The Ethel Barrymore 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 241 West
47th Street 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 ...
. Opened in 1928, it was designed by
Herbert J. Krapp
Herbert J. Krapp (1887, New York City, - 1973, Florida) was a theatre architect and designer in the early part of the twentieth century.
Krapp was an apprentice with the Herts & Tallant firm until 1915. Between 1912 and 1916 Krapp began working d ...
in the
Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
,
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, and
Adam style
The Adam style (or Adamesque and "Style of the Brothers Adam") is an 18th-century neoclassical style of interior design and architecture, as practised by Scottish architect William Adam and his sons, of whom Robert (1728–1792) and James (173 ...
s for 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 theater, named in honor of actress
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...
, has 1,058 seats and is 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 ...
. Both the
facade and the auditorium interior 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 ground-floor facade is made of
rusticated blocks 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 ...
. The theater's main entrance consists of two archways and a doorway shielded by a
marquee. The upper stories contain an arched screen made of terracotta, inspired by Roman baths, which is surrounded by white brick. The auditorium contains ornamental plasterwork, a sloped orchestra level, a large balcony, and a
coved ceiling
A coved ceiling is a ceiling that has had the visual appearance of the point where the ceiling meets the walls improved by the addition of coving.
It can also refer to a ceiling, like in a Mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid ...
with a dome. The balcony level contains
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 ...
seats topped by decorative arches. The theater was also designed with a basement lounge and a now-demolished stage house.
The Shubert brothers developed the Barrymore Theatre after Ethel Barrymore agreed to have the brothers manage her theatrical career. It opened on December 20, 1928, with ''The Kingdom of God'', and was the last pre-
Depression house developed by the Shuberts. Ethel Barrymore only worked with the Shuberts until 1932 and last performed in the theater in 1940. The Barrymore has consistently remained in use as a
legitimate theater since its opening, hosting plays and musicals; it is one of the few Broadway theaters to have never been sold or renamed. The theater was refurbished in the 1980s and the 2000s.
Site
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is on 243 West
47th Street, on the north sidewalk between
Eighth Avenue and
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 ...
, 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 square
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 47th Street and a depth of 100 feet.
The Barrymore shares the block with the
Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, formerly the Biltmore Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 261 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the neo-Renaissa ...
to the west, the
Longacre Theatre
The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was desi ...
to the north, and the
Morgan Stanley Building
1585 Broadway, also the Morgan Stanley Building, is a 42-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. The building was designed by Gwathmey Siegel & Associates Architects and Emery R ...
to the east. Other nearby buildings include the
Eugene O'Neill Theatre
The Eugene O'Neill Theatre, previously the Forrest Theatre and the Coronet Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 230 West 49th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and ...
and
Walter Kerr Theatre
The Walter Kerr Theatre, previously the Ritz Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 219 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed for the Shube ...
to the north;
Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan
The Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan (originally the Holiday Inn Crowne Plaza Manhattan) is a hotel at 1601 Broadway, between 48th and 49th Streets, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The hotel is operated by thir ...
to the northeast;
20 Times Square
20 Times Square is a 39-story mixed-use development at 701 Seventh Avenue, on the northeast corner with West 47th Street at the northern end of Times Square, Manhattan, New York City. (May 21, 2014) The development includes one of Ian Schrager ...
to the east; the
Hotel Edison
Hotel Edison is at 228 West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1931, it is part of the Triumph Hotels brand, owned by Shimmie Horn and Gerald Barad. Thomas Edison turned on the lights when it opened. It accommodated 1,0 ...
and
Lunt-Fontanne Theatre
The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, originally the Globe Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 205 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1910, the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre was designed by Carrère and Hasting ...
to the south; and the
Lena Horne Theatre
The Lena Horne Theatre (previously the Mansfield Theatre and the Brooks Atkinson Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 256 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1926, it was designed by Herbert J ...
and
Paramount Hotel
The Paramount Hotel (formerly the Century-Paramount Hotel) is a hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb, the hotel is at 235 West 46th Street, between Eighth Av ...
to the southwest.
Design
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre was designed by
Herbert J. Krapp
Herbert J. Krapp (1887, New York City, - 1973, Florida) was a theatre architect and designer in the early part of the twentieth century.
Krapp was an apprentice with the Herts & Tallant firm until 1915. Between 1912 and 1916 Krapp began working d ...
in several styles and was constructed in 1928 for 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 ...
.
The theater is named after actress
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...
(1879–1959), a prominent member of the
Barrymore family
The Barrymore family is an American acting family.
The Barrymores are also the inspiration of a Broadway play called ''The Royal Family'', which debuted in 1927. Many members of the Barrymore family are not mentioned in this article. The surnam ...
of actors,
and is 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 ...
.
The Barrymore has been used continuously as a
legitimate house and, unlike most Broadway theaters, has never been sold or renamed since its opening.
The Barrymore was the last theater to be built by the Shubert Organization until 2003.
Facade
The
facade is symmetrically arranged. The ground floor is clad in
rusticated blocks 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 ...
, painted in a limestone color, above a granite
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 ...
. At ground level, the auditorium entrance includes two arched openings, each with four aluminum and glass doors. The
voussoir
A voussoir () is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.
Although each unit in an arch or vault is a voussoir, two units are of distinct functional importance: the keystone and the springer. The ...
s of the arches are made of rusticated blocks, while the
keystones
A keystone (or capstone) is the wedge-shaped stone at the apex of a masonry arch or typically round-shaped one at the apex of a vault. In both cases it is the final piece placed during construction and locks all the stones into position, allo ...
at the centers of each arch are shaped like
brackets
A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...
. Within each arch, the spaces above the doors are infilled with black glazed tiles; originally, these spaces were filled with metal tracery. Between the arched doors is a smaller doorway, which is topped by a large keystone. Above all of these openings is a
marquee with the name "Barrymore", which is supported by ornate bronze brackets.
The presence of the large marquee obscures the contrast between the ground floor and upper stories.
The brackets originally supported a smaller bronze-and-glass canopy, which curved upward in front of either arch.
On either side of the doors are terracotta niches with bronze-framed sign boards. Above the signboards are terracotta
wreath
A wreath () is an assortment of flowers, leaves, fruits, twigs, or various materials that is constructed to form a circle .
In English-speaking countries, wreaths are used typically as household ornaments, most commonly as an Advent and Chri ...
s, which surround circular panels with the gilded letters "The Barrymore Theater". Each wreath is topped by a curved
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 ...
. The western and eastern portions of the facade are recessed slightly and contain recessed openings.
The opening to the east is marked as the stage door.
A
frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
, decorated with leaf and wave
moldings, runs above the first floor.
To the east, there was originally a stage house with fire escapes on its facade, but this has since been replaced with the Morgan Stanley Building.
![W 47 St Nov 2021 38](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/W_47_St_Nov_2021_38.jpg)
The upper stories are faced in
bonded glazed-white brick.
The central part of the facade includes a terracotta screen with an
Ancient Roman
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
-inspired pattern, surrounded by a cord molding. The screen includes a grid of squares, each of which contain central medallions with bars radiating in eight directions. To the left of the screen, the wall contains a sign with the name "Barrymore" and a metal fire escape. A metal sign hangs from the facade to the right. The top of the screen curves upward in a manner resembling a
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, and a brick
parapet
A parapet is a barrier that is an extension of the wall at the edge of a roof, terrace, balcony, walkway or other structure. The word comes ultimately from the Italian ''parapetto'' (''parare'' 'to cover/defend' and ''petto'' 'chest/breast'). Whe ...
rises above the screen. A
Greek key frieze and a
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 talon moldings runs above the entire facade.
Contemporary media from the theater's opening cited the top of the facade as being above the sidewalk, while the screen was wide.
Auditorium
The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony,
boxes
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 ...
and a
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 arch. The space is designed with plaster decorations in low
relief
Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...
.
The auditorium is shaped almost as a square.
According to the Shubert Organization, the auditorium has 1,058 seats;
meanwhile,
Playbill
''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...
cites 1,039 seats
and
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 thea ...
cites 1,096 seats.
The physical seats are divided into 582 seats in the orchestra, 196 at the front of the balcony, 256 at the rear of the balcony, and 24 in the boxes.
There were originally 1,100 seats, divided into 570 in the orchestra, 494 in the balcony, and 36 in the boxes.
The seats were designed to be "unusually comfortable",
with steel backs and bottoms. A source from the theater's opening cited the auditorium as having an old-gold and brown color scheme.
The interior uses a combination of
Elizabethan
The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...
,
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, and
Adam-style design motifs.
Seating areas
The rear of the orchestra contains a promenade.
The rear wall of the promenade contains three doorways, above which is a frieze.
The promenade ceiling is curved and contains Elizabethan
strapwork
In the history of art and design, strapwork is the use of stylised representations in ornament of ribbon-like forms. These may loosely imitate leather straps, parchment or metal cut into elaborate shapes, with piercings, and often interwoven in ...
patterns.
There is a
wrought iron
Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
balustrade between the orchestra promenade and the last row of orchestra seating. Two staircases lead from either end of the promenade to the balcony level; they contain wrought-iron railings with shield and strapwork motifs.
The orchestra is
raked, sloping down toward the stage.
The side walls of the orchestra contain a
wainscot
Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials.
Panelling was developed in antiquity to make roo ...
ing that is divided into panels.
The walls were originally painted cinnamon and gold.
There are lighting
sconces on the walls.
