, led by
John Houseman and
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
, performed revivals of the plays
''Julius Caesar'' and ''
The Shoemaker's Holiday'' at the National in 1937 and 1938.
[; ] The
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...
drama ''
The Little Foxes
''The Little Foxes'' is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 of the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the lit ...
'', starring
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several prominent films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's '' L ...
,
[; ] then opened in February 1939 and lasted for 410 performances.
1940s and 1950s
The
Emlyn Williams
George Emlyn Williams, CBE (26 November 1905 – 25 September 1987) was a Welsh writer, dramatist and actor.
Early life
Williams was born into a Welsh-speaking, working class family at 1 Jones Terrace, Pen-y-ffordd, Ffynnongroyw, Flints ...
play ''
The Corn Is Green
''The Corn Is Green'' is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Mo ...
'' opened at the National in 1940,
starring
Ethel Barrymore for more than a year.
Margaret Webster
Margaret Webster (March 15, 1905 – November 13, 1972) was an American-British theater actress, producer and director. Critic George Jean Nathan described her as "the best director of the plays of Shakespeare that we have."
Life and care ...
's staging of ''
Macbeth'' then opened in late 1941.
''
The Patriots'' by
Sidney Kingsley
Sidney Kingsley (22 October 1906 – 20 March 1995) was an American dramatist. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play '' Men in White'' in 1934.
Life and career
Kingsley was born Sidney Kirschner in New York. He studied at ...
opened at the National in 1943;
it was followed later the same year by
Lerner and Loewe
Lerner and Loewe refers to the partnership between lyricist and librettist Alan Jay Lerner and composer Frederick Loewe.Kenny, Ellen, and James M. Salem. “A Guide to Critical Reviews, Part II: The Musical from Rodgers-and-Hart to Lerner-and-Loe ...
's first Broadway musical, ''
What's Up?'',
which was a flop.
A revival of
Anton Chekhov's play ''
The Cherry Orchard
''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...
'' was hosted at the National in 1944, with
Joseph Schildkraut
Joseph Schildkraut (22 March 1896 – 21 January 1964) was an Austrian-American actor. He won an Oscar for his performance as Captain Alfred Dreyfus in the film '' The Life of Emile Zola'' (1937); later, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for ...
and
Eva Le Gallienne
Eva Le Gallienne (January 11, 1899 – June 3, 1991) was a British-born American stage actress, producer, director, translator, and author. A Broadway star by age 21, Le Gallienne gave up her Broadway appearances to devote herself to founding t ...
,
[; ] and Barrymore appeared later that year in the play ''Embezzled Heaven''.
During the mid-1940s, the National hosted several productions with over one hundred performances each.
These included Lerner and Loewe's musical ''
The Day Before Spring
''The Day Before Spring'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.
Productions
The 1945 touring production closed in Chicago after three days due to a crippling coal strike. The show then opened at t ...
'' in 1945;
[; ] the revue ''
Call Me Mister'' in 1946;
and the tragedy ''
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
'' with
Judith Anderson
Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...
in 1947.
The next several shows were relatively short-lived, including an adaptation of
Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel ''
Crime and Punishment
''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...
'' in 1947, as well as revivals of ''Tonight at 8:30'' and ''Macbeth'' in 1948.
The National's next hit was
Charles Gaynor's revue ''
Lend an Ear'' in late 1948.
This was followed the next year by
Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...
's ''
The Big Knife
''The Big Knife'' is a 1955 melodrama directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the 1949 play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winte ...
'',
as well as a revival of ''
Caesar and Cleopatra'' with
Cedric Hardwicke
Sir Cedric Webster Hardwicke (19 February 1893 – 6 August 1964) was an English stage and film actor whose career spanned nearly 50 years. His theatre work included notable performances in productions of the plays of Shakespeare and Shaw, and ...
and
Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer (; born Lilli Marie Peiser; 24 May 1914 – 27 January 1986) was a German actress and writer. After beginning her career in British films in the 1930s, she would later transition to major Hollywood productions, earning a Golden Glob ...
.
In 1950, the theater featured live performances by Les Ballets de Paris
and a revival of ''
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
'' with
Louis Calhern
Carl Henry Vogt (February 19, 1895 – May 12, 1956), known professionally as Louis Calhern, was an American stage and screen actor. Well known to film noir fans for his role as the pivotal villain in 1950's '' The Asphalt Jungle'', he was ...
.
A revival of ''
The Constant Wife
''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair.
