The Longacre 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 220 West
48th 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 ...
, United States. Opened in 1913, it was designed by
Henry B. Herts
Henry Beaumont Herts (January 23, 1871 – March 27, 1933) was an American architect.
Herts was born in New York City, attended Columbia University without graduating, and apprenticed under Bruce Price. He studied architecture in Europe at th ...
and was named for Longacre Square, now known as
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 ...
. The Longacre has 1,077 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's interior are
New York City designated landmark
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 ...
s.
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 is shielded by a
marquee. The upper stories are divided vertically into five
bays, which contain
niches on either side of three large windows. The auditorium contains ornamental plasterwork, a sloped orchestra level, two balconies, 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 ...
. 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 flat arches, and the
proscenium
A proscenium ( grc-gre, προσκήνιον, ) is the metaphorical vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor ...
opening is also a flat arch. In addition, the Longacre contains two lounges, and the top story formerly had offices.
Theatrical personality
Harry Frazee
Harry Herbert Frazee (June 29, 1880 – June 4, 1929) was an American theatrical agent, producer, and director, and owner of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923. He is well known for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yanke ...
acquired the site in 1911 and developed the Longacre Theatre to accommodate musicals. The Longacre opened on May 1, 1913, with the play ''Are You a Crook?'', but the theater housed several
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 its early years. Frazee, who co-owned the theater with G. M. Anderson, sold his ownership stake in 1917 to focus on baseball. 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 ...
acquired the Longacre in 1924 and operated it for two decades before leasing it as a radio and television studio in 1944. The Shuberts returned the Longacre to
legitimate theatrical use in 1953. The theater gained a reputation for hosting few successful productions in the late 20th century and was nearly converted to a court in the early 1990s. The Longacre was renovated in 2008.
Site
The Longacre Theatre is on 220 West
48th Street, on the south 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 about on 48th Street and a depth of 100 feet.
The Longacre 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-Renai ...
to the west, the
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles ...
to the south, 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 ...
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 thi ...
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 Hasti ...
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 ...
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.
Before the Longacre Theatre was developed, the surrounding area generally had a mixture of low-rise residences and industrial buildings.
The site of the Longacre Theatre was previously occupied by a row of four residences, each of which was three stories high.
At the time of the theater's construction, the site to the east contained a carriage factory, while the Union Methodist Church was across 48th Street.
Design
The Longacre Theatre was designed by
Henry B. Herts
Henry Beaumont Herts (January 23, 1871 – March 27, 1933) was an American architect.
Herts was born in New York City, attended Columbia University without graduating, and apprenticed under Bruce Price. He studied architecture in Europe at th ...
and constructed for baseball personality
Harry Frazee
Harry Herbert Frazee (June 29, 1880 – June 4, 1929) was an American theatrical agent, producer, and director, and owner of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923. He is well known for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yanke ...
.
Herts had designed several Broadway theaters with his partner Hugh Tallant, including the
New Amsterdam Theatre
The New Amsterdam Theatre is a Broadway theater on 214 West 42nd Street, at the southern end of Times Square, in the Theater District of Manhattan in New York City. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the New Amsterdam was built from ...
and
Lyceum Theatre, but the partnership dissolved in the early 1910s. The Longacre was one of the first Broadway theaters that Herts designed alone.
Facade
![W 48 St Dec 2021 21](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/W_48_St_Dec_2021_21.jpg)
The main
elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...
of the
facade faces north on 48th Street and is arranged symmetrically with classical French details.
Early news articles about the theater described it as having a facade of gray limestone and terracotta,
with the terracotta pieces being painted in several colors.
A contemporary ''
New-York Tribune
The ''New-York Tribune'' was an American newspaper founded in 1841 by editor Horace Greeley. It bore the moniker ''New-York Daily Tribune'' from 1842 to 1866 before returning to its original name. From the 1840s through the 1860s it was the domi ...
'' article compared the theater to the
Whitehall Palace
The Palace of Whitehall (also spelt White Hall) at Westminster was the main residence of the English monarchs from 1530 until 1698, when most of its structures, except notably Inigo Jones's Banqueting House of 1622, were destroyed by fire. Hen ...
,
while a ''New York Times'' article said the theater's exterior "gives a cheerful touch of snap and cheer to the old-time structures formerly characteristic of this block".
The west and east elevations contain brick walls with window openings and fire escapes.
At ground level along 48th Street, there is a
water table
The water table is the upper surface of the zone of saturation. The zone of saturation is where the pores and fractures of the ground are saturated with water. It can also be simply explained as the depth below which the ground is saturated.
T ...
made of granite, above which are
rusticated blocks of terracotta. The ground level contains five doorways, separated by sign boards. The three center openings are each approached by a single step; each opening contains a metal-and-glass double door topped by a
transom. On either side of the central doors is a recessed doorway containing metal double doors. 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 foliate
moldings, as well as a horizontal band with facets, runs above the first floor. Above all of these openings is a metal
marquee.
The stage door is to the left of the main entrance doors.
According to early photographs, the ground-floor facade was originally composed of colored terracotta tiles, the color of which complemented the upper stories.
The upper stories are divided into five
bays, separated by fluted
pilaster
In classical architecture
Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...
s. The lower section of each pilaster contains a floral decoration, an
urn
An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
, and a
niche
Niche may refer to:
Science
*Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development
*Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species
*Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...
with a female statue personifying Drama; the statues hold masks and scrolls. The pilasters are topped by
Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
-style
capitals.
The three inner bays (directly above the marquee) contain double-height openings, each with a window and a transom bar that is divided horizontally into three sections. The bottoms of each window contain
sills with
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 ...
and
reeded panels, while the spaces above contain 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 ...
s.
A triangular sign is placed over the center window.
The outermost two bays contain paneling, as well as
corbel
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...
s that support empty niches.
Large billboards were originally hung over the outermost bays.
Near the top of each bay, between the pilasters' capitals, is a frieze panel in each bay. Each panel consists of an oval plaque, which is flanked by circular medallions with scallop and mask motifs. Above this, an entablature wraps across the width of the facade; it contains fluted tiles on either side of an inscription with the words "The Longacre Theatre". The entablature is topped by a cornice with
modillion
A modillion is an ornate bracket, more horizontal in shape and less imposing than a corbel. They are often seen underneath a cornice which it helps to support. Modillions are more elaborate than dentils (literally translated as small teeth). All ...
s and lions' heads. Above the
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 ...
is an attic story with two recessed sash windows in each bay. The interiors of the recessed window openings are decorated with medallions and foliate motifs. The attic story's bays are separated by projecting pilasters with urns and foliate decoration. There 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 ...
and a
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 ...
just below the roof.