The balcony level is cantilevered above the orchestra and is divided into front and rear sections by an aisle halfway across its depth.
The crossover aisle connects to
segmentally arched exit doors on both of the side walls.
There are console brackets above the arched exit doors, which support terraces that project slightly from an opening on either wall.
The rest of the balcony's side walls are made of simple plaster and contain wall sconces. The front rail of the balcony contains high-relief strapwork patterns, which have been covered over with light boxes. The underside of the balcony has plasterwork panels with crystal light fixtures suspended from medallions.
The original lighting fixtures, consisting of inverted bowls of
cut glass
Cut glass or cut-glass is a technique and a style of decorating glass. For some time the style has often been produced by other techniques such as the use of moulding, but the original technique of cutting glass on an abrasive wheel is still u ...
,
have since been replaced.
Air-conditioning vents are placed along some of the panels under the balcony, as well as at the balcony's rear. There is a technical booth behind the balcony's rear wall.
On either side of the proscenium are three boxes, raised about from the orchestra floor,
which curve toward the side walls.
At orchestra level is a wainscoted wall interrupted by three segmental-arched openings, one beneath each box.
The undersides of the boxes contain moldings and crystal light fixtures similar to those on the balcony.
The box fronts are decorated with three Elizabethan-style plasterwork bands. From bottom to top, the bands depict shields with
putti
A putto (; plural putti ) is a figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually naked and sometimes winged. Originally limited to profane passions in symbolism,Dempsey, Charles. ''Inventing the Renaissance Putto''. University of ...
's faces;
rosettes; and strapwork around shields.
Immediately behind the boxes are six gold-colored, fluted
pilasters
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...
with Ionic
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 ...
.
There are half-columns in front of the pilasters that flank the center box. Above the pilasters is an
architrave
In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns.
The term can ...
with plaster strapwork reliefs, as well as a balustrade containing vase-shaped
baluster
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 cons ...
s. There is a
lunette
A lunette (French ''lunette'', "little moon") is a half-moon shaped architectural space, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void.
A lunette may also be segmental, and the arch may be an arc take ...
above the balustrade; it includes a square shield motif, which is connected by
latticework
__NOTOC__
Latticework is an openwork framework consisting of a criss-crossed pattern of strips of building material, typically wood or metal. The design is created by crossing the strips to form a grid or weave.
Latticework may be functional &nda ...
bands to sphinxes on either side.
The lunette is surrounded by strapwork bands and several concentric semicircular arches.
The semicircular arches have design motifs such as shells, shields,
anthemia
Anthemia ( el, Ανθέμια) is a former municipality in Imathia, 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 ...
, and half-columns.
The arches, combined with the lunette, constitute a sunburst pattern.
The boxes and semicircular arches are surrounded by a plaster frame.
Other design features
Next to the boxes is a three-centered proscenium arch.
The archway is surrounded by a wide band with strapwork motifs, with narrow bands of leaves on either side. The
spandrel
A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fill ...
s, above the corners of the proscenium arch, contain decorative motifs.
The proscenium measures high and wide. The depth of the auditorium to the proscenium is , while the depth to the front of the stage is .
According to sources from the theater's completion, the proscenium opening was wide, while the arch itself was high. As arranged, the stage itself measured deep by wide. The stage gridiron was placed above the stage.
There are
traps throughout the entire stage, as well as a
counterweight fly system
A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of rope lines, blocks (pulleys), counterweights and related devices within a theater (structure), theater that enables a stage crew to fly (hoist) quickly, quietly and safely components suc ...
.
The ceiling rises from the floor of the orchestra.
The
coved ceiling
A coved ceiling is a ceiling that has had the visual appearance of the point where the ceiling meets the walls improved by the addition of coving.
It can also refer to a ceiling, like in a Mosque
A mosque (; from ar, مَسْجِد, masjid ...
contains a dome at its center, measuring wide.
At the center of the dome is a grilled centerpiece,
which is surrounded by several Elizabethan-style circles, as well as four medallions placed at 90-degree angles.
A glass chandelier hangs from the center of the dome.
The rest of the dome is divided into wedge-shaped sections, which are arranged in a circular pattern around the centerpiece.
Outside of the dome, the coved ceiling contains latticework panels, surrounded by a strapwork pattern. Where the coved ceiling curves onto the side walls, there is a band with water-leaf motifs.
Originally, this band was colored in green, gold, and gray.
Other interior spaces
The theater was built with a general lounge in the basement, which measured . Separate spaces in the lounge were provided for women and men, and there was also a telephone booth.
According to contemporary news articles, the basement lounge was decorated with an ivory-colored strapwork ceiling, modeled after English designs. The lounge had antique Elizabethan furniture, a mulberry-and-taupe carpet, and walls with an "old English texture in antique color".
When the theater opened,
Gilbert Miller
}
Gilbert Heron Miller (July 3, 1884 – January 3, 1969) was an American theatrical producer.
Born in New York City, he was the son of English-born theatrical producer Henry Miller and Bijou Heron, a former child actress. Raised and educated in ...
lent a bronze bust of Ethel Barrymore, which was designed by A. C. Laddy.
The basement also had a large dressing room for choruses.
On the first floor, Ethel Barrymore had her own modern-style reception and dressing room.
The second floor had a chorus room and a smaller dressing room. The theater was built with three additional floors, each with four dressing rooms.
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 ...
. During the 1900s and 1910s, many theaters in Midtown Manhattan were developed by 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 ...
, one of the major theatrical syndicates of the time.
The Shuberts originated from
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffa ...
, and expanded
downstate into New York City in the first decade of the 20th century.
The brothers controlled a quarter of all plays and three-quarters of theatrical ticket sales in the U.S. by 1925.
The Shuberts continued to build Broadway theaters in the 1920s,
with the construction of four theaters on 48th and 49th Streets,
as well as the
Imperial Theatre
The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed fo ...
on 45th Street.
Development and early years
![Ethel Barrymore Theatre NYC](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Ethel_Barrymore_Theatre_NYC.jpg)
In 1927, playwright
Zoe Akins
Zoe Byrd Akins (October 30, 1886 – October 29, 1958) was an American playwright, poet, and author. She won the 1935 Pulitzer Prize for drama for '' The Old Maid''.
Early life
Zoe Byrd Akins was born in Humansville, Missouri, second of three ...
told Ethel Barrymore about an offer from the Shubert brothers,
who proposed developing a Broadway theater and naming it in her honor if she agreed to be represented by the Shuberts.
[; ] Barrymore agreed,
and the Shuberts hired Krapp to design the theater, construction of which started in late April or early May 1928.
At the time, Barrymore was 48 years old and a prominent theatrical personality;
she had been represented by the
Frohman brothers
The Frohman brothers were American theatre owners, including on Broadway, and theatrical producers who also owned and operated motion picture production companies.
The brothers were:
*Daniel Frohman (1851–1940)
*Gustave Frohman (1854–1930)
*C ...
for almost her entire career.
In September 1928,
Lee Shubert
Lee Shubert (born Levi Schubart; March 25, 1871– December 25, 1953) was a Lithuanian-born American theatre owner/operator and producer and the eldest of seven siblings of the theatrical Shubert family.
Biography
Born to a Jewish family, the so ...
announced that the theater would open the next month, with Barrymore starring in G. Martinez Sierra's play ''The Kingdom of God''.
The theater's completion was delayed, prompting ''The Kingdom of God'' to go on a several-week tour.
The Barrymore Theatre ultimately opened on December 20, 1928.
[; ; ] During the opening, which was attended by many New York City socialites, Ethel Barrymore received seven curtain calls before she was able to give a speech thanking the Shuberts.
The Barrymore Theatre received so many items of Barrymore memorabilia that, within a month of the theater's opening, the Shuberts considered creating a library to house these gifts.
Ethel Barrymore appeared at her eponymous theater again in 1929, when she co-starred 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 n ...
in ''The Love Duel'',
which ran for 88 performances.
[; ]
The Barrymore's next several plays did not feature Ethel Barrymore.
[; ] These included a transfer of
John Drinkwater's comedy ''Bird in Hand'' in September 1929,
as well as ''
Death Takes a Holiday
''Death Takes a Holiday'' is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic drama starring Fredric March, Evelyn Venable and Guy Standing. It is based on the 1924 Italian play ''La morte in vacanza'' by Alberto Casella (1891–1957), as adapted in English ...
'' that December,
the latter of which had a comparatively long run of 181 performances.
1930s and 1940s
In 1930, the theater staged the comedy ''
Topaze''
and the romance ''His Majesty's Car''.
Ethel Barrymore's next appearance at the Barrymore was in the short-lived
blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
comedy ''
Scarlet Sister Mary
''Scarlet Sister Mary'' is a 1928 novel by Julia Peterkin. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1929. The book was called obscene and banned at the public library in Gaffney, South Carolina. ''The Gaffney Ledger'' newspaper, however, se ...
'' in November 1930,
which saw the Broadway debut of the actress's daughter, Ethel Barrymore Colt.
[; ] More successful was ''
The Truth Game
''The Truth Game'' is a comedy play by the British writer Ivor Novello, first staged in 1928.
Film adaptations
In 1932 Novello went to Hollywood to adapt the play for MGM as ''But the Flesh Is Weak
''But the Flesh Is Weak'' is a 1932 Americ ...
'' with
Ivor Novello
Ivor Novello (born David Ivor Davies; 15 January 1893 – 6 March 1951) was a Welsh actor, dramatist, singer and composer who became one of the most popular British entertainers of the first half of the 20th century.