A “sparkling comedy o ...
'', featuring
Brian Aherne
William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States.
His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...
,
Katharine Cornell, and
Grace George
Grace George (December 25, 1879 – May 19, 1961) was a prominent American stage actress, who had a long career on Broadway stage and also appeared in two films.
Biography
Grace George was born on December 25, 1879. She married producer Willi ...
, arrived at the theater the following year.
[; ] Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thr ...
's play
''Camino Real'' was staged at the National in early 1953,
and the comedy of manners ''
Sabrina Fair
''Sabrina Fair'' (subtitled "''A Woman of the World''") is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor and produced by the Playwrights' Company. It ran on Broadway for a total of 318 performances, opening at the
National Theatre on November ...
'' opened later the same year.
[; ] The National hosted the play ''
Inherit the Wind'' starting in 1955.
[; ] With 806 performances, ''Inherit the Wind'' was the theater's most successful non-musical to date,
as well as its longest-lasting production for several decades.
By the 1950s,
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 ...
operated nearly half of all legitimate theaters in New York City, prompting the U.S. federal government to file an
antitrust suit against the Shubert family. As part of a settlement made in February 1956, the Shuberts had to sell off some of their theaters.
In particular, the Shuberts had to sell the National Theatre within one year of the ruling, and they had to sell three other theaters within two years.
That September, the Shuberts sold the National to Harry Fromkes for an estimated $900,000; at the time, ''Inherit the Wind'' was still being staged at the theater.
Fromkes died after a fall from his apartment in February 1958,
prompting the closure of the play ''
Winesburg, Ohio'', which was being performed there at the time.
Fromkes's firm
defaulted on its mortgage after his death, and the
New York Supreme Court appointed a
receiver to manage the theater that March. The receiver booked the
Harry Kurnitz play ''
Once More, with Feeling!'', which opened in late 1958
and ran for 263 performances.
Rose management
Theatrical producer
Billy Rose bought the National at a foreclosure auction in June 1958 for $849,500.
At the time, Rose worked for
William Zeckendorf
William Zeckendorf Sr. (June 30, 1905 – September 30, 1976) was a prominent American real estate developer. Through his development company Webb and Knapp — for which he began working in 1938 and which he purchased in 1949 — he developed ...
's real-estate company
Webb and Knapp
Webb and Knapp was a real estate development firm.
The company is most famous for developing the Roosevelt Airfield, which was the launching site of the transatlantic flights of Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. It was also the firm at which ...
; this prompted Zeckendorf to sue Rose for ownership of the theater. Rose spent $500,000 to renovate the theater, hiring
Oliver Messel
Oliver Hilary Sambourne Messel (13 January 1904 – 13 July 1978) was an English artist and one of the foremost stage designers of the 20th century.
Early life
Messel was born in London, the second son of Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard Messel a ...
to redecorate the auditorium in a red, gold, and white color scheme.
The venue was renamed the Billy Rose Theatre and reopened on October 18, 1959, with the play ''
Heartbreak House
''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...
'',
[; ] which had 112 performances.
The next year, the theater hosted ''
Dear Liar
''Dear Liar'', full title ''Dear Liar: A Comedy of Letters'' is a play by American actor, director, and playwright Jerome Kilty. It was first staged in 1957 and published in 1960. A television adaptation was made in 1964, directed by David Gardner ...
'',
which was notable as Katharine Cornell's last Broadway appearance,
[; ] as well as a drama based on
John Hersey
John Richard Hersey (June 17, 1914 – March 24, 1993) was an American writer and journalist. He is considered one of the earliest practitioners of the so-called New Journalism, in which storytelling techniques of fiction are adapted to n ...
's novel ''The Wall''.
The Billy Rose's next hit was
Edward Albee's play ''
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...
'', which opened in 1962
[; ] and ran for 660 performances over the next two years.
Throughout the 1960s, the theater was often empty for extended periods because of a lack of productions.
Albee's play ''
Tiny Alice
''Tiny Alice'' is a three-act play written by Edward Albee that premiered on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theatre in 1964.
Synopsis
Powerful widow Miss Alice and her lawyer offer a generous grant to the church on the condition that the cardinal' ...
'', featuring
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...
and
Irene Worth
Irene Worth, CBE (June 23, 1916March 10, 2002) was an American stage and screen actress who became one of the leading stars of the British and American theatre. She pronounced her given name with three syllables: "I-REE-nee".