Interior
The theater was intended to be fireproof, with stone, brick, steel, terracotta, and reinforced concrete being used in its construction.
The auditorium has an orchestra level, two balconies,
boxes 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 auditorium's width is slightly greater than its depth, and the space is designed with plaster decorations in
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 Longacre's operator
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 ...
cites the auditorium as having 1,077 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 1,045 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 1,091 seats.
These are divided into 508 in the orchestra, 304 in the first balcony, 249 in the second balcony, and 16 in the boxes.
The 1,077-seat capacity dates to a 2008 renovation, when 18 seats were removed to improve wheelchair accessibility and sight lines.
The orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible via the main doors; the balcony levels are primarily accessed by steps, but there is a small
wheelchair lift
A wheelchair lift, also known as a platform lift, or vertical platform lift, is a fully powered device designed to raise a wheelchair and its occupant in order to overcome a step or similar vertical barrier.
Wheelchair lifts can be installed in ...
.
The original color scheme contained Roman gold, with topaz carpets, wisteria seats, and gold draperies.
Though the decorative scheme was described in one source as "extremely simple",
the decorative motifs that did exist were highly elaborate, and some motifs were repeated multiple times.
The auditorium's current color scheme, which consists of gold and green hues, dates to 2008.
The theater's lobby was originally decorated in gray-green colors, with highlights of gold and serpentine marble.
The dressing rooms behind the stage are completely insulated from the auditorium by a heavy steel wall.
In addition, Frazee's offices were placed above the auditorium.
In a 2008 renovation, a basement lounge was excavated, and the attic was turned into an upper lounge with a bar and bathrooms.
Seating areas
![Longacre_Theatre_LOC_3066028696](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ed/Longacre_Theatre_LOC_3066028696.jpg)
The rear of the orchestra contains a promenade. The rear wall of the promenade and the side walls of the orchestra contain plasterwork paneling, as well as doorways with eared frames. The promenade ceiling has molded ribs.
Staircases with wrought-iron railings lead from the promenade to the balcony levels.
The orchestra is
raked, sloping down toward an
orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...
in front of the stage.
The front walls of the auditorium curve inward toward the proscenium opening.
The ground floor formerly had three boxes near the proscenium.
Promenades also exist behind both balcony levels. The balcony walls have similar plasterwork paneling and eared doorway frames to the orchestra level. An entablature runs atop the front portion of the second balcony's walls; it wraps above the boxes on both sides of the auditorium, as well as above the proscenium arch.
There are light fixtures and air conditioning vents underneath both balcony levels, as well as a technical booth behind the second balcony's rear wall.
The balcony fronts were originally decorated with plasterwork
swags and
fleurettes.
The ornamentation on the undersides and front railings of both balconies was removed at some point after the theater's opening,
then restored in 2008.
The balconies are shallow and placed at a low height, a deliberate design choice that brought these seats closer to the stage.
On either side of the proscenium is one curved box at the first balcony level. The boxes are housed within flat-arched openings.
As with the balconies, the boxes' fronts were originally decorated with plasterwork
swags and
fleurettes,
but the original ornamentation on the boxes' undersides and front railings was removed after the theater's opening.
The boxes' ornamentation was also restored in 2008.
Above each box is an entablature with foliate motifs and a cornice with dentils. An
Adam-style band surrounds each box's arch. In addition, there is an oval medallion depicting a helmet and shield, which interrupts the Adam-style band.
Other design features
Next to the boxes is a flat proscenium arch.
The inner edge of the archway contains a molded band of shells. A wider band with foliate and
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 ...
motifs also surrounds the archway.
News sources from 1913 describe the band being made of gold and "breccia violet marble".
Above the center of the arch is a cartouche, which is decorated with foliate motifs; the cartouche overlaps both the wide band and the entablature above it. The entablature is decorated with helmets and symbols of laurel bands, spears, and shields.
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 .
The stage measures wide and either
or deep.
The ceiling is slightly
coved at its edges, though the rest of the ceiling is flat.
A coved, molded band separates the ceiling into front and rear sections. A wide panel containing cartouches, foliate decoration, and latticework is placed at the front of the ceiling.
Two chandeliers hang from either side of this panel.
The rear section of the ceiling is semicircular and is surrounded by a band with foliate decorations.
History
Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
. Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from
Union Square
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
and
Madison Square
Madison Square is a town square, public square formed by the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway at 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. The square ...
during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, including the Longacre Theatre.
Harry Frazee
Harry Herbert Frazee (June 29, 1880 – June 4, 1929) was an American theatrical agent, producer, and director, and owner of Major League Baseball's Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923. He is well known for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yanke ...
was a theatrical personality (and later a baseball executive) from
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria ( ) is the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and the largest city on the Illinois River. As of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census, the city had a population of 113,150. It is the principal city of the Peoria ...
, who entered the industry as a 16-year-old theater usher in 1896. Frazee subsequently moved to
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
, operating theaters and producing several shows.
Development and early years
![W_48_St_Dec_2021_14](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/W_48_St_Dec_2021_14.jpg)
In late 1911, the lots at 220 to 228 West 48th Street were sold to Frazee and George W. Lederer.
The site would be redeveloped with a theater known as the Longacre, after Times Square's former name. Several architects had already proposed designs for the theater.
By January 1912, Henry B. Herts had been selected as the architect,
and he filed plans for the theater that month with the
New York City Department of Buildings
The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) is the department of the New York City government that enforces the city's building codes and zoning regulations, issues building permits, licenses, registers and disciplines certain construction ...
. Frazee planned to house his own musicals at the Longacre.
Construction started in May 1912 at an estimated cost of $150,000.
By August 1912, the theater was reportedly near completion and scheduled to open that October.
The opening was then delayed to November, and the scaffolding in front of the theater was disassembled by October. The theater's completion stalled due to "strikes and contractors' difficulties", including the bankruptcy of a contractor.
Philip Bartholomae made an unsuccessful offer of $400,000 for the theater in December 1912,
and work resumed shortly afterward.
The delays nearly doubled the cost to $275,000.
The Longacre opened on May 1, 1913, with ''Are You a Crook?'', a
farce
Farce is a comedy that seeks to entertain an audience through situations that are highly exaggerated, extravagant, ridiculous, absurd, and improbable. Farce is also characterized by heavy use of physical humor; the use of deliberate absurdity o ...
about criminals
that closed after 12 performances.