He was born into a musical ...
and
Billie Burke
Mary William Ethelbert Appleton Burke (August 7, 1884 – May 14, 1970) was an American actress who was famous on Broadway and radio, and in silent and sound films. She is best known to modern audiences as Glinda the Good Witch of the North ...
, which opened that December and had 105 performances.
In 1931, the Barrymore hosted ''
Mélo'' with
Edna Best
Edna Clara Best (3 March 1900 – 18 September 1974) was a British actress.
Early life
Born in Hove, Sussex, England, she was educated in Brighton and later studied dramatic acting under Miss Kate Rorke who was the first professor of Drama at ...
and
Basil Rathbone
Philip St. John Basil Rathbone MC (13 June 1892 – 21 July 1967) was a South African-born English actor. He rose to prominence in the United Kingdom as a Shakespearean stage actor and went on to appear in more than 70 films, primarily costume ...
,
[; ] followed that November by Ethel Barrymore in ''
The School for Scandal
''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777.
Plot
Act I
Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sna ...
'',
[; ] whose son John Drew Colt made his first Broadway appearance in that show.
The Barrymore's productions in 1932 included a 144-performance run of ''Whistling in the Dark'',
[; ] as well as the short-lived comedy ''Here Today''
and a transfer of ''
There's Always Juliet
''There's Always Juliet'' is a 1931 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten about an American architect who falls in love with an Englishwoman.
It ran for 118 performances at the Apollo Theatre in London West End with a cast of Herber ...
''.
The same year, Ethel Barrymore stopped performing under the Shuberts' management, prompting the brothers to remove her first name from the marquee.
At the end of 1932,
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history.
Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...
and
Claire Luce
Claire Luce (October 15, 1903 – August 31, 1989) was an American stage and screen actress, dancer and singer. Among her few films were ''Up the River'' (1930), directed by John Ford and starring Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart in their ...
starred in the musical ''
Gay Divorce
''Gay Divorce'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song " Night and Day" in which Astaire d ...
'',
where Astaire performed without his sister
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...
for the first time.
[; ]
![W 47 St Nov 2021 25](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/W_47_St_Nov_2021_25.jpg)
The theater's plays in 1933 included ''
Design for Living
''Design for Living'' is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Cowa ...
'' with
Alfred Lunt
Alfred David Lunt (August 12, 1892 – August 3, 1977) was an American actor and director, best known for his long stage partnership with his wife, Lynn Fontanne, from the 1920s to 1960, co-starring in Broadway theatre, Broadway and West End thea ...
,
Lynn Fontanne
Lynn Fontanne (; 6 December 1887 – 30 July 1983) was an English actress. After early success in supporting roles in the West End, she met the American actor Alfred Lunt, whom she married in 1922 and with whom she co-starred in Broadway and We ...
, and
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
,
[; ; ] as well as the mystery ''Ten Minute Alibi'' and the drama ''Jezebel''.
The Barrymore went 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 ca ...
the same year, and the receiver deeded the theater to the Barrymore Theater Corporation.
The Barrymore had seven
flops
In computing, floating point operations per second (FLOPS, flops or flop/s) is a measure of computer performance, useful in fields of scientific computations that require floating-point calculations. For such cases, it is a more accurate meas ...
in 1934.
Coward, Lunt, and Fontanne returned in January 1935 for the play ''
Point Valaine
''Point Valaine'' is a play by Noël Coward. It was written as a vehicle for Alfred Lunt and his wife Lynn Fontanne, who starred together in the original Broadway production in 1934. The play was not seen in Britain until 1944 and was not staged ...
'', which lasted for only 56 performances.
[; ] The Barrymore hosted a transfer of the play ''Distaff Side'' that March,
and
Philip Merivale
Philip Merivale (2 November 1886 – 12 March 1946) was an English film and stage actor and screenwriter.
Life and career
Merivale was born in Rehutia, Manickpur, India, to railway engineer Walter Merivale (1855–1902) and Emma Magda ...
and
Gladys Cooper
Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television.
Beginning as a teenager in Edwardian musi ...
staged
revivals of Shakespeare's ''
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 ...
'' and ''
Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...
'' that October.
The play ''Parnell'' opened in November 1935 and ran for 98 performances;
it was followed by a double bill of
Irwin Shaw
Irwin Shaw (February 27, 1913 – May 16, 1984) was an American playwright, screenwriter, novelist, and short-story author whose written works have sold more than 14 million copies. He is best known for two of his novels: ''The Young Lions'' ( ...
's ''
Bury the Dead
''Bury the Dead'' (1936) is an Expressionism, expressionist and anti-war drama by the American playwright Irwin Shaw. It dramatizes the refusal of six dead soldiers during an unspecified war—who represent a cross-section of American society—to ...
'' and ''Prelude'' in April 1936,
then
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, Flintsh ...
's ''
Night Must Fall
''Night Must Fall'' is a play, a psychological thriller, by Emlyn Williams, first performed in 1935. There have been three film adaptations, ''Night Must Fall'' (1937); a 1954 adaptation on the television anthology series ''Ponds Theater'' star ...
'' that September.
[; ] Clare Boothe Luce
Clare Boothe Luce ( Ann Clare Boothe; March 10, 1903 – October 9, 1987) was an American writer, politician, U.S. ambassador, and public conservative figure. A versatile author, she is best known for her 1936 hit play '' The Women'', which h ...
's ''
The Women'' opened with an all-female cast in December 1936
and was a hit, running for 657 performances.
[; ]
The
Playwrights' Company
The Playwrights Company (1938–1960) was an American theatrical production company.
History
Maxwell Anderson, S. N. Behrman, Sidney Howard, Elmer Rice, Robert E. Sherwood and John F. Wharton established The Playwrights Company in 1938 (incorpor ...
next presented the musical ''
Knickerbocker Holiday
''Knickerbocker Holiday'' is a 1938 musical written by Kurt Weill (music) and Maxwell Anderson (book and lyrics); based loosely on Washington Irving's ''Knickerbocker's History of New York'' about life in 17th-century New Netherland (old New ...
'' with
in 1938.
The next year, the Barrymore hosted ''
No Time for Comedy
''No Time for Comedy'' is a 1940 American comedy-drama film based on the play of the same name by S. N. Behrman, starring James Stewart, Rosalind Russell, Genevieve Tobin and Charlie Ruggles.
Plot summary
Gaylord Esterbrook (Stewart), a reporte ...
'' 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 ...
,
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier (; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director who, along with his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud, was one of a trio of male actors who dominated the Theatre of the U ...
, and
Margalo Gillmore
Margaret Lorraine "Margalo" Gillmore (31 May 1897 – 30 June 1986) was an English-born American actress who had a long career as a stage actress on Broadway. She also appeared in films and TV series, mostly in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Family ...
for 185 performances,
[; ]
and ''
Key Largo
Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...
'' with
Paul Muni
Paul Muni (born Frederich Meshilem Meier Weisenfreund; September 22, 1895– August 25, 1967) was an American stage and film actor who grew up in Chicago. Muni was a five-time Academy Award nominee, with one win. He started his acting career in ...
,
Uta Hagen
Uta Thyra Hagen (12 June 1919 – 14 January 2004) was a German-American actress and theatre practitioner. She originated the role of Martha in the 1962 Broadway premiere of ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' by Edward Albee, who called her "a p ...
, and
José Ferrer
José Vicente Ferrer de Otero y Cintrón (January 8, 1912 – January 26, 1992) was a Puerto Rican actor and director of stage, film and television. He was one of the most celebrated and esteemed Hispanic American actors during his lifetime, w ...
for 105 performances.
[; ] In 1940, Ethel Barrymore appeared in the short-lived play ''An International Incident'',
her last appearance at her namesake theater.
[; ] The musical ''
Pal Joey'', featuring
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran Kelly (August 23, 1912 – February 2, 1996) was an American actor, dancer, singer, filmmaker, and choreographer. He was known for his energetic and athletic dancing style and sought to create a new form of American dance accessibl ...
and
Vivienne Segal
Vivienne Sonia Segal (April 19, 1897 – December 29, 1992) was an American actress and singer.
Early years
Segal was born on April 19, 1897, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was the elder daughter of Jewish parents Bernhard Segal, a physician, ...
with a score by
Rodgers and Hart
Rodgers and Hart were an American songwriting partnership between composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and the lyricist Lorenz Hart (1895–1943). They worked together on 28 stage musicals and more than 500 songs from 1919 until Hart ...
, opened later that year
[; ; ] and ran for 270 performances before transferring to another theater.
The next hit was ''
Best Foot Forward'' with
Rosemary Lane in 1941, which had 326 performances.
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 ...
and
Leo Brady
Leo Brady (January 23, 1917 – November 18, 1984) was a multidimensional American writer and theater artist who also achieved great success as a teacher of young playwrights.
After writing some well-received plays as an undergrad at Catholic Uni ...
's ''Count Me In'' had a short run in 1942,
[; ] but
Anton Chekhov
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...
's ''
The Three Sisters'' 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 ...
was more successful, with 123 performances.
Another success was the war drama ''Tomorrow the World'' in 1943,
[; ] which had 499 performances.
Revivals predominated at the theater in the mid-1940s.
These included ''
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. The play gave actress Ka ...
'' and ''
Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
'' in 1945,
as well as ''
The Duchess of Malfi
''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, ...
''
and ''
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 ...
'' in 1946.