Worth made her Br ...
, opened at the theater at the end of 1964,
but it was not successful.
The theater hosted a variety of
repertory
A repertory theatre is a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation.
United Kingdom
Annie Horniman founded the first modern repertory theatre in Manchester after withdrawin ...
productions in the late 1960s. These included
Yiddish theater
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic rev ...
performances by the Jewish State Theater of Poland and performances by the
Paul Taylor Dance Company
Paul Taylor Dance Company, is a modern dance company, formed by dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor (1930—2018). The modern dance company is based in New York, New York and was founded in 1954.
Taylor originally performed in the companies of ...
in 1967. The Playwrights Repertory Theatre performed several plays by Albee and
Samuel Beckett at the theater in 1968,
and the
Minnesota Dance Theatre The Minnesota Dance Theatre (MDT) dance company and school in Minneapolis, Minnesota was founded by Loyce Houlton in 1962 as the Contemporary Dance Playhouse. It was renamed the Minnesota Dance Theatre in 1969. Lise Houlton succeeded her mother as ...
performed two plays there later that year.
Following a performance by the
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (AAADT) is a modern dance company based in New York City. It was founded in 1958 by choreographer and dancer Alvin Ailey. It is made up of 32 dancers, led by artistic director Robert Battle and associate ...
in early 1969, the revival of Noel Coward's ''
Private Lives
''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetu ...
'' was presented later the same year.
The Billy Rose hosted two notable shows in 1971: the
Royal Shakespeare Company's version of Shakespeare's ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream'',
as well as
Harold Pinter's drama ''
Old Times
''Old Times'' is a play by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was direct ...
''.
The
City Center Acting Company performed four plays at the Billy Rose in late 1973 and early 1974, marking the company's first Broadway appearance. This was followed in 1974 by
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...
's play ''
Jumpers
Jumper or Jumpers may refer to:
Clothing
* Jumper (sweater), a long-sleeve article of clothing; also called a top, pullover, or sweater
**A waist-length top garment of dense wool, part of the Royal Navy uniform and the uniform of the United Stat ...
'', which had 48 performances before closing.
The theater's backstage area was damaged by a storm later the same year and was not repaired; as a result, at least two productions were unable to lease the theater in 1975.
Several theatrical personalities alleged that the
Billy Rose Foundation (which had acquired the theater after Rose died), had allowed the structure to deteriorate. In response, foundation officials said that operating the theater was not its main priority.
The Taylor Dance Company returned to the Billy Rose in 1976.
The theater's first legitimate show in three years,
Gus Weill
Gus Weill, Sr. (March 12, 1933 – April 13, 2018), was an American author, public relations specialist, and political consultant originally from Lafayette, Louisiana, Lafayette, Louisiana.
Background
Weill graduated in 1955 from Louisiana Sta ...
's ''The November People'', closed after a single performance in January 1978.
Nederlander management
Late 1970s and 1980s
Two theatrical operators, the
Nederlander Organization and the Cooney-Marsh Organization (the latter of which was a partnership between producer
Ray Cooney
Raymond George Alfred Cooney, OBE (born 30 May 1932) is an English playwright, actor, and director.
His biggest success, '' Run for Your Wife'' (1983), ran for nine years in London's West End and is its longest-running comedy. He has had 17 ...
and real-estate developer
Laurie Marsh), purchased the venue in December 1978.
The venue was immediately renamed the Trafalgar Theatre, a reference to the new owners' British backgrounds;
the owners hoped that the new name would evoke
Trafalgar Square
Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson comm ...
in London or the
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
.
James M. Nederlander
James M. Nederlander (March 31, 1922 – July 25, 2016) was an American theatrical producer who served as chairman of the Nederlander Organization, one of the largest operators of live theaters and music venues in the United States. of the Nederlander Organization said: "We want to put big English hits in the theater".
The Trafalgar hosted two productions under its new name:
''
Whose Life Is It Anyway?'' in 1979
and ''
Betrayal
Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. ...
'' in 1980.
James M. Nederlander renamed the theater again in 1980 in honor of his father, American theater impresario David T. Nederlander,
who had died thirteen years prior. The first show at the renamed Nederlander Theatre would have been the musical ''
One Night Stand'', which closed during previews in October 1980.
Lena Horne performed her solo show ''
Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music'' at the theater starting in May 1981;
[; ] the show lasted for more than a year.