[; ; ]
It was one of nine theaters to open in Times Square during the 1912–1913 theatrical season. The musical
''Adele'', which opened in August 1913, was much more successful.
The Longacre hosted several
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 ...
afterward.
In April 1914, the theater went into foreclosure to satisfy an outstanding mortgage of $70,000,
though the foreclosure proceeding was subsequently withdrawn.
The same year, the Longacre hosted the melodrama ''
A Pair of Sixes
''A Pair of Sixes'', originally titled ''The Party of the Second Part'', is a farce in three acts by Edward Peple that made its Broadway debut at the Longacre Theatre on March 17, 1914. The piece was produced by Harry Frazee and achieved a run ...
'', which lasted 188 performances,
[; ] and the farce ''Kick In'' with
John Barrymore
John Barrymore (born John Sidney Blyth; February 14 or 15, 1882 – May 29, 1942) was an American actor on stage, screen and radio. A member of the Drew and Barrymore theatrical families, he initially tried to avoid the stage, and briefly att ...
, which had 207 total performances.
During 1915, the Longacre's productions included ''Inside the Lines'' with
Lewis Stone
Lewis Shepard Stone (November 15, 1879 – September 12, 1953) was an American film actor. He spent 29 years as a contract player at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and was best known for his portrayal of Judge James Hardy in the studio's popular ''Andy H ...
,
[; ] ''A Full House'' with
May Vokes
May Vokes ( – September 13, 1957) was an American actress and comedienne. She appeared primarily in comedic roles in stage play
A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between characters and intended for theatrical ...
,
and ''The Great Lover'' with
Leo Ditrichstein
Leo Ditrichstein (January 6, 1865 – June 28, 1928) was an Austrian-American actor and playwright.
Biography
He was born on January 6, 1865, in Temesvár, Austria-Hungary. He was educated in Vienna and was naturalized as an American citiz ...
.
In April 1916, Frazee and G. M. Anderson bought the Longacre Theatre; previously, they had leased it from Pincus and Goldstone. The Longacre's next hit was ''Nothing but the Truth'', which opened in 1916 and starred
William Collier Sr.
William Collier Sr. (November 12, 1864 – January 13, 1944), born William Morenus, was an American writer, director and actor.
Collier ran away from home when only 11 years old to join a touring company run by Eddie Foy and in 1879 he appeared ...
for 332 performances.
In November 1916, during the run of ''Nothing but the Truth'', Frazee sold his interest in the Longacre to Anderson,
L. Lawrence Weber
L. Lawrence Weber (c. 1872 – 22 February 1940) was an American sports promoter, stage show producer and theater manager. He was active in arranging Vaudville, vaudeville shows, legitimate theater and films. He once tried to bypass laws against im ...
, and
F. Ray Comstock.
Frazee wished to focus on managing the
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
, which he had just acquired.
The Longacre then hosted two popular shows in the late 1910s.
Guy Bolton
Guy Reginald Bolton (23 November 1884 – 4 September 1979) was an Anglo-American playwright and writer of musical comedies. Born in England and educated in France and the US, he trained as an architect but turned to writing. Bolton preferred ...
,
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...
, and
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...
provided music for the intimate musical ''
Leave It to Jane
''Leave It to Jane'' is a musical in two acts, with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, based on the 1904 play '' The College Widow'', by George Ade. The story concerns the football rivalry between Atwater ...
'' in 1917,
while Bolton and
George Middleton collaborated on ''
Adam and Eva
''Adam and Eva'' is a 1923 American comedy silent film directed by Robert G. Vignola and adapted by Luther Reed from the play by Guy Bolton and George Middleton. The film stars Marion Davies, T. Roy Barnes, Tom Lewis, William Norris, Percy Ame ...
'' in 1919.
1920s to early 1940s
The Longacre hosted ''Pitter Patter'' with
William T. Kent in 1920
[; ; ]
and ''The Champion'' with
Grant Mitchell the next year.
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 ...
then leased the theater in June 1922,
appearing in three plays there: ''
Rose Bernd
''Rose Bernd'' is a stage drama in five acts by Gerhart Hauptmann
Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturali ...
'', ''
Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
'', and ''The Laughing Lady''.
Another hit in 1923 was ''
Little Jessie James
''Little Jessie James'' was a musical farce that was the biggest hit of the 1923-24 Broadway season.
Production
''Little Jessie James'' was written by Harlan Thompson, the author of the book and the lyrics. The music was by Harry Archer.
It wa ...
'', with music by
Harry Archer and
Harlan Thompson
Harlan Thompson (24 September 1890 – 29 October 1966) was an American theatre director, screenwriter, lyricist, film director, and film and television producer. He wrote the Broadway hit '' Little Jessie James'' (1923–24), and several oth ...
,
which ran for 385 performances.
[; ] 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 ...
acquired the Longacre in May 1924 for $600,000.
William B. Friedlander and
Con Conrad
Con Conrad (born Conrad K. Dober, June 18, 1891 – September 28, 1938) was an American songwriter and producer.
Biography
Conrad was born in Manhattan, New York, and published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad p ...
wrote the music for two of the Longacre's next works: ''Moonlight''
[; ; ]
and ''Mercenary Mary''.
Also in 1925,
George S. Kaufman produced ''
The Butter and Egg Man
''The Butter and Egg Man'' is a 1925 play by George S. Kaufman, the only play he wrote without collaborating. It was a Broadway hit during the 1925–26 season at the Longacre Theatre. Adapted to film six times, it is still performed on stages tod ...
'',
[; ; ] the only play Kaufman wrote without collaborating.
The Longacre then staged ''An American Tragedy'' in 1926,
featuring
Morgan Farley and
Miriam Hopkins
Ellen Miriam Hopkins (October 18, 1902 – October 9, 1972) was an American actress known for her versatility. She first signed with Paramount Pictures in 1930.
Her best-known roles included a pickpocket in Ernst Lubitsch's romantic comedy '' T ...
for 216 performances,
[; ]
and the comedy ''The Command to Love'' the next year, which ran for 236 performances.
The Longacre's offerings in the late 1920s included ''Jarnegan'' with
Richard
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
and
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett (February 27, 1910 – December 7, 1990) was an American stage, film, and television actress. She came from a show-business family, one of three acting sisters. Beginning her career on the stage, Bennett appeared in more t ...
,
[; ] ''Hawk Island'' with
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American film actor, often referred to as "The King of Hollywood". He had roles in more than 60 motion pictures in multiple genres during a career that lasted 37 years, three decades ...