[; ] In 1947,
Gian Carlo Menotti
Gian Carlo Menotti (, ; July 7, 1911 – February 1, 2007) was an Italian composer, librettist, director, and playwright who is primarily known for his output of 25 operas. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept h ...
presented a double bill of the musical plays ''
The Telephone
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
'' and ''
The Medium
''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first profes ...
'' at the theater,
which ran for 212 performances.
Later that year, the Barrymore presented
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 thre ...
's ''
A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...
'', originally featuring
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 ...
,
Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole; November 11, 1922 – September 11, 2002) was an American theatre, film, and television actress. She achieved prominence for portraying Stella Kowalski in the original production of Tennessee Williams' ''A Streetcar N ...
,
Karl Malden
Karl Malden (born Mladen George Sekulovich; March 22, 1912 – July 1, 2009) was an American actor. He was primarily a character actor, who according to Robert Berkvist, "for more than 60 years brought an intelligent intensity and a homespun aut ...
, and
Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British-American actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Glob ...
.
[; ; ] The play, one of several that
Irene Mayer Selznick
Irene Gladys Selznick (née Mayer; April 2, 1907 – October 10, 1990) was an American socialite and theatrical producer.
Early life
Irene Gladys Mayer was born in Brooklyn, the younger of two sisters born to film producer Louis B. Mayer and h ...
produced at the theater, ran for 855 performances over the next two years.
1950s to 1970s
![Jo Van Fleet Anthony Perkins Look Homeward Angel 1958](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Jo_Van_Fleet_Anthony_Perkins_Look_Homeward_Angel_1958.jpg)
Menotti hosted another show at the Barrymore in 1950: the opera ''
The Consul
''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera.
Performance history
Its first performance was on March 1, 1950 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as the ...
'' with
Patricia Neway
Patricia Neway (September 30, 1919 – January 24, 2012) was an American operatic soprano and musical theatre actress who had an active international career during the mid-1940s through the 1970s. One of the few performers of her day to enjoy equal ...
and
Marie Powers
Marie Powers (1902–1973) was an American contralto who was best known for her performance as Madame Flora in Gian Carlo Menotti’s ''The Medium'', a role that she played on stage, screen and television.
Early life
On June 20, 1902, Powers wa ...
.
Later that year, the Barrymore hosted ''
Bell, Book and Candle
''Bell, Book and Candle'' is a 1958 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Richard Quine from a screenplay by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1950 Broadway play of the same title by John Van Druten. It stars Kim Novak as a witch who ...
'' with husband-and-wife team
Rex Harrison
Sir Reginald Carey "Rex" Harrison (5 March 1908 – 2 June 1990) was an English actor. Harrison began his career on the stage in 1924. He made his West End debut in 1936 appearing in the Terence Rattigan play ''French Without Tears'', in what ...
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 Cinema of the United States, Hollywood produ ...
,
[; ; ] which ran for 233 performances.
[; ]
Another married couple starred in another hit in 1951: ''
The Fourposter
''The Fourposter'' is a play written by Jan de Hartog. The two-character story spans 35 years, from 1890 to 1925, as it focuses on the trials and tribulations, laughters and sorrows, and hopes and disappointments experienced by Agnes and Michael t ...
'' with Jessica Tandy and
Hume Cronyn
Hume Blake Cronyn Jr. OC (July 18, 1911 – June 15, 2003) was a Canadian-American actor and writer.
Early life
Cronyn, one of five children, was born in London, Ontario, Canada. His father, Hume Blake Cronyn, Sr., was a businessman and ...
,
who stayed for 632 performances.
[; ] This was followed in 1953 by a transfer of ''
Misalliance
''Misalliance'' is a play written in 1909–1910 by George Bernard Shaw. The play takes place entirely on a single Saturday afternoon in the conservatory of a large country house in Hindhead, Surrey in Edwardian era England.
It is a continuation ...
''.
[; ] The same year, the Barrymore staged ''
Tea and Sympathy'' with
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...
,
Leif Erickson, and
John Kerr,
which had 712 total performances.
Shows in 1955 included ''
The Desperate Hours'';
[; ; ] a personal appearance by
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 ...
;
and the drama ''
The Chalk Garden
''The Chalk Garden'' is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered in the US in 1955 and was produced in Britain the following year. It tells the story of the imperious Mrs St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of ...
''.
Leonard Sillman Leonard Sillman (May 9, 1908 - January 23, 1982) was an American Broadway producer. Born in Detroit, Michigan on May 9, 1908, he was the brother of June Carroll, the brother-in-law of Sidney Carroll and the uncle of Steve Reich and Jonathan Carroll. ...
's revue ''New Faces of 1956'' ran for 220 performances,
featuring
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...
in her Broadway debut, as well as female impersonator
T. C. Jones
Thomas Craig "T. C." Jones (October 26, 1920 – September 25, 1971) was an American Drag queen, female impersonator, actor, and dancer who from the mid-1940s to the late 1960s performed on stage, in nightclubs, films, and on television. He was k ...
.
Ketti Frings
Ketti Frings (28 February 1909 – 11 February 1981) was an American writer, playwright, and screenwriter who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1958.
Biography
Early years
Born Katherine Hartley in Columbus, Ohio, Frings attended Principia College, began ...
's adaptation of ''
Look Homeward, Angel
''Look Homeward, Angel: A Story of the Buried Life'' is a 1929 novel by Thomas Wolfe. It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be a ...
'' premiered in 1957
and ran 530 performances.
''
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 ...
'' opened in March 1959,
staying for seven months and running 530 total performances.
[; ] When Ethel Barrymore died in June of that year, the theater's lights were dimmed in its namesake's honor.
Another comedy, ''
A Majority of One
''A Majority of One'' is a play by Leonard Spigelgass. The 1959–1960 Broadway production was directed by Dore Schary and ran for three previews and 556 performances, with Gertrude Berg, Cedric Hardwicke, and Ina Balin.
Plot
The play is a d ...
'' 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
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 ...
, moved to the Barrymore later that year
and ran through June 1960.
The Barrymore's productions of the early 1960s included ''
Critic's Choice'' with
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and rai ...
and
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick (June 19, 1905 – October 25, 1994) was an American actress. She won a Primetime Emmy Award and was nominated for an Academy Award and two Tony Awards.
Early life
Natwick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of Mildre ...
in 1960;
''
The Complaisant Lover
''The Complaisant Lover'' is a 1959 comedy play by Graham Greene. Consisting of two acts, each of two scenes, the play revolves around an affair between Mary Rhodes and Clive Root, the book seller friend of her husband, Victor. The play takes pla ...
'' with
Michael Redgrave
Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elect ...
,
Richard Johnson Richard or Dick Johnson may refer to:
Academics
* Dick Johnson (academic) (1929–2019), Australian academic
* Richard C. Johnson (1930–2003), professor of electrical engineering
* Richard A. Johnson, artist and professor at the University of ...
, and
Googie Withers
Georgette Lizette Withers, CBE, AO (12 March 191715 July 2011), known professionally as Googie Withers, was an English entertainer who was a dancer and actress with a lengthy career spanning some nine decades in theatre, film, and television. ...
in 1961;
[; ; ]
and ''A Gift of Time'' with Fonda and
Olivia de Havilland
Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...
in 1962.
Later in the decade, the theater hosted ''
The Amen Corner
''The Amen Corner'' is a three-act play by James Baldwin. It was Baldwin's first work for the stage following the success of his novel '' Go Tell It on the Mountain''. The drama was first published in 1954, and inspired a short-lived 1983 Broadwa ...
'' in 1965,
followed the next year by ''
Wait Until Dark
''Wait Until Dark'' is a play by Frederick Knott, first performed on Broadway in 1966 and often revived since then. A film version was released in 1967, and the play was published in the same year.
Synopsis
Susy Hendrix is a blind Greenwich V ...
''
[; ] and a limited engagement by
Les Ballets Africains
Les Ballets Africains is the national dance company of Guinea and is based in Conakry. It is one of the first African national dance companies. It has toured extensively around the world. Although the French name might suggest the idea of European ...
.
This was followed in 1967 by
Peter Shaffer
Sir Peter Levin Shaffer (; 15 May 1926 – 6 June 2016) was an English playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. He wrote numerous award-winning plays, of which several were adapted into films.
Early life
Shaffer was born to a Jewish family in L ...
's twin production of ''
Black Comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
'' and ''
White Lies.''
[; ]
The Barrymore's last hit of the 1960s was a revival of ''
The Front Page
''The Front Page'' is a Broadway comedy about newspaper reporters on the police beat. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, it was first produced in 1928 and has been adapted for the cinema several times.
Plot
The ...
'' in 1969.
[; ]
The Barrymore hosted several hits in the 1970s, several of which won
Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...
and other accolades.
In 1970, ''
Conduct Unbecoming
Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman (or conduct unbecoming for short) is an offense that is subject to court martial in the armed forces of some nations.
Use in the United Kingdom
The phrase was used as a charge in courts martial of ...
'' opened at the Barrymore, featuring
Michael Barrington
Michael Barrington (3 July 1924 – 5 June 1988) was a British actor best known for his television work. His best remembered role is as the ineffectual Governor Venables in the BBC sitcom ''Porridge'' which featured Ronnie Barker in the lead r ...
and
Jeremy Clyde
Michael Jeremy Thomas Clyde (born 22 March 1941) is an English actor and musician. During the 1960s, he was one-half of the folk duo Chad & Jeremy (with Chad Stuart), who had little success in the UK, but were an object of interest to American ...