In general, the Nederlander Theatre had difficulty securing bookings during the 1980s. The next several productions had relatively short runs,
including one show, ''
Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap'', which closed on its opening day in 1983.
The theater's productions in the mid-1980s included ''
84 Charing Cross Road'', ''
Amen Corner'', ''
Strange Interlude
''Strange Interlude'' is an experimental play in nine acts by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill began work on it as early as 1923 and developed its scenario in 1925; he wrote the play between May 1926 and the summer of 1927, and complete ...
'' and
''Raggedy Ann'',
[; ] as well as a live show taped by
Robert Klein
Robert Klein (born February 8, 1942) is an American stand-up comedian, singer, and actor. He is known for his appearances on stage and screen. He has released four standup comedy specials: ''A Child of the 50s'' (1973), ''Mind Over Matter'' (197 ...
in June 1986.
In addition,
Jerry Weintraub
Jerome Charles "Jerry" Weintraub (September 26, 1937 – July 6, 2015) was an American film producer, talent manager and actor whose television films won him three Emmys.
He began his career as a talent agent, having managed relatively unknown ...
purchased a stake in the operation of the Nederlander Theatre in 1984.
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 Nederlander as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. While the LPC commenced a wide-ranging effort to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters in 1987, the Nederlander was among the few theaters for which the LPC denied either exterior or interior landmark status.
David Wilkerson
David Ray Wilkerson (May 19, 1931 – April 27, 2011) was an American Christian evangelist, best known for his book ''The Cross and the Switchblade''. He was the founder of the addiction recovery program Teen Challenge, and founding pastor of th ...
, founding pastor of the
Times Square Church, leased the theater in January 1988, a month after the play ''Sherlock's Last Case'' had closed. The theater quickly became overcrowded during church services;
by 1989, the 1,150-seat Nederlander Theatre was at
standing-room only
An event is described as standing-room only when it is so well-attended that all of the chairs in the venue are occupied, leaving only flat spaces of pavement or flooring for other attendees to stand, at least those spaces not restricted by occup ...
capacity five days a week.
This prompted the Nederlanders to lease the
Mark Hellinger Theatre
The Mark Hellinger Theatre (formerly the 51st Street Theatre and the Hollywood Theatre) is a church (building), church building at 237 West 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, which forme ...
to the Times Square Church in February 1989;
the Times Square Church moved to the Hellinger the next month.
The Nederlander Theatre's next legitimate show, the musical ''Dangerous Games'', lasted four performances.
1990s and 2000s
![Nederlander-theatre-rent](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Nederlander-theatre-rent.jpg)
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 Broadway Alliance's first show at the Nederlander Theatre was the play ''
Our Country's Good
''Our Country's Good'' is a 1988 play written by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel '' The Playmaker''. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales ...
'', which lasted from April to June 1991.
More than one year elapsed before the Nederlander hosted its next production, the one-man show ''Solitary Confinement'' with
Stacy Keach
Walter Stacy Keach Jr. (born June 2, 1941) is an American actor and narrator. He has played mainly dramatic roles throughout his career, often in law enforcement or as a private detective. His most prominent role was as Mickey Spillane's fiction ...
, which ran for two weeks in November 1992.
The theater was still difficult to rent
and did not host any Broadway shows for over three years;
it cost around $250,000 a year to maintain, regardless of whether it was vacant.
The Nederlander hosted concerts by
Aretha Franklin in April 1993 and by
Jackson Browne that November. The Nederlander Organization unsuccessfully tried to move
Cy Coleman's musical ''
The Life'' there in 1994, but the theater instead hosted auditions for the musical ''
Busker Alley''.
The next year, the Nederlander hosted another audition, this time for the musical ''
The Capeman
''The Capeman'' is a musical play with music by Paul Simon and book and lyrics by Simon and Derek Walcott based on the life of convicted murderer Salvador Agrón. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998 to poor reviews and ran for 68 p ...
''.
Jonathan Larson
Jonathan David Larson (February 4, 1960 – January 25, 1996) was an American composer, lyricist and playwright most famous for writing the musicals ''Rent'' and '' Tick, Tick... Boom!'', which explored the social issues of multiculturalism, ...
's
Pulitzer Prize-winning musical ''
Rent
Rent may refer to:
Economics
*Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property
*Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production
*Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
'' was booked at the Nederlander in early 1996;
the musical's producers had selected the Nederlander Theatre specifically because of its dilapidated surroundings, which reflected the show's setting.