,
and ''A Primer for Lovers'' with
Alison Skipworth
Alison Skipworth (born Alison Mary Elliott Margaret Groom; 25 July 18635 July 1952) was an English stage and screen actress.
Early years
Skipworth was born in London. She was the daughter of Dr. Richard Ebenezer Groom and Elizabeth Rodgers, an ...
.
[; ] In general, the Longacre did not hold any long runs in 1930 or 1931.
The shows during this time included ''The Matriarch'' in 1930 with
Constance Collier
Constance Collier (born Laura Constance Hardie; 22 January 1878 – 25 April 1955) was an English stage and film actress and acting coach. She wrote hit plays and films with Ivor Novello and she was the first person to be treated with insu ...
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 Globe ...
,
as well as ''Nikki'' in 1931 with
Fay Wray
Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian/American actress best known for starring as Ann Darrow in the 1933 film ''King Kong (1933 film), King Kong''. Through an acting career that spanned nearly six decades, Wray a ...
.
The next hit came in 1932, when ''Blessed Event'' opened with
Roger Pryor
Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was a Virginian newspaper editor and politician who became known for his fiery oratory in favor of secession; he was elected both to national and Confederate office, and served as a gen ...
.
[; ; ] The Longacre then staged ''Nine Pine Street'',
[; ] and ''Wednesday's Child''.
The Longacre hosted many flops during the Great Depression, sometimes with a several-month gap between productions.
[; ] In March 1935, the
Group Theatre premiered
Clifford Odets
Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...
's ''
Till the Day I Die
''Till the Day I Die'' is a play by Clifford Odets performed on Broadway in 1935.
Description
The play is a seven-scene drama written by Clifford Odets. It was originally written as a piece to accompany ''Waiting for Lefty''.
Productions
It w ...
'' and ''
Waiting for Lefty
''Waiting for Lefty'' is a 1935 play by the American playwright Clifford Odets; it was his first play to be produced. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor ...
'',
which starred Odets,
Elia Kazan
Elia Kazan (; born Elias Kazantzoglou ( el, Ηλίας Καζαντζόγλου); September 7, 1909 – September 28, 2003) was an American film and theatre director, producer, screenwriter and actor, described by ''The New York Times'' as "one o ...
, and
Lee J. Cobb
Lee J. Cobb (born Leo Jacoby; December 8, 1911February 11, 1976) was an American actor, known both for film roles and his work on the Broadway stage. He often played arrogant, intimidating and abrasive characters, but he also acted as respectabl ...
for 135 performances.
That December, the Group Theatre staged ''
Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...
'', another Odets play, at the Longacre.
The
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...
(WPA)'s
Federal Theatre Project
The Federal Theatre Project (FTP; 1935–1939) was a theatre program established during the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depression as part of the New Deal to fund live artistic performances and entertainment programs in the United ...
had planned to rent the Longacre in 1936, but the WPA rescinded its plan due to protests from stagehand unions. Artef, a
Yiddish theatre
Yiddish theatre consists of plays written and performed primarily by Jews in Yiddish, the language of the Central European Ashkenazi Jewish community. The range of Yiddish theatre is broad: operetta, musical comedy, and satiric or nostalgic revu ...
group, was also negotiating for the Longacre. The Longacre's productions during this time included a ''
Hedda Gabler
''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been can ...
'' revival with
Alla Nazimova
Alla Nazimova (Russian: Алла Назимова; born Marem-Ides Leventon, Russian: Марем-Идес Левентон; June 3 Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates">O.S._May_22.html" ;"title="Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="nowiki/>O ...
,
[; ]
followed by ''The Lady Has a Heart'' with
Elissa Landi
Elissa Landi (born Elisabeth Marie Christine Kühnelt; December 6, 1904 – October 21, 1948) was an Austrian-American actress born in Venice, who was popular as a performer in Hollywood films of the 1920s and 1930s. She was noted for her a ...
.
[; ] The Longacre hosted
Paul Osborn
Paul Osborn (September 4, 1901 – May 12, 1988) was an American playwright and screenwriter. Osborn's original plays are '' The Vinegar Tree'', ''Oliver Oliver'', and ''Morning's at Seven'' and among his several successful adaptations, ''On Bo ...
's ''
On Borrowed Time
''On Borrowed Time'' is a 1939 film about the role death plays in life, and how humanity cannot live without it. It is adapted from Paul Osborn's 1938 Broadway hit play. The play, based on a novel by Lawrence Edward Watkin, has been revived twi ...
'' in 1938,
[; ; ] which ran for 321 performances.
Another Osborn play, ''
Morning's at Seven
''Morning's at Seven'' is a play by Paul Osborn. Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern town in 1928, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question their lives and decide to mak ...
'' in 1939, had a 44-performance run at the Longacre
(though its 1980 Broadway revival was far more successful).
In the early 1940s, the Longacre was generally filled by productions with less than 100 performances.
The major exception to this was ''Three's a Family'', which opened in 1943
[; ; ] and ran for 497 performances.
Mid-1940s to 1960s
![W_48_St_Nov_2021_35](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/52/W_48_St_Nov_2021_35.jpg)
By April 1944, the Shuberts were planning to relocate ''Three Is a Family'' so the Longacre could be leased to the
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System (commonly referred to simply as Mutual; sometimes referred to as MBS, Mutual Radio or the Mutual Radio Network) was an American commercial radio network in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the Old-time radio, golden ...
(MBS) for use as a broadcast studio.
The next month, MBS signed a five-year lease.
A year after moving into the theater, MBS added some offices on the Longacre's top story to alleviate crowding at its other buildings.
The Longacre also served as the home of AM radio station
WOR, which used the theater for shows like ''Broadway Talks Back'',
as well as ''
The American Forum of the Air'' starting in 1947. The Longacre was the only MBS studio that allowed audiences, but WOR (which was operated by MBS) did not allow audiences at its broadcasts.
Because the theater was being used as a studio, the Shuberts refused to comply with a 1948 ordinance that would have required any theater showing legitimate plays to give 2 percent of profits to the city government.
By 1949, as a result of a shortage of studios in New York City, MBS rival
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
had started broadcasting ''This is Broadway'' from the Longacre.
Ultimately, the Longacre was used as a radio and television studio for nine and a half years.
The Broadway theatre industry had improved by mid-1953, when a shortage of available theaters prompted the Shuberts to return the Longacre to legitimate productions. The first production at the newly reopened Longacre was
Dorothy Parker
Dorothy Parker (née Rothschild; August 22, 1893 – June 7, 1967) was an American poet, writer, critic, and satirist based in New York; she was known for her wit, wisecracks, and eye for 20th-century urban foibles.