.
[; ] The next year,
Alec McCowen
Alexander Duncan McCowen, (26 May 1925 – 6 February 2017) was an English actor. He was known for his work in numerous film and stage productions.
Early life
McCowen was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, the son of Mary (née Walkden), a dancer ...
appeared in ''
The Philanthropist'',
as well as
Melvin Van Peebles
Melvin Van Peebles (born Melvin Peebles; August 21, 1932 – September 21, 2021) was an American actor, filmmaker, writer, and composer. He worked as an active filmmaker into the 2000s. His feature film debut, ''The Story of a Three-Day Pass'' ( ...
's musical ''
Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death
''Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death (Tunes from Blackness)'' is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Melvin Van Peebles. The musical contains some material also on three of Van Peebles' albums, '' Brer Soul'', ''Ain't Supposed to Die ...
''.
The New Phoenix Repertory Company premiered at the Barrymore in late 1973, with three works:
''The Visit'',
''Chemin de Fer'', and
''Holiday''.
This was followed in 1974 by ''Noël Coward in Two Keys'' with Tandy, Cronyn, and
Anne Baxter
Anne Baxter (May 7, 1923 – December 12, 1985) was an American actress, star of Hollywood films, Broadway productions, and television series. She won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe, and was nominated for an Emmy.
A granddaughter of Fra ...
,
a double bill of Coward's plays ''
A Song at Twilight
''A Song at Twilight'' is a play in two acts by Noël Coward. It is one of a trio of plays collectively titled '' Suite in Three Keys'', all of which are set in the same suite in a luxury hotel in Switzerland. The play depicts an elderly writ ...
'' and ''
Come Into the Garden, Maud''. The Barrymore hosted the play ''
Travesties
''Travesties'' is a 1974 play by Tom Stoppard. The play centres on the figure of Henry Carr, an elderly man who reminisces about Zürich in 1917 during the First World War, and his interactions with James Joyce when he was writing ''Ulysses'', ...
'' with
John Wood in 1975,
[; ] as well as ''
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 ...
'' with
Robert Duvall
Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...
and ''
I Love My Wife
''I Love My Wife'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Michael Stewart and music by Cy Coleman, based on a play by Luis Rego.
A satire of the sexual revolution of the 1970s, the musical takes place on Christmas Eve in suburban Trenton, New ...
'' in 1977.
[; ; ] The Barrymore's last hit of the decade was the 1979 play ''
Romantic Comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
'', featuring
Mia Farrow
Maria de Lourdes Villiers "Mia" Farrow ( ; born February 9, 1945) is an American actress. She first gained notice for her role as Allison MacKenzie in the television soap opera '' Peyton Place'' and gained further recognition for her subsequent ...
and
Anthony Perkins
Anthony Perkins (April 4, 1932 – September 12, 1992) was an American actor, director, and singer. Perkins is best remembered for his role as Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's suspense thriller '' Psycho'', which made him an influential ...
.
During the run of ''Romantic Comedy'', the Barrymore Theatre became one of the first theaters to distribute electronic headsets to help hard-of-hearing visitors. The theater also hosted a party in December 1979 to celebrate what would have been Ethel Barrymore's birthday.
1980s and 1990s
![W 47 St Dec 2021 96](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/W_47_St_Dec_2021_96.jpg)
The Barrymore continued to host hits in the early 1980s.
[; ] These included ''Lunch Hour'', which opened in 1980 with
Gilda Radner
Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989) was an American actress and comedian, and one of the seven original cast members of the "Not Ready For Prime Time Players" on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). In he ...
and
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...
,
followed in 1981 by ''
The West Side Waltz
''The West Side Waltz'' is a play by Ernest Thompson.
The play focuses on Margaret Mary Elderdice, an aging, widowed pianist living in a dreary Upper West Side apartment, and her relationships with a prim, virginal violinist neighbor and the young ...
'' with
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
and
Dorothy Loudon
Dorothy Loudon (September 17, 1925 – November 15, 2003) was an American actress and singer. She won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical in 1977 for her performance as Miss Hannigan in ''Annie''. Loudon was also nominated for To ...
.
Hume Cronyn returned to the Barrymore in 1982, making his playwriting debut with ''
Foxfire
Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire, is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with ...
'', in which he costarred with Jessica Tandy and
Keith Carradine
Keith Ian Carradine ( ; born August 8, 1949) is an American actor who has had success on stage, film, and television. He is known for his roles as Tom Frank in Robert Altman's film ''Nashville'', Wild Bill Hickok in the HBO series '' Deadwood ...
.
[; ] This was followed at the end of 1983 by ''
Baby
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
'',
[; ] which ran for 241 performances.
The next year,
David Rabe
David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 (''Sticks and Bones'') and also received Tony award nominations for Best Play in 1974 (''In the Boom Boom Room''), 19 ...
's ''
Hurlyburly
''Hurlyburly'' is a dark comedy play by David Rabe, first staged in 1984. The title refers to dialogue from Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''.
Plot
''Hurlyburly'' depicts the intersecting lives of several low-to-mid-level Hollywood players in the 198 ...
'' transferred from off-Broadway
and ran for 343 performances.
The Barrymore's productions in 1986 included the solo show ''Lillian'' with
Zoe Caldwell
Zoe Ada Caldwell, (14 September 1933 – 16 February 2020) was an Australian actress. She was a four-time Tony Award winner, winning Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' Slapstick Tragedy'' (1966), and Best Actress in a Play for '' The Pri ...
,
as well as ''
Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
'', the latter of which ran for 385 performances through 1987.
The
August Wilson
August Wilson ( Frederick August Kittel Jr.; April 27, 1945 – October 2, 2005) was an American playwright. He has been referred to as the "theater's poet of Black America". He is best known for a series of ten plays, collectively called ' (or ...
musical ''
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 ...
'' opened at the Barrymore in 1988.
The following year, the Barrymore hosted ''Metamorphosis'' with
Mikhail Baryshnikov
Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; lv, Mihails Barišņikovs; born January 28, 1948) is a Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Latvian-born R ...
,
as well as a 12-performance run of
David Hare David Hare may refer to:
*David Hare (philanthropist) (1775–1842), Scottish philanthropist
*David Hare (artist) (1917–1992), American sculptor and photographer
*David Hare (playwright) (born 1947), English playwright and theatre and film direc ...
's ''
The Secret Rapture''.
During the late 1980s, the Shuberts renovated the Barrymore as part of a restoration program for their Broadway theaters, and the Shuberts also sold the Barrymore's
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 legal ...
for development.
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 to consider protecting the Barrymore as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. The LPC designated the Barrymore's facade as a landmark on November 4, 1987,
followed by the interior on November 10.
This was part of the commission'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 Barrymore, 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
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 ...
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.
In 1990, the play ''
Lettice and Lovage
''Lettice and Lovage'' is a comical and satirical play by Peter Shaffer.''A Dictionary of Writers and their Works'' (2 ed.) (2012) Oxford University Press; It is centered around a flamboyant tour guide who loves to embellish the history behind a ...
'' opened at the Barrymore, featuring
Margaret Tyzack
Margaret Maud Tyzack (9 September 193125 June 2011) was an English actress. Her television roles included ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1967) and ''I, Claudius'' (1976). She won the 1970 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for the BBC serial ''The First Ch ...
and
Maggie Smith
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...
from the
West End version of the play.
[; ] The next year, the
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 ...
brought ''
Mule Bone
''Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life'' is a 1930 play by American authors Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. The process of writing the play led Hughes and Hurston, who had been close friends, to sever their relationship. ''Mule Bone'' was no ...
'', a never-performed play written in 1930 by
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...
and
Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston (January 7, 1891 – January 28, 1960) was an American author, anthropologist, and filmmaker. She portrayed racial struggles in the early-1900s American South and published research on Hoodoo (spirituality), hoodoo. The most ...
;
it ran at the Barrymore for 67 performances.
A limited revival of ''A Streetcar Named Desire'', featuring
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae Baldwin III (born April 3, 1958) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. In his early career, Baldwin played both leading and supporting roles in a variety of films such as Tim Burton's ''Beetlejuice'' (1988), Mike Nichol ...
and
Jessica Lange
Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors G ...
, opened in 1992.
Afterward, the off-Broadway hit ''
The Sisters Rosensweig
''The Sisters Rosensweig'' is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish-American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein received ...
'' moved to the Barrymore in 1993, with 556 Broadway performances.
The play ''
Indiscretions'' opened in 1995 and had 220 performances;
it was followed the next year by a 306-performance revival of
Oscar Wilde
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...
's ''
An Ideal Husband
''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for ...
''.
Cy Coleman
Cy Coleman (born Seymour Kaufman; June 14, 1929 – November 18, 2004) was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.
Life and career
Coleman was born Seymour Kaufman in New York City, United States, to Eastern European Jewish parents ...
's
off-off-Broadway
Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commercialism of the prof ...
musical ''
The Life'' transferred to the Barrymore in 1997
[; ] and saw 465 performances.
The Barrymore next hosted a revival of the Greek tragedy ''
Electra
Electra (; grc, Ήλέκτρα) is one of the most popular mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, '' Electra'' by Sophocles and '' Electra'' by Euripides. She is also the centra ...
'' in 1998,
[; ] then the West End hit ''
Amy's View
''Amy's View'' is a play written by British playwright David Hare. It premiered in London at the Royal National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre on 13 June 1997, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Judi Dench, Ronald Pickup and Samantha Bond in ...