The theater's facade and interior were remodeled to resemble a
lower Manhattan nightclub.
''Rent'' premiered in April 1996
and quickly became popular.
In contrast to many Broadway productions (in which tickets for seats at the rear of the theater were generally the cheapest), ''Rent'' producers reserved the first two rows for the cheapest tickets. This prompted fans to sleep outside the theater to wait for these tickets.
The opening of ''Rent'', as well as the renovation of the nearby New Amsterdam Theatre, contributed to the revitalization of the surrounding block of 41st Street.
''Rent'' ultimately ran for 5,140 performances through 2008,
becoming the theater's longest-running production
as well as the
seventh-longest-running Broadway show of all time.
After ''Rent'' closed, the Nederlander was refurbished to accommodate its next show.
Workers expanded the restrooms and restored the original design motifs (which had been largely removed during the 1961 renovation).
A revival of ''
Guys and Dolls
''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...
'', starring
Oliver Platt
Oliver Platt (born January 12, 1960) is a Canadian-born American actor. He is known for his starring roles in many films such as ''Flatliners'' (1990), ''Beethoven'' (1992), '' Indecent Proposal'', ''The Three Musketeers'' (both 1993), '' Execut ...
and
Lauren Graham, opened in March 2009;
the show played 113 performances before closing that June.
The
Neil Simon
Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...
plays ''
Brighton Beach Memoirs
''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes ''Biloxi Blues'' and ''Broadway Bound''.
Productions
''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' had a pre-Broadway e ...
'' and ''
Broadway Bound
''Broadway Bound'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' and '' Biloxi Blues''.
Plot overview
The play is about Eugene and his older brother, Stanley, dea ...
'' were planned to be performed at the theater in late 2009, with alternating performances of each play.
Due to poor ticket sales for ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', the show closed on November 1, 2009, one week after its opening.
Simon also canceled the planned production of ''Broadway Bound'', blaming the theater's location for the rapid closure of ''Brighton Beach Memoirs''.
2000s to present
![BenFankhauser](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4e/BenFankhauser.jpg)
The musical ''
Million Dollar Quartet
"Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956, at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about the session ...
'' made its Broadway debut at the theater in April 2010,
running for 489 performances
before moving
off-Broadway in June 2011.
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's production of the musical ''
Newsies'' opened in March 2012;
the show's run was extended because of its popularity,
and ''Newsies'' ultimately lasted until August 2014.
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 Stat ...
in 2014, the Nederlanders agreed to improve disabled access at their nine Broadway theaters, including the Nederlander Theatre. ''
Love Letters
A love letter is an expression of love in written form. However delivered, the letter may be anything from a short and simple message of love to a lengthy explanation and description of feelings.
History
One of the oldest references to a l ...
'' was originally scheduled to run at the Nederlander after ''Newsies'' closed.
Instead, the musical ''
Honeymoon in Vegas
''Honeymoon in Vegas'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bergman and starring James Caan, Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Plot
Private Detective ("Private eye") Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) swore to hi ...
'' opened at the theater in January 2015,
followed by ''Amazing Grace'' that July.
The Nederlander hosted two short-lived shows in 2016. The musical ''
Disaster!'' made its Broadway debut at the theater that March, lasting two months,
while a revival of ''
Motown: The Musical'' opened that July and ran for less than a month.
The musical ''
War Paint'' ran at the Nederlander from April to November 2017,
followed by ''
Pretty Woman: The Musical'' from August 2018 to August 2019.
The Nederlander then hosted two live appearances in late 2019:
's ''For The Girls'' in November
and
Harry Connick Jr.'s ''A Celebration of Cole Porter'' the following month.
''
The Lehman Trilogy
''The Lehman Trilogy'' is a three-act play by Italian novelist and playwright Stefano Massini. It follows the lives of three immigrant brothers from when they arrive in America and found investment firm through to the collapse of the company in ...
'' was planned to open at the Nederlander in March 2020. The show was in previews
when all Broadway theaters were shut down 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 identi ...
. The Nederlander reopened on September 25, 2021, with previews of ''The Lehman Trilogy'',
which ran from October 2021 to January 2022.
The musical ''
Mr. Saturday Night'' then ran from April to September 2022,
and it was followed by
Jefferson Mays
Lewis Jefferson Mays (born June 8, 1965) is an American actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Tony Award, a Helen Hayes Award, a Lucille Lortel Award, two Drama Desk Awards, two Outer Critics Circle Awards and three Ob ...