From a conflicted and unhap ...
and
Arnaud d'Usseau
Arnaud d'Usseau (April 18, 1916 – January 29, 1990) was a playwright and B-movie screenwriter who is perhaps best remembered today for his collaboration with Dorothy Parker on the play '' The Ladies of the Corridor''.
Career
D'Usseau was born ...
's ''Ladies of the Corridor'', which opened in October 1953.
''Ladies of the Corridor'' was not a success,
[; ] and neither was
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh (; 23 June 1910 – 3 October 1987) was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play ''Antigone'', an ad ...
's ''
Mademoiselle Colombe
Mademoiselle (abbreviated as ''Mlle'' or ''M'') may refer to:
* Mademoiselle (title), the French-language equivalent of the title "miss"
Film and television
* ''Mademoiselle'' (1966 film), a French-British drama directed by Tony Richardson
* '' ...
'' in 1954.
[; ]
More successful was
Lillian Hellman
Lillian Florence Hellman (June 20, 1905 – June 30, 1984) was an American playwright, prose writer, memoirist and screenwriter known for her success on Broadway, as well as her communist sympathies and political activism. She was blacklisted aft ...
's version of Anouilh's ''
The Lark'', which opened in 1955 and featured
Julie Harris
Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play.
Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...
,
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film ''Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established h ...
, and
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage, and television. He received multiple accolades, inc ...
.
This was followed in 1957 by ''Fair Game'', which featured
Sam Levene
Sam Levene (born Scholem Lewin; August 28, 1905 – December 28, 1980) was a Russian Empire-born American Broadway, film, radio, and television actor and director. In a career spanning over five decades, he appeared in over 50 comedy and dram ...
and
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...
.
[; ] Another hit at the Longacre was
Samuel Taylor's 1958 comedy ''The Pleasure of His Company'', which featured
Cornelia Otis Skinner
Cornelia Otis Skinner (May 30, 1899 – July 9, 1979) was an American writer and actress.
Biography
Skinner was the only child of actor Otis Skinner and actress Maud Durbin. After attending the all-girls' Baldwin School and Bryn Mawr College ...
,
Walter Abel
Walter Abel (June 6, 1898 – March 26, 1987) was an American film, stage and radio actor.
Life
Abel was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the son of Christine (née Becker) and Richard Michael Abel. Abel graduated from the American Academy o ...
,
Dolores Hart
Dolores Hart, O.S.B. (born Dolores Hicks; October 20, 1938) is an American Roman Catholic Benedictine nun who was a prominent actress. Following her movie debut with Elvis Presley in '' Loving You'' (1957), she made ten films in five years, inc ...
,
George Peppard
George Peppard (; October 1, 1928 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor. He is best remembered for his role as struggling writer Paul Varjak in the 1961 film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', and for playing commando leader Col. John "Hannibal ...
,
Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Joseph Trimnell-Ritchard (1 December 1898 – 18 December 1977), known professionally as Cyril Ritchard, was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in ...
, and
Charlie Ruggles
Charles Sherman Ruggles (February 8, 1886 – December 23, 1970) was an American comic character actor. In a career spanning six decades, Ruggles appeared in close to 100 feature films, often in mild-mannered and comic roles. He was also the e ...
.
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 ''
Rhinoceros
A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
'' opened at the Longacre in 1961 and featured
Zero Mostel.
A transfer of
Ossie Davis
Raiford Chatman "Ossie" Davis (December 18, 1917 – February 4, 2005) was an American actor, director, writer, and activist. He was married to Ruby Dee, with whom he frequently performed, until his death. He and his wife were named to the NAACP ...
's ''Purlie Victorious'' followed at the end of the same year.
The Longacre also hosted
Henry Denker
Henry Denker (November 25, 1912 – May 15, 2012) was an American novelist and playwright.
Biography
Denker was born in New York, the son of a fur trader. After initially studying to be a rabbi, he change to the study of law and graduated fro ...
's ''A Case of Libel'' in 1963, with
Sidney Blackmer,
Larry Gates, and
Van Heflin
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin Jr. (December 13, 1908 – July 23, 1971) was an American theatre, radio and film actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man. H ...
,
followed in 1964 by
Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highlig ...
's ''
The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window'' with
Gabriel Dell
Gabriel Dell (born Gabriel Marcel Dell Vecchio; October 8, 1919 – July 3, 1988) was an American actor and one of the members of what came to be known as the Dead End Kids, then later the East Side Kids and finally The Bowery Boys.
Acting car ...
and
Rita Moreno
Rita Moreno (born Rosa Dolores Alverío Marcano; December 11, 1931) is a Puerto Rican actress, dancer, and singer. Noted for her work across different areas of the entertainment industry, she has appeared in numerous film, television, and thea ...
.
In 1966, the theater hosted a short run of
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 ''Slapstick Tragedy''
[; ] (composed of ''
The Mutilated'' and ''
The Gnadiges Fraulein''),
Hal Holbrook
Harold Rowe Holbrook Jr. (February 17, 1925 – January 23, 2021) was an American actor, television director, and screenwriter. He first received critical acclaim in 1954 for a one-man stage show that he developed called ''Mark Twain Tonight!'' ...
's solo show ''
Mark Twain Tonight!
''Mark Twain Tonight!'' is a one-man play devised by Hal Holbrook, in which he depicted Mark Twain giving a dramatic recitation selected from several of Twain's writings, with an emphasis on the comic ones.
Background
The recitation's genesis was ...
'',
and a solo appearance by
Gilbert Bécaud
Gilbert Bécaud (, 24 October 1927 – 18 December 2001) was a French singer, composer, pianist and actor, known as "Monsieur 100,000 Volts" for his energetic performances. His best-known hits are "Nathalie" and "Et maintenant", a 1961 release t ...
.
Holbrook,
Teresa Wright
Muriel Teresa Wright (October 27, 1918 – March 6, 2005) was an American actress. She was nominated twice for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress: in 1941 for her debut work in ''The Little Foxes'', and in 1942 for ''Mrs. Miniver'', ...
, and
Lillian Gish
Lillian Diana Gish (October 14, 1893February 27, 1993) was an American actress, director, and screenwriter. Her film-acting career spanned 75 years, from 1912, in silent film shorts, to 1987. Gish was called the "First Lady of American Cinema", ...
starred in
Robert Anderson's play ''Never Sang for My Father'' at the Longacre in 1968.
The
National Theatre of the Deaf
The National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD) is a Connecticut-based theatre company founded in 1967, and is the oldest theatre company in the United States with a continuous history of domestic and international touring, as well as producing original wor ...
also performed at the Longacre for a limited engagement in 1969.