''
and the musical ''
Putting It Together
''Putting it Together'' is a musical revue showcasing the songs of Stephen Sondheim. Drawing its title from a song in '' Sunday in the Park with George'', it was devised by Sondheim and Julia McKenzie. The revue has received several productions ...
'' in 1999.
[; ]
2000s to present
![W 47 St Dec 2021 89](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/W_47_St_Dec_2021_89.jpg)
The
Donmar Warehouse
The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977.
Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Micha ...
's production of ''
The Real Thing The Real Thing or Real Thing may refer to:
Film and television
* The Real Thing (film), ''The Real Thing'' (film) or ''Livers Ain't Cheap'', a 1996 American film
* ''The Real Thing'', a 1980 television documentary by James Burke (science historian) ...
''
and the
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has gr ...
's version of ''
The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
''The Tale of the Allergist's Wife'' is a play by Charles Busch.
In his first play written for a mainstream audience, Busch explores the Upper West Side milieu of aspiring intellectual and middle-aged upper class matron Marjorie Taub, who lives c ...
'' were both performed at the Barrymore in 2000.
[; ] The 777-performance run of ''The Tale of the Allergist's Wife''
was followed by shorter runs of ''
Imaginary Friends
Imaginary friends (also known as pretend friends, invisible friends or made-up friends) are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than physical reality. ...
'' in 2002, ''
Salome
Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...
'' in 2003, and ''
Sly Fox
''Sly Fox'' is a comedic play by Larry Gelbart, based on Ben Jonson's ''Volpone'' (''The Fox''), updating the setting from Renaissance Venice to 19th century San Francisco, and changing the tone from satire to farce.
The play revolves around the ...
'' in 2004.
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 Barrymore. The Barrymore Theatre was then renovated for $9 million in 2004. Next came a revival of Tennessee Williams's ''
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 ...
'' in 2005 and the short-lived musical ''
Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...
'' in 2006.
Later in 2006, a revival of
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...
's ''
Company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
'' opened at the Barrymore, running for 247 performances.
The band
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
, performing its album ''
Red Carpet Massacre
''Red Carpet Massacre'' is the twelfth studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 13 November 2007 by Epic Records. Most of the music on the final incarnation of the album was completed in late 2006 following the departure ...
'' in November 2007,
was forced to relocate due to the
2007 Broadway stagehand strike
2007 Broadway Stagehands Strike was a strike action by stagehands represented by Theatrical Protective Union Number One (Local One) of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) against the Shubert, Jujamcyn, and Nederlander ...
.
The Barrymore's exterior was renovated as part of a two-year project that was completed in 2008.
The Barrymore hosted three
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
plays in the late 2000s: ''
November
November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. No ...
'' and ''
Speed-the-Plow
''Speed-the-Plow'' is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in ''The Producer's Perspective'', "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films ''Wag the Dog'' (1997) and ''St ...
'' in 2008, as well as ''
Race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
'' in 2009.
Eugène Ionesco
Eugène Ionesco (; born Eugen Ionescu, ; 26 November 1909 – 28 March 1994) was a Romanian-French playwright who wrote mostly in French, and was one of the foremost figures of the French avant-garde theatre in the 20th century. Ionesco inst ...
's ''
Exit the King
''Exit the King'' (french: Le Roi se meurt) is an absurdist drama by Eugène Ionesco that premiered in 1962. It is the third in Ionesco's "Berenger Cycle", preceded by '' The Killer'' (1958) and ''Rhinocéros'' (1959), and followed by ''A Stro ...
'' was also performed at the Barrymore in 2009.
The 2010 play ''
Elling
''Elling'' is a Norwegian Black comedy film directed by Petter Næss. Shot mostly in and around the Norwegian capital Oslo, the film, which was released in 2001, is primarily based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen's novel ''Brødre i blodet'' ("Blood brot ...
'' had nine performances before it flopped.
This was followed in 2011 by the play ''
Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
'',
as well as a special appearance, ''An Evening with
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fa ...
and
Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
''.
[ The Barrymore hosted '']Death of a Salesman
''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...
'' and ''Chaplin Chaplin may refer to:
People
* Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director
* Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin
Films
* '' Unknown Chaplin'' (1983)
* ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992)
* ''Chaplin'' (2011 film), Ben ...
'' in 2012; ''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 ...
'' 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. Ofte ...
'' in 2013; and ''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 ...
'' in 2014. With the exception of the musical ''Chaplin'', these productions were all revivals of plays. Next, the play ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Arthur Conan Doyle) in the 1892 short story ...
'' opened in late 2014 and ran for nearly two years. When ''The Curious Incident'' closed, the food show presenter Alton Brown
Alton Crawford Brown Jr. (born July 30, 1962) is an American television personality, food show presenter, chef, author, voice actor, and cinematographer. He is the creator and host of the Food Network television show ''Good Eats'' that ran for ...
had a limited appearance at the Barrymore in November 2016.[
In 2017, the Barrymore hosted the plays '']The Present
The present (or here'' and ''now) is the time that is associated with the events perceived directly and in the first time, not as a recollection (perceived more than once) or a speculation (predicted, hypothesis, uncertain). It is a period of ...
'' and ''Six Degrees of Separation
Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also k ...
''. At the end of the same year, the Barrymore staged the musical ''The Band's Visit
''The Band's Visit'' ( he, ביקור התזמורת, Bikur Ha-Tizmoret) is a 2007 comedy-drama film, directed and written by Eran Kolirin, and starring Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai and Uri Gavriel. It is an international co-pro ...
'', which ran through early 2019.[ The play '' The Inheritance'' opened in November 2019][ and was a few days short of its scheduled closing when the Barrymore shuttered 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 September 4, 2021, with a limited revival of ''Waitress
Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...
'', which closed at the end of the year. It was followed in April 2022 by the musical ''Paradise Square
Paradise Square is a Georgian square in the City of Sheffield, England. Located to the northwest of Sheffield Cathedral, the square is set on a slope and was formerly used for public meetings.
History
Paradise Square was built in the 18th c ...
'', which ran for three months.[ The first Broadway revival of the play '']The Piano Lesson
''The Piano Lesson'' is a 1987 play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the fourth play in Wilson's ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir nga se ...
'' opened at the theater in October 2022.
Notable productions
1920s to 1990s
* 1929: ''Death Takes a Holiday
''Death Takes a Holiday'' is a 1934 American pre-Code romantic drama starring Fredric March, Evelyn Venable and Guy Standing. It is based on the 1924 Italian play ''La morte in vacanza'' by Alberto Casella (1891–1957), as adapted in English ...
''
* 1930: '' Topaze''
* 1930: ''The Truth Game
''The Truth Game'' is a comedy play by the British writer Ivor Novello, first staged in 1928.
Film adaptations
In 1932 Novello went to Hollywood to adapt the play for MGM as ''But the Flesh Is Weak
''But the Flesh Is Weak'' is a 1932 Americ ...
''
* 1930: ''Scarlet Sister Mary
''Scarlet Sister Mary'' is a 1928 novel by Julia Peterkin. It won the Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1929. The book was called obscene and banned at the public library in Gaffney, South Carolina. ''The Gaffney Ledger'' newspaper, however, se ...
''
* 1931: '' Mélo''
* 1931: ''The School for Scandal
''The School for Scandal'' is a comedy of manners written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan. It was first performed in London at Drury Lane Theatre on 8 May 1777.
Plot
Act I
Scene I: Lady Sneerwell, a wealthy young widow, and her hireling Sna ...
''
* 1932: ''There's Always Juliet
''There's Always Juliet'' is a 1931 comedy play by the British writer John Van Druten about an American architect who falls in love with an Englishwoman.
It ran for 118 performances at the Apollo Theatre in London West End with a cast of Herber ...
''
* 1932: ''Gay Divorce
''Gay Divorce'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song " Night and Day" in which Astaire d ...
''
* 1933: ''Design for Living
''Design for Living'' is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Cowa ...
''
* 1934: ''Both Your Houses
''Both Your Houses'' is a 1933 play written by American playwright Maxwell Anderson. It was produced by the Theatre Guild and staged by Worthington Miner with scenic design by Arthur P. Segal. It opened at the Royale Theatre on March 5, 1933 and r ...
''
* 1934: ''Ruth Draper
Ruth Draper (December 2, 1884December 30, 1956) was an American actress, dramatist and noted diseuse who specialized in character-driven monologues and monodrama. Her best-known pieces include ''The Italian Lesson'', ''Three Women and Mr. Cliffo ...
''
* 1935: ''Point Valaine
''Point Valaine'' is a play by Noël Coward. It was written as a vehicle for Alfred Lunt and his wife Lynn Fontanne, who starred together in the original Broadway production in 1934. The play was not seen in Britain until 1944 and was not staged ...
''
* 1935: ''Othello
''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...
''
* 1935: ''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 ...
''
* 1936: ''Bury the Dead
''Bury the Dead'' (1936) is an Expressionism, expressionist and anti-war drama by the American playwright Irwin Shaw. It dramatizes the refusal of six dead soldiers during an unspecified war—who represent a cross-section of American society—to ...
''
* 1936: ''Night Must Fall
''Night Must Fall'' is a play, a psychological thriller, by Emlyn Williams, first performed in 1935. There have been three film adaptations, ''Night Must Fall'' (1937); a 1954 adaptation on the television anthology series ''Ponds Theater'' star ...