's solo production of ''
A Christmas Carol'' at the end of the year.
[ The musical comedy ''Shucked'' is scheduled to open at the Nederlander in April 2023.][
]
Notable productions
National Theatre
* 1921: ''Trilby
A trilby is a narrow-brimmed type of hat. The trilby was once viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is sometimes called the "brown trilby" in Britain Roetzel, Bernhard (1999). ''Gentleman's Guide to Grooming and Style''. Barnes & Noble. and ...
''
* 1922: '' The Cat and the Canary''
* 1923: ''Cyrano de Bergerac
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist.
A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...
''
* 1925: '' The Gorilla''
* 1925: ''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 ...
''
* 1925: '' The Monkey Talks''
* 1927: ''The Trial of Mary Dugan
''The Trial of Mary Dugan'' is a play written by Bayard Veiller.
The 1927 melodrama concerns a sensational courtroom trial of a showgirl accused of killing her millionaire lover. Her defense attorney is her brother, Jimmy Dugan. It was first pr ...
''
* 1929: '' The Criminal Code''
* 1930: '' Grand Hotel''
* 1935: '' Seven Keys to Baldpate''
* 1936: ''Ethan Frome
''Ethan Frome'' is a 1911 book by American author Edith Wharton. It is set in the fictitious town of Starkfield, Massachusetts. The novel has been adapted into a '' film of the same name''.
Plot
The novel is a framed narrative. The framing sto ...
''
* 1936: '' The County Chairman''
* 1936: '' Tonight at 8:30''
* 1937: ''Red Harvest
''Red Harvest'' (1929) is a novel by Dashiell Hammett. The story is narrated by the Continental Op, a frequent character in Hammett's fiction, much of which is drawn from his own experiences as an operative of the Pinkerton Detective Agency (fic ...
''
* 1937: ''Brother Rat
''Brother Rat'' is a 1938 American comedy drama film about cadets at Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia, directed by William Keighley, and starring Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Eddie Albert (in his film debut), Jane Wyman, and ...
''
* 1938: ''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, ...
''
* 1938: '' The Shoemaker's Holiday''
* 1939: ''The Little Foxes
''The Little Foxes'' is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 of the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the lit ...
''
* 1940: ''Journey to Jerusalem
''Journey to Jerusalem'' is a 1940 play by Maxwell Anderson about a trip made to Jerusalem by the Holy Family when Jesus was twelve years old.
In the play, Anderson parallels ancient Biblical events with the rise of Adolf Hitler, embodied in the p ...
''
* 1940: ''The Corn Is Green
''The Corn Is Green'' is a 1938 semi-autobiographical play by Welsh dramatist and actor Emlyn Williams. The play premiered in London at the Duchess Theatre in September 1938; with Sybil Thorndike as Miss Moffat and Williams himself portraying Mo ...
''
* 1941: '' Macbeth''
* 1942: ''Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...
''
* 1943: '' The Patriots''
* 1943: '' What's Up?''
* 1944: ''The Cherry Orchard
''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...
''
* 1945: '' The Assassin''
* 1945: ''The Day Before Spring
''The Day Before Spring'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.
Productions
The 1945 touring production closed in Chicago after three days due to a crippling coal strike. The show then opened at t ...
''
* 1946: '' Call Me Mister''
* 1947: '' Anna Lucasta''
* 1947: ''Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
''
* 1947: ''Crime and Punishment
''Crime and Punishment'' ( pre-reform Russian: ; post-reform rus, Преступление и наказание, Prestupléniye i nakazániye, prʲɪstʊˈplʲenʲɪje ɪ nəkɐˈzanʲɪje) is a novel by the Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. ...
''
* 1948: '' Tonight at 8:30''
* 1948: '' Macbeth''
* 1948: '' Lend an Ear''
* 1949: ''The Big Knife
''The Big Knife'' is a 1955 melodrama directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the 1949 play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winte ...
''
* 1949: '' Caesar and Cleopatra''
* 1950: ''King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
''
* 1951: ''The Constant Wife
''The Constant Wife'', a play written in 1926 by W. Somerset Maugham, is a comedy whose modern and amusing take on marriage and infidelity gives a quick-witted, alternative view on how to deal with an extramarital affair.
A “sparkling comedy o ...