1970s and 1980s
William Goldman
William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays '' ...
's 1969 book ''
The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway'' had specifically cited the Longacre as a flop theater.
Goldman wrote that the Longacre was not near many other theaters, especially as compared with venues on
45th Street, and claimed that the Longacre hosted weak shows because its owners "could only get dreck to play there".
According to theatrical historian Louis Botto, this reinforced "the notion that no hits open there", creating a cycle of flops in the early 1970s.
Some productions during this time, such as ''Keep Off the Grass'' (1972), limited the audience to 499 because a 500-seat house would require negotiations with Broadway theatrical unions. The Longacre finally saw a hit in 1975 with the opening of ''
The Ritz'',
[; ; ] which featured Moreno,
Jerry Stiller
Gerald Isaac Stiller (June 8, 1927 – May 11, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He spent many years as part of the comedy duo Stiller and Meara with his wife, Anne Meara, to whom he was married for over 60 years until her death in 2015 ...
, and
Jack Weston
Jack Weston (born Morris Weinstein; August 21, 1924 – May 3, 1996) was an American actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1976 and a Tony Award in 1981.
Career
Weston, a native of Cleveland, Ohio, usually played comic roles in fi ...
for 400 performances.
Julie Harris
Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play.
Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...
starred in the solo ''
The Belle of Amherst
''The Belle of Amherst'' is a one-woman play by William Luce.
Based on the life of poet Emily Dickinson from 1830 to 1886, and set in her Amherst, Massachusetts home, the 1976 play makes use of her work, diaries, and letters to recollect her en ...
'' in 1976.
[; ] This was followed by revivals of ''
No Man's Land
No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
'',
[; ] ''
The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel
''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel'' is a play by David Rabe.
Rabe's first play in his Vietnam War trilogy that continued with '' Sticks and Bones'' and '' Streamers'', its story is bracketed by scenes depicting the death of the everyman-like ti ...
'',
and ''
Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...
''.
At some point during the 1970s, the interior was painted over in a cream color.
In 1978, the
Fats Waller
Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...
revue
''Ain't Misbehavin opened at the Longacre,
ultimately seeing 1,604 performances over three theaters.
[; ] The Longacre's next hit was
''Children of a Lesser God'' with
Phyllis Frelich
Phyllis Annetta Frelich (February 29, 1944 – April 10, 2014) was a Tony Award-winning deaf American actress. She was the first deaf actor or actress to win a Tony Award.
Early life
Frelich was born to deaf parents Esther (née Dockter) and Ph ...
and
John Rubinstein
John Rubinstein (born December 8, 1946) is an American actor, composer and director.
Early life
Rubinstein is the son of Polish parents. His mother, Aniela (née Młynarska), a dancer and writer, was a Roman Catholic native of Warsaw, the dau ...
, which opened in 1980
[; ; ] and had 887 performances.
The Longacre often remained dark for several consecutive months during the 1980s, and a 1987 ''New York Times'' article reported that the theater had been empty for 201 of the past 208 weeks. Shows during the decade included
''Passion'',
''Play Memory'',
''
Harrigan 'N Hart
''Harrigan 'N Hart'' is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart, lyrics by Peter Walker, and music by Max Showalter. The show is based on the book ''The Merry Partners'' by Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr. and material found by Nedda Harrigan Logan.Rich, ...
'',
''
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
'',
''Precious Sons'',
''
The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940'',
''Don't Get God Started'',
and ''Hizzoner!''.
A video for the song ''The Rum Tum Tugger'', from the musical ''
Cats
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...
'', was also shot at the Longacre during one of its dark periods in 1984. During the late 1980s, the Shuberts renovated the Longacre as part of a restoration program for their Broadway theaters.
The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
(LPC) had started considering protecting the Longacre as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. The LPC designated the Longacre's facade and interior as a landmark on December 8, 1987.
This was part of the LPC's wide-ranging effort in 1987 to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters. The
New York City Board of Estimate
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...
ratified the designations in March 1988. The Shuberts, the
Nederlanders, 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, Virgi ...
collectively sued the LPC in June 1988 to overturn the landmark designations of 22 theaters, including the Longacre, 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.
1990s to present
![W 48 St Nov 2021 39](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/W_48_St_Nov_2021_39.jpg)
The Longacre hosted the musical ''Truly Blessed'', a showcase of
Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to t ...
's music, for a month in 1990. No other shows had been staged when, in November 1991, the city and state government officials proposed setting up a community courtroom in the theater to process
misdemeanor
A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...
summonses.
The Shubert Organization was to donate the space for three years.
Theatrical personalities heavily opposed the plan, not only because it would require extensive renovations, but also because another Broadway house (the
Mark Hellinger Theatre
The Mark Hellinger Theatre (formerly the 51st Street Theatre and the Hollywood Theatre) is a church building at 237 West 51st Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, which formerly served as a cinema and a Broadway thea ...
) had been converted to non-theatrical use.
Another site for the court was eventually identified,
and the Longacre returned to legitimate use with a short run of ''Tango Pasion'' in April 1993.
Frank D. Gilroy's ''Any Given Day'' also had a short run of 32 performances the same year.
A revival of ''
Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
'' with
Diana Rigg
Dame Enid Diana Elizabeth Rigg (20 July 193810 September 2020) was an English actress of stage and screen. Her roles include Emma Peel in the TV series '' The Avengers'' (1965–1968); Countess Teresa di Vicenzo, wife of James Bond, in '' On H ...
was hosted in 1994,
followed by a short run of
Phillip Hayes Dean
Phillip Hayes Dean (January 17, 1931 – April 14, 2014) was an American stage actor and playwright.
Death
Hayes died on April 14, 2014, aged 83, in Los Angeles, California from an aortic aneurysm
An aortic aneurysm is an enlargement (dilata ...
's ''Paul Robeson'' with
Avery Brooks
Avery Franklin Brooks (born October 2, 1948) is an American actor, director, singer, narrator and educator. He is best known for his television roles as Captain Benjamin Sisko on ''Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'', as Hawk on '' Spenser: For Hire'' ...
in 1995.
Horton Foote
Albert Horton Foote Jr. (March 14, 1916March 4, 2009) was an American playwright and screenwriter. He received Academy Awards for his screenplays for the 1962 film ''To Kill a Mockingbird'', which was adapted from the 1960 novel of the same name ...