''
* 1936: '' The Women''
* 1938: ''Knickerbocker Holiday
''Knickerbocker Holiday'' is a 1938 musical written by Kurt Weill (music) and Maxwell Anderson (book and lyrics); based loosely on Washington Irving's ''Knickerbocker's History of New York'' about life in 17th-century New Netherland (old New ...
''
* 1939: ''No Time for Comedy
''No Time for Comedy'' is a 1940 American comedy-drama film based on the play of the same name by S. N. Behrman, starring James Stewart, Rosalind Russell, Genevieve Tobin and Charlie Ruggles.
Plot summary
Gaylord Esterbrook (Stewart), a reporte ...
''
* 1939: ''Key Largo
Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...
''
* 1940: '' Pal Joey''
* 1941: '' Best Foot Forward''
* 1942: ''R.U.R.
''R.U.R.'' is a 1920 science-fiction play by the Czech writer Karel Čapek. "R.U.R." stands for (Rossum's Universal Robots, a phrase that has been used as a subtitle in English versions). The play had its world premiere on 2 January 1921 in H ...
''
* 1943: '' Three Sisters''
* 1945: ''Rebecca
Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...
''
* 1945: ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street
''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. The play gave actress Ka ...
''
* 1945: '' Marinka''
* 1945: ''Pygmalion
Pygmalion or Pigmalion may refer to:
Mythology
* Pygmalion (mythology), a sculptor who fell in love with his statue
Stage
* ''Pigmalion'' (opera), a 1745 opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau
* ''Pygmalion'' (Rousseau), a 1762 melodrama by Jean-Jacques ...
''
* 1946: ''The Duchess of Malfi
''The Duchess of Malfi'' (originally published as ''The Tragedy of the Dutchesse of Malfy'') is a Jacobean revenge tragedy written by English dramatist John Webster in 1612–1613. It was first performed privately at the Blackfriars Theatre, ...
''
* 1946: ''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 ...
''
* 1947: ''The Telephone
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
/The Medium
''The Medium'' is a short (one-hour-long) two-act dramatic opera with words and music by Gian Carlo Menotti. Commissioned by the Alice M. Ditson Fund at Columbia University, its first performance was there on 8 May 1946. The opera's first profes ...
''
* 1947: ''A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...
''
* 1949: ''The Rat Race
''The Rat Race'' is a 1960 American drama film adapted from the play of the same name by Garson Kanin. Directed by Robert Mulligan, it stars Tony Curtis and Debbie Reynolds as struggling young entertainment professionals in New York City. Film ...
''
* 1950: ''The Consul
''The Consul'' is an opera in three acts with music and libretto by Gian Carlo Menotti, his first full-length opera.
Performance history
Its first performance was on March 1, 1950 at the Schubert Theatre in Philadelphia with Patricia Neway as the ...
''
* 1950: ''Bell, Book and Candle
''Bell, Book and Candle'' is a 1958 American fantasy romantic comedy film directed by Richard Quine from a screenplay by Daniel Taradash, based on the 1950 Broadway play of the same title by John Van Druten. It stars Kim Novak as a witch who ...
''
* 1951: ''The Fourposter
''The Fourposter'' is a play written by Jan de Hartog. The two-character story spans 35 years, from 1890 to 1925, as it focuses on the trials and tribulations, laughters and sorrows, and hopes and disappointments experienced by Agnes and Michael t ...
''
* 1952: '' I've Got Sixpence''
* 1953: ''Misalliance
''Misalliance'' is a play written in 1909–1910 by George Bernard Shaw. The play takes place entirely on a single Saturday afternoon in the conservatory of a large country house in Hindhead, Surrey in Edwardian era England.
It is a continuation ...
''
* 1953: '' Tea and Sympathy''
* 1955: '' The Desperate Hours''
* 1955: ''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 ...
''
* 1955: ''The Chalk Garden
''The Chalk Garden'' is a play by Enid Bagnold that premiered in the US in 1955 and was produced in Britain the following year. It tells the story of the imperious Mrs St Maugham and her granddaughter Laurel, a disturbed child under the care of ...
''
* 1957: '' Small War on Murray Hill''
* 1957: '' Waiting for Godot''
* 1957: ''Look Homeward, Angel
''Look Homeward, Angel: A Story of the Buried Life'' is a 1929 novel by Thomas Wolfe. It is Wolfe's first novel, and is considered a highly autobiographical American coming-of-age story. The character of Eugene Gant is generally believed to be a ...
''
* 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 ...
''
* 1959: ''A Majority of One
''A Majority of One'' is a play by Leonard Spigelgass. The 1959–1960 Broadway production was directed by Dore Schary and ran for three previews and 556 performances, with Gertrude Berg, Cedric Hardwicke, and Ina Balin.
Plot
The play is a d ...
''
* 1960: '' The Hostage''
* 1960: '' Critic's Choice''
* 1961: ''The Complaisant Lover
''The Complaisant Lover'' is a 1959 comedy play by Graham Greene. Consisting of two acts, each of two scenes, the play revolves around an affair between Mary Rhodes and Clive Root, the book seller friend of her husband, Victor. The play takes pla ...
''
* 1962: ''Moby-Dick
''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael (Moby-Dick), Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Captain Ahab, Ahab, captain of the whaler, whaling ship ''Pequod (Moby- ...
''
* 1964: ''The Passion of Josef D.
''The Passion of Josef D'' is a play by Paddy Chayefsky based on the life of Josef Stalin. It only had a short run on Broadway in 1964 despite being directed by Chayefsky himself and featuring a cast including Luther Adler and Peter Falk. This exp ...
''
* 1965: ''The Amen Corner
''The Amen Corner'' is a three-act play by James Baldwin. It was Baldwin's first work for the stage following the success of his novel '' Go Tell It on the Mountain''. The drama was first published in 1954, and inspired a short-lived 1983 Broadwa ...
''
* 1966: ''Wait Until Dark
''Wait Until Dark'' is a play by Frederick Knott, first performed on Broadway in 1966 and often revived since then. A film version was released in 1967, and the play was published in the same year.
Synopsis
Susy Hendrix is a blind Greenwich V ...
''
* 1966: ''We Have Always Lived in the Castle
''We Have Always Lived in the Castle'' is a 1962 mystery novel by American author Shirley Jackson. It was Jackson's final work, and was published with a dedication to Pascal Covici, the publisher, three years before the author's death in 1965. Th ...
''
* 1966: ''Les Ballets Africains
Les Ballets Africains is the national dance company of Guinea and is based in Conakry. It is one of the first African national dance companies. It has toured extensively around the world. Although the French name might suggest the idea of European ...
''
* 1967: ''Black Comedy
Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
/ White Lies''
* 1967: ''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 litt ...
''
* 1968: '' Don't Drink the Water''
* 1968: ''The Seven Descents of Myrtle
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
''
* 1968: ''''
* 1968: ''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 Island ...
''
* 1969: ''The Front Page
''The Front Page'' is a Broadway comedy about newspaper reporters on the police beat. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, it was first produced in 1928 and has been adapted for the cinema several times.
Plot
The ...
''
* 1970: ''Conduct Unbecoming
Conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman (or conduct unbecoming for short) is an offense that is subject to court martial in the armed forces of some nations.
Use in the United Kingdom
The phrase was used as a charge in courts martial of ...
''
* 1971: '' The Philanthropist''
* 1971: ''Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death
''Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death (Tunes from Blackness)'' is a musical with a book, music, and lyrics by Melvin Van Peebles. The musical contains some material also on three of Van Peebles' albums, '' Brer Soul'', ''Ain't Supposed to Die ...
''
* 1972: ''Captain Brassbound's Conversion
''Captain Brassbound's Conversion'' (1900) is a play by G. Bernard Shaw. It was published in Shaw's 1901 collection '' Three Plays for Puritans'' (together with '' Caesar and Cleopatra'' and '' The Devil's Disciple''). The first American product ...
''
* 1972: ''Don't Play Us Cheap
''Don't Play Us Cheap'' is a 1973 American musical comedy film written, produced, scored, edited and directed by Melvin Van Peebles. The film stars Avon Long and Joe Keyes Jr. as Brother Dave and Trinity, a pair of demons who take human form to bre ...
''
* 1973: '' The Visit''
* 1973: ''Holiday
A holiday is a day set aside by custom or by law on which normal activities, especially business or work including school, are suspended or reduced. Generally, holidays are intended to allow individuals to celebrate or commemorate an event or tra ...
''
* 1974: ''A Song at Twilight
''A Song at Twilight'' is a play in two acts by Noël Coward. It is one of a trio of plays collectively titled '' Suite in Three Keys'', all of which are set in the same suite in a luxury hotel in Switzerland. The play depicts an elderly writ ...
/ Come Into the Garden, Maud''
* 1975: ''The Night That Made America Famous
''The Night That Made America Famous'' is a 1975 musical revue featuring the songs of Harry Chapin. The music consists of a combination of songs written for the musical and songs from Chapin's previous albums, the latter including " What Made Amer ...
''
* 1975: ''Travesties
''Travesties'' is a 1974 play by Tom Stoppard. The play centres on the figure of Henry Carr, an elderly man who reminisces about Zürich in 1917 during the First World War, and his interactions with James Joyce when he was writing ''Ulysses'', ...
''
* 1976: ''Legend
A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...
''
* 1976: ''Poor Murderer
''Poor Murderer'' is a play written by Pavel Kohout that premiered at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on Broadway on 20 October 1976 and closed on 2 January 1977 after 87 performances.