''
* 1952: '' Candida''
* 1953: '' The Bat''
* 1953: '' Camino Real''
* 1953: ''Sabrina Fair
''Sabrina Fair'' (subtitled "''A Woman of the World''") is a romantic comedy written by Samuel A. Taylor and produced by the Playwrights' Company. It ran on Broadway for a total of 318 performances, opening at the
National Theatre on November ...
''
* 1955: '' Inherit the Wind''
* 1957: ''The Tunnel of Love
''The Tunnel of Love'' is a 1958 romantic comedy film directed by Gene Kelly and starring Doris Day and Richard Widmark. The film follows a married suburban couple who, for reasons unknown, are unable to conceive a child and soon endure endless ...
''
* 1958: '' Winesburg, Ohio''
* 1958: '' Once More, with Feeling!''
Billy Rose Theatre
*1959: ''Heartbreak House
''Heartbreak House: A Fantasia in the Russian Manner on English Themes'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw, first published in 1919 and first played at the Garrick Theatre in November 1920. According to A. C. Ward, the work argues that "cul ...
''
*1960: ''Dear Liar
''Dear Liar'', full title ''Dear Liar: A Comedy of Letters'' is a play by American actor, director, and playwright Jerome Kilty. It was first staged in 1957 and published in 1960. A television adaptation was made in 1964, directed by David Gardner ...
''
*1962: '' A Family Affair''
*1962: ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...
''
*1964: ''Tiny Alice
''Tiny Alice'' is a three-act play written by Edward Albee that premiered on Broadway at the Billy Rose Theatre in 1964.
Synopsis
Powerful widow Miss Alice and her lawyer offer a generous grant to the church on the condition that the cardinal' ...
''
*1965: '' The Right Honourable Gentleman''
*1966: '' Threepenny Opera''
*1966: ''The Rose Tattoo
''The Rose Tattoo'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams in 1949 and 1950; after its Chicago premiere on December 29, 1950, he made further revisions to the play for its Broadway premiere on February 2, 1951, and its publication by ...
''
*1967: '' Mirele Efros''
*1967: ''Mother Courage and Her Children
''Mother Courage and Her Children'' (german: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder, links=no) is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956), with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin. Four theatrica ...
''
*1968: ''Here's Where I Belong
''Here's Where I Belong'' is a musical with a book by Alex Gordon and Terrence McNally, lyrics by Alfred Uhry, and music by Robert Waldman. The musical closed after one performance on Broadway.
Background
Based on John Steinbeck's novel '' East o ...
''
*1968: '' Soldiers''
*1968: ''Box
A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...
'' & '' Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung''
*1968: ''The Death of Bessie Smith
''The Death of Bessie Smith'' is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee, written in 1959 and premiered in West Berlin the following year. The play consists of a series of conversations between Bernie and his friend Jack, Jack and an of ...
'' & '' The American Dream''
*1968: ''Krapp's Last Tape
''Krapp's Last Tape'' is a 1958 one-act play, in English, by Samuel Beckett. With a cast of one man, it was written for Northern Irish actor Patrick Magee and first titled "Magee monologue". It was inspired by Beckett's experience of listenin ...
'' & ''The Zoo Story
''The Zoo Story'' is a one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee. His first play, it was written in 1958 and completed in just three weeks. The play explores themes of isolation, loneliness, miscommunication as anathematization, social di ...
''
*1968: ''Happy Days
''Happy Days'' is an American television sitcom that aired first-run on the ABC network from January 15, 1974, to July 19, 1984, with a total of 255 half-hour episodes spanning 11 seasons. Created by Garry Marshall, it was one of the most su ...
''
*1968: ''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
''The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'' (german: Der aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui, links=no), subtitled "A parable play", is a 1941 play by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional 1930s Chicago ...
''
*1969: ''Private Lives
''Private Lives'' is a 1930 comedy of manners in three acts by Noël Coward. It concerns a divorced couple who, while honeymooning with their new spouses, discover that they are staying in adjacent rooms at the same hotel. Despite a perpetu ...
''
*1971: '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''
*1971: ''Old Times
''Old Times'' is a play by the Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter. It was first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in London on 1 June 1971. It starred Colin Blakely, Dorothy Tutin, and Vivien Merchant, and was direct ...
''
*1972: '' The Country Girl''
*1972: ''Purlie
''Purlie'' is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis's 1961 play ''Purlie Victorious'', which was later made into the 1963 film '' Gone Are the Days!'' and ...
''
*1973: '' The Three Sisters''
*1973: ''The Beggar's Opera
''The Beggar's Opera'' is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satiri ...