's ''
The Young Man from Atlanta'' opened at the Longacre in 1997,
followed by
David Henry Hwang
David Henry Hwang (born August 11, 1957) is an American playwright, librettist, screenwriter, and theater professor at Columbia University in New York City. He has won three Obie Awards for his plays '' FOB'', '' Golden Child'', and '' Yell ...
's
''Golden Child'' the next year.
The Longacre then hosted ''The Gershwins' Fascinating Rhythm'' in April 1999 and
John Pielmeier
John Pielmeier (born February 23, 1949) is an American playwright and screenwriter.
Life and career
Pielmeier was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the son of Louise (Blackburn) and Len Pielmeier. He was raised Catholic. He earned a Bachelor of Art ...
's ''Voices in the Dark'' that August. In 2001, the Longacre hosted two brief runs:
''
Judgment at Nuremberg
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' is a 1961 American epic courtroom drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, written by Abby Mann and starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietr ...
''
and ''
A Thousand Clowns
''A Thousand Clowns'' is a 1965 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe and starring Jason Robards, Barbara Harris, Martin Balsam, and Barry Gordon. An adaptation of a 1962 play by Herb Gardner, it tells the story of an eccentric comedy ...
''.
The musical
''One Mo' Time'' ran for only three weeks in 2002,
while
''Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam'' opened later that year and ran six months.
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 Longacre. The Longacre then had two major flops: ''The Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All'' (2003), which closed after one performance,
and ''Prymate'' (2004), which lasted five performances.
A revival of ''
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...
'' opened in 2005,
followed by a transfer of the off-Broadway hit
''Well'' in 2006.
The Longacre had no productions for about a year
until
''Talk Radio'' opened in March 2007.
After ''Talk Radio'' ended, the Longacre was closed for a $12 million renovation by
Kostow Greenwood Architects
Kostow Greenwood Architects LLP, is a New York City-based architecture firm, specializing in broadcast and live arts facilities, interior architecture and historic preservation and renovation and urban revitalization projects. Serving commercial, ...
. The marquee was replaced and the climate control system was refurbished. The interior spaces were extensively rebuilt with new seats and lounges, as well as restored decorations, including an approximation of the original color scheme. Original decorative elements, removed in previous renovations, were restored to the balcony and boxes.
The theater reopened in May 2008 with the farce ''
Boeing Boeing'', which ran until the following January;
''Boeing Boeing'' 279-performance run was the longest of any production at the Longacre in almost three decades.
The next hit was ''
Burn the Floor'', which opened in August 2009
and ran for five months.
Productions in the early 2010s included ''
La Cage aux Folles'' in 2010, ''
Chinglish
Chinglish is slang for spoken or written English language that is either influenced by a Chinese language, or is poorly translated. In Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong and Guangxi, the term "Chinglish" refers mainly to Cantonese-influenced English. ...
'' in 2011, ''
Magic/Bird'' and ''
The Performers'' in 2012, ''
First Date the Musical
''First Date'' is a musical with a book by Austin Winsberg and music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. Based around the concept of a blind date, the musical made its world premiere during 2012 at Seattle's ACT Theatre in a 5th Aven ...
'' in 2013, and ''
Of Mice and Men
''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...
'' and ''
You Can't Take It with You'' in 2014. This was followed by the musicals ''
Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign.
Etymology
From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...
'' in 2015, ''
A Bronx Tale
''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of ...
'' in 2016, ''
The Prom'' in 2018, and ''
The Lightning Thief
''The Lightning Thief'' is a 2005 American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology, the first young adult novel written by Rick Riordan in the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. It won the Adult Library Services Association Be ...
'' in 2019.
''A Bronx Tale'' achieved the box office record for the theater, grossing $1,293,125.32 over nine performances for the week ending January 1, 2017. During the run of ''The Prom'', in 2019, Broadway’s first known onstage wedding happened at the Longacre between two women. On March 12, 2020, the theater closed 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 ...
. It reopened on November 2, 2021, with previews of ''
Diana'', which ran seven weeks.
A limited revival of the play ''
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 ...
'' opened in April 2022,
[ followed by the play '']Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt (; bar, Leopoidstod, "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna (german: 2. Bezirk) in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th distr ...
'' in October 2022.[
]
Notable productions
Productions are listed by the year of their first performance.
* 1913: ''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 ...
''
* 1914: ''A Pair of Sixes
''A Pair of Sixes'', originally titled ''The Party of the Second Part'', is a farce in three acts by Edward Peple that made its Broadway debut at the Longacre Theatre on March 17, 1914. The piece was produced by Harry Frazee and achieved a run ...
''
*1914: '' Secret Strings''
*1915: '' Inside the Lines''
* 1917: ''Leave It to Jane
''Leave It to Jane'' is a musical in two acts, with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, based on the 1904 play '' The College Widow'', by George Ade. The story concerns the football rivalry between Atwater ...
''
*1919: ''Ghosts
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
''
* 1919: ''Adam and Eva
''Adam and Eva'' is a 1923 American comedy silent film directed by Robert G. Vignola and adapted by Luther Reed from the play by Guy Bolton and George Middleton. The film stars Marion Davies, T. Roy Barnes, Tom Lewis, William Norris, Percy Ame ...
''
*1921: ''Nobody's Money
''Nobody's Money'' is a lost 1923 American silent comedy film directed by Wallace Worsley and written by Beulah Marie Dix based on a play of the same name by William LeBaron. The film stars Jack Holt, Wanda Hawley, Harry Depp, Robert Schable, ...
''
*1923: ''Rose Bernd
''Rose Bernd'' is a stage drama in five acts by Gerhart Hauptmann
Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturali ...
''
*1923: ''Romeo and Juliet
''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...
''
* 1923: ''Little Jessie James
''Little Jessie James'' was a musical farce that was the biggest hit of the 1923-24 Broadway season.
Production
''Little Jessie James'' was written by Harlan Thompson, the author of the book and the lyrics. The music was by Harry Archer.
It wa ...
''
* 1925: ''The Butter and Egg Man
''The Butter and Egg Man'' is a 1925 play by George S. Kaufman, the only play he wrote without collaborating. It was a Broadway hit during the 1925–26 season at the Longacre Theatre. Adapted to film six times, it is still performed on stages tod ...
''
* 1930: ''Ritzy
''Ritzy'' is a lost 1927 American comedy silent film directed by Richard Rosson and written by Elinor Glyn, Percy Heath, Robert N. Lee and George Marion, Jr. The film stars Betty Bronson, James Hall, William Austin, Joan Standing, George N ...
''
*1934: '' Wednesday's Child''
*1935: ''Till the Day I Die
''Till the Day I Die'' is a play by Clifford Odets performed on Broadway in 1935.
Description
The play is a seven-scene drama written by Clifford Odets. It was originally written as a piece to accompany ''Waiting for Lefty''.
Productions
It w ...
/Waiting for Lefty
''Waiting for Lefty'' is a 1935 play by the American playwright Clifford Odets; it was his first play to be produced. Consisting of a series of related vignettes, the entire play is framed by a meeting of cab drivers who are planning a labor ...
''
*1935: '' Kind Lady''
*1935: ''Paradise Lost
''Paradise Lost'' is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse (poetry), verse. A second edition fo ...
''
*1936: ''Hedda Gabler
''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been can ...
''
*1938: ''On Borrowed Time
''On Borrowed Time'' is a 1939 film about the role death plays in life, and how humanity cannot live without it. It is adapted from Paul Osborn's 1938 Broadway hit play. The play, based on a novel by Lawrence Edward Watkin, has been revived twi ...
''
*1939: ''Wuthering Heights
''Wuthering Heights'' is an 1847 novel by Emily Brontë, initially published under her pen name Ellis Bell. It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moorland, moors, the Earnshaws and the Lintons, and their tur ...
''
*1939: '' The Three Sisters''
*1939: ''Morning's at Seven
''Morning's at Seven'' is a play by Paul Osborn. Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern town in 1928, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question their lives and decide to mak ...
''
*1940: ''Leave Her to Heaven
''Leave Her to Heaven'' is a 1945 American psychological thriller film noir melodrama directed by John M. Stahl and starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain, and Vincent Price. It follows a socialite who marries a prominent novelist, ...
''
*1940: '' Johnny Belinda''
*1942: ''Hedda Gabler
''Hedda Gabler'' () is a play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. The world premiere was staged on 31 January 1891 at the Residenztheater in Munich. Ibsen himself was in attendance, although he remained back-stage. The play has been can ...
''
*1954: ''Mademoiselle Colombe
Mademoiselle (abbreviated as ''Mlle'' or ''M'') may refer to:
* Mademoiselle (title), the French-language equivalent of the title "miss"
Film and television
* ''Mademoiselle'' (1966 film), a French-British drama directed by Tony Richardson
* '' ...
''
*1954: ''The Burning Glass
''The Burning Glass'' is a 1954 dramatic play by Charles Morgan.
Plot
''The Burning Glass'' tells the story of Christopher Terriford, a British scientist who discovers a new method of capturing solar energy. This "burning glass" can greatly ben ...
''
*1954: '' The Tender Trap''
*1955: '' Tea and Sympathy''
*1955: ''The Honeys
The Honeys (originally the Rovell Sisters) were an American girl group, formed in Los Angeles in 1958, that initially comprised sisters Marilyn, Diane, and Barbara Rovell. Barbara was later replaced by their cousin, Ginger Blake. After 1962, ...
''
* 1955: '' The Lark''
*1957: ''Holiday for Lovers
''Holiday for Lovers'' is a 1959 DeLuxe in CinemaScope comedy film directed by Henry Levin. Based on a 1957 play of the same title by Ronald Alexander, the film stars Clifton Webb, Jane Wyman, Jill St. John and Carol Lynley.
Plot
Robert Dean ...
''
*1959: '' An Evening With Yves Montand''
* 1961: '' The Rhinoceros''
*1964: '' The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window''
*1966: ''Mark Twain Tonight
Mark may refer to:
Currency
* Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic
* Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927
* Fi ...
''
*1966: '' The Mutilated/ The Gnadiges Fraulein''
*1966: '' A Hand Is on the Gate''
*1966: '' Gilbert Becaud on Broadway''
*1967: '' Daphne in Cottage D''
*1968: '' Cactus Flower''
*1970: '' Candida''
*1970: '' Les Blancs''
*1971: ''The Me Nobody Knows
''The Me Nobody Knows'' is a musical with music by Gary William Friedman and lyrics by Will Holt. It debuted off-Broadway in 1970 and then transferred to Broadway, making it one of the earliest rock musicals to play on Broadway, and the first ...
''
*1972: '' The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window''
*1974: ''Thieves
Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
''
* 1975: '' The Ritz''
* 1976: ''The Belle of Amherst
''The Belle of Amherst'' is a one-woman play by William Luce.
Based on the life of poet Emily Dickinson from 1830 to 1886, and set in her Amherst, Massachusetts home, the 1976 play makes use of her work, diaries, and letters to recollect her en ...
''
*1976: '' Checking Out''
*1976: ''No Man's Land
No man's land is waste or unowned land or an uninhabited or desolate area that may be under dispute between parties who leave it unoccupied out of fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dump ...
''
* 1977: ''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel
''The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel'' is a play by David Rabe.
Rabe's first play in his Vietnam War trilogy that continued with '' Sticks and Bones'' and '' Streamers'', its story is bracketed by scenes depicting the death of the everyman-like ti ...
''
*1977: ''Jesus Christ Superstar
''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...
''
* 1978: '' Ain't Misbehavin'''
*1979: ''Faith Healer
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...
''
*1979: ''Bosoms and Neglect
''Bosoms and Neglect'' is a play by American playwright John Guare, first staged in 1979 at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
Productions
''Bosoms and Neglect'' opened on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre on May 3, 1979, where it ran fo ...
''
*1979: ''But Never Jam Today
''But Never Jam Today'' was a 1979 musical with music by Bert Keyes and Bob Larimer, lyrics by Larimer, and a book by both Larimer and Vinnette Carroll. The musical is based on the works of Lewis Carroll, and takes its title from the " jam tomorr ...
''
* 1980: '' Children of a Lesser God''
*1983: '' Passion''
*1985: ''Harrigan 'N Hart
''Harrigan 'N Hart'' is a musical with a book by Michael Stewart, lyrics by Peter Walker, and music by Max Showalter. The show is based on the book ''The Merry Partners'' by Ely Jacques Kahn, Jr. and material found by Nedda Harrigan Logan.Rich, ...
''
* 1985: ''A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...
''
*1987: '' The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940''
*1993: '' Tony Bennett: Steppin' Out on Broadway''
* 1994: ''Medea
In Greek mythology, Medea (; grc, Μήδεια, ''Mēdeia'', perhaps implying "planner / schemer") is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason an ...
''
* 1997: '' The Young Man From Atlanta''
* 1998: '' Golden Child''
* 2001: ''Judgment at Nuremberg
''Judgment at Nuremberg'' is a 1961 American epic courtroom drama film directed and produced by Stanley Kramer, written by Abby Mann and starring Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster, Richard