Setting
The time is 1900, and it takes place in the great hall o ...
''
* 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 ...
''
* 1977: ''I Love My Wife
''I Love My Wife'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Michael Stewart and music by Cy Coleman, based on a play by Luis Rego.
A satire of the sexual revolution of the 1970s, the musical takes place on Christmas Eve in suburban Trenton, New ...
''
* 1979: ''Romantic Comedy
Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...
''
* 1981: ''The West Side Waltz
''The West Side Waltz'' is a play by Ernest Thompson.
The play focuses on Margaret Mary Elderdice, an aging, widowed pianist living in a dreary Upper West Side apartment, and her relationships with a prim, virginal violinist neighbor and the young ...
''
* 1982: ''Is There Life After High School?
''Is There Life After High School?'' is a musical with a book by Jeffrey Kindley and music and lyrics by Craig Carnelia. It is loosely inspired by Ralph Keyes' best-selling book of the same name.
The show uses songs and monologues to recall th ...
''
* 1982: ''Foxfire
Foxfire, also called fairy fire and chimpanzee fire, is the bioluminescence created by some species of fungi present in decaying wood. The bluish-green glow is attributed to a luciferase, an oxidative enzyme, which emits light as it reacts with ...
''
* 1983: ''Baby
An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
''
* 1984: ''Hurlyburly
''Hurlyburly'' is a dark comedy play by David Rabe, first staged in 1984. The title refers to dialogue from Shakespeare's ''Macbeth''.
Plot
''Hurlyburly'' depicts the intersecting lives of several low-to-mid-level Hollywood players in the 198 ...
''
* 1986: ''Social Security
Welfare, or commonly social welfare, is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specificall ...
''
* 1988: ''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 ...
''
* 1988: '' The Secret Rapture''
* 1989: ''Rumors
A rumor (American English), or rumour (British English; see spelling differences; derived from Latin:rumorem - noise), is "a tall tale of explanations of events circulating from person to person and pertaining to an object, event, or issue in p ...
''
* 1990: ''Lettice and Lovage
''Lettice and Lovage'' is a comical and satirical play by Peter Shaffer.''A Dictionary of Writers and their Works'' (2 ed.) (2012) Oxford University Press; It is centered around a flamboyant tour guide who loves to embellish the history behind a ...
''
* 1991: ''Mule Bone
''Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life'' is a 1930 play by American authors Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston. The process of writing the play led Hughes and Hurston, who had been close friends, to sever their relationship. ''Mule Bone'' was no ...
''
* 1992: ''A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...
''
* 1993: ''The Sisters Rosensweig
''The Sisters Rosensweig'' is a play by Wendy Wasserstein. The play focuses on three Jewish-American sisters and their lives. It "broke theatrical ground by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women." Wasserstein received ...
''
* 1995: '' Indiscretions''
* 1996: ''An Ideal Husband
''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for ...
''
* 1997: '' The Life''
* 1998: ''Electra
Electra (; grc, Ήλέκτρα) is one of the most popular mythological characters in tragedies.Evans (1970), p. 79 She is the main character in two Greek tragedies, '' Electra'' by Sophocles and '' Electra'' by Euripides. She is also the centra ...
''
* 1999: ''Amy's View
''Amy's View'' is a play written by British playwright David Hare. It premiered in London at the Royal National Theatre's Lyttelton Theatre on 13 June 1997, directed by Richard Eyre and starring Judi Dench, Ronald Pickup and Samantha Bond in ...
''
* 1999: ''Putting It Together
''Putting it Together'' is a musical revue showcasing the songs of Stephen Sondheim. Drawing its title from a song in '' Sunday in the Park with George'', it was devised by Sondheim and Julia McKenzie. The revue has received several productions ...
''
2000s to present
* 2000: ''The Real Thing The Real Thing or Real Thing may refer to:
Film and television
* The Real Thing (film), ''The Real Thing'' (film) or ''Livers Ain't Cheap'', a 1996 American film
* ''The Real Thing'', a 1980 television documentary by James Burke (science historian) ...
''
* 2000: ''The Tale of the Allergist's Wife
''The Tale of the Allergist's Wife'' is a play by Charles Busch.
In his first play written for a mainstream audience, Busch explores the Upper West Side milieu of aspiring intellectual and middle-aged upper class matron Marjorie Taub, who lives c ...
''
* 2002: ''Imaginary Friends
Imaginary friends (also known as pretend friends, invisible friends or made-up friends) are a psychological and social phenomenon where a friendship or other interpersonal relationship takes place in the imagination rather than physical reality. ...
''
* 2003: ''Salome
Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...
''
* 2004: ''Sly Fox
''Sly Fox'' is a comedic play by Larry Gelbart, based on Ben Jonson's ''Volpone'' (''The Fox''), updating the setting from Renaissance Venice to 19th century San Francisco, and changing the tone from satire to farce.
The play revolves around the ...
''
* 2005: ''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 ...
''
* 2006: ''Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...
''
* 2006: ''Company
A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of people, whether Natural person, natural, Legal person, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common p ...
''
* 2007: ''Red Carpet Massacre
''Red Carpet Massacre'' is the twelfth studio album by English new wave band Duran Duran, released on 13 November 2007 by Epic Records. Most of the music on the final incarnation of the album was completed in late 2006 following the departure ...
''
* 2008: ''November
November is the eleventh and penultimate month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, the fourth and last of four months to have a length of 30 days and the fifth and last of five months to have a length of fewer than 31 days. No ...
''
* 2008: ''Speed-the-Plow
''Speed-the-Plow'' is a 1988 play by David Mamet that is a satirical dissection of the American movie business. As stated in ''The Producer's Perspective'', "this is a theme Mamet would revisit in his later films ''Wag the Dog'' (1997) and ''St ...
''
* 2009: ''Exit the King
''Exit the King'' (french: Le Roi se meurt) is an absurdist drama by Eugène Ionesco that premiered in 1962. It is the third in Ionesco's "Berenger Cycle", preceded by '' The Killer'' (1958) and ''Rhinocéros'' (1959), and followed by ''A Stro ...
''
* 2009: ''Race
Race, RACE or "The Race" may refer to:
* Race (biology), an informal taxonomic classification within a species, generally within a sub-species
* Race (human categorization), classification of humans into groups based on physical traits, and/or s ...
''
* 2010: ''Elling
''Elling'' is a Norwegian Black comedy film directed by Petter Næss. Shot mostly in and around the Norwegian capital Oslo, the film, which was released in 2001, is primarily based on Ingvar Ambjørnsen's novel ''Brødre i blodet'' ("Blood brot ...
''
* 2011: ''Arcadia
Arcadia may refer to:
Places Australia
* Arcadia, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney
* Arcadia, Queensland
* Arcadia, Victoria
Greece
* Arcadia (region), a region in the central Peloponnese
* Arcadia (regional unit), a modern administrative un ...
''
* 2011: ''An Evening with Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of Fa ...
and Mandy Patinkin
Mandel Bruce Patinkin (; born November 30, 1952) is an American actor and singer, known for his work in musical theatre, television and film. He is a critically acclaimed Broadway performer, having received three Tony Award nominations, winning ...
''
* 2012: ''Death of a Salesman
''Death of a Salesman'' is a 1949 stage play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. The play premiered on Broadway in February 1949, running for 742 performances. It is a two-act tragedy set in late 1940s Brooklyn told through a montag ...
''
* 2012: ''Chaplin Chaplin may refer to:
People
* Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director
* Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin
Films
* '' Unknown Chaplin'' (1983)
* ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992)
* ''Chaplin'' (2011 film), Ben ...
''
* 2013: ''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 ...
''
* 2013: ''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. Ofte ...
''
* 2014: ''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 ...
''
* 2014: ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' is a 2003 mystery novel by British writer Mark Haddon. Its title refers to an observation by the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (created by Arthur Conan Doyle) in the 1892 short story ...
''
* 2016: '' Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science''
* 2016: ''The Present
The present (or here'' and ''now) is the time that is associated with the events perceived directly and in the first time, not as a recollection (perceived more than once) or a speculation (predicted, hypothesis, uncertain). It is a period of ...
''
* 2017: ''Six Degrees of Separation
Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also k ...
''
* 2017: ''The Band's Visit
''The Band's Visit'' ( he, ביקור התזמורת, Bikur Ha-Tizmoret) is a 2007 comedy-drama film, directed and written by Eran Kolirin, and starring Saleh Bakri, Ronit Elkabetz, Sasson Gabai and Uri Gavriel. It is an international co-pro ...
''
* 2019: '' The Inheritance''
* 2021: ''Waitress
Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...
''
* 2022: ''Paradise Square
Paradise Square is a Georgian square in the City of Sheffield, England. Located to the northwest of Sheffield Cathedral, the square is set on a slope and was formerly used for public meetings.
History
Paradise Square was built in the 18th c ...
''
* 2022: ''The Piano Lesson
''The Piano Lesson'' is a 1987 play by American playwright August Wilson. It is the fourth play in Wilson's ''The Pittsburgh Cycle''. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir nga se ...
''
Box office record
''Waitress'' achieved the box office record for the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. It grossed $197,878 in ticket sales on September 3, 2021, breaking the previous single-performance house record at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre set by the production of ''Betrayal'' ($184,476).
See also
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* 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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{{Authority control
1928 establishments in New York City
Broadway theatres
Theatres completed in 1928
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City interior landmarks
Shubert Organization
Theater District, Manhattan