''
*1973: '' Measure for Measure''
*1973: '' Scapin''
*1974: ''Jumpers
Jumper or Jumpers may refer to:
Clothing
* Jumper (sweater), a long-sleeve article of clothing; also called a top, pullover, or sweater
**A waist-length top garment of dense wool, part of the Royal Navy uniform and the uniform of the United Stat ...
''
Trafalgar Theatre/Nederlander Theatre
*1979: '' Whose Life Is It Anyway?''
*1980: ''Betrayal
Betrayal is the breaking or violation of a presumptive contract, trust, or confidence that produces moral and psychological conflict within a relationship amongst individuals, between organizations or between individuals and organizations. ...
''
*1980: '' One Night Stand''
*1981: '' Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music''
*1982: '' 84 Charing Cross Road''
*1983: '' Teaneck Tanzi: The Venus Flytrap''
*1983: '' Amen Corner''
*1985: ''Strange Interlude
''Strange Interlude'' is an experimental play in nine acts by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. O'Neill began work on it as early as 1923 and developed its scenario in 1925; he wrote the play between May 1926 and the summer of 1927, and complete ...
''
*1986: '' Robert Klein on Broadway''
*1986: ''Raggedy Ann
Raggedy Ann is a character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle (1880–1938) that appeared in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and a triangle nose. Gruelle r ...
''
*1991: ''Our Country's Good
''Our Country's Good'' is a 1988 play written by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, adapted from the Thomas Keneally novel '' The Playmaker''. The story concerns a group of Royal Marines and convicts in a penal colony in New South Wales ...
''
*1996: ''Rent
Rent may refer to:
Economics
*Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property
*Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production
*Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...
''
[; ]
*2009: ''Guys and Dolls
''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on "The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also bo ...
''
*2009: ''Brighton Beach Memoirs
''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes ''Biloxi Blues'' and ''Broadway Bound''.
Productions
''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' had a pre-Broadway e ...
''
*2010: ''Million Dollar Quartet
"Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956, at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about the session ...
''
*2012: '' Newsies''
*2015: ''Honeymoon in Vegas
''Honeymoon in Vegas'' is a 1992 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Andrew Bergman and starring James Caan, Nicolas Cage and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Plot
Private Detective ("Private eye") Jack Singer (Nicolas Cage) swore to hi ...
''
*2015: ''Amazing Grace
"Amazing Grace" is a Christian hymn published in 1779 with words written in 1772 by English Anglican clergyman and poet John Newton (1725–1807). It is an immensely popular hymn, particularly in the United States, where it is used for both ...
''
*2016: '' Disaster!''
*2016: '' Motown: The Musical''
*2017: '' War Paint''
*2018: '' Pretty Woman: The Musical''
*2019: '' Kristin Chenoweth: For The Girls''
*2019: '' Harry Connick, Jr.: A Celebration of Cole Porter''
*2021: ''The Lehman Trilogy
''The Lehman Trilogy'' is a three-act play by Italian novelist and playwright Stefano Massini. It follows the lives of three immigrant brothers from when they arrive in America and found investment firm through to the collapse of the company in ...
''
*2022: '' Mr. Saturday Night''
*2022: '' A Christmas Carol''
*2023: ''Shucked''
Box office record
''Rent'' set the Nederlander Theatre's box-office record for the week ending November 29, 2005, when it grossed $744,496 while playing to 97 percent capacity. ''Newsies'' achieved the box office record for the Nederlander Theatre in 2012, playing to 101 percent capacity and grossed $1,024,516.60 for eight performances the week ending April 15, 2012. This gross was surpassed by ''War Paint'' the week ending April 23, 2017, when that show grossed $1,042,449. The current gross record was set by ''Pretty Woman: The Musical'', which grossed $1,266,873 over eight performances for the week ending December 9, 2018.
See also
*James M. Nederlander Theatre
The James M. Nederlander Theatre is a theater located at 24 West Randolph Street in the Loop area of downtown Chicago, Illinois. Previously known as the Oriental Theatre, it opened in 1926 as a deluxe movie palace and vaudeville venue. Today the ...
- Nederlander Organization theater in Chicago
* List of Broadway theaters
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
External links
*
*
Nederlander Theatre
at the Internet Broadway Database
{{Times Square
1921 establishments in New York City
Broadway theatres
Nederlander Organization
Theater District, Manhattan
Theatres completed in 1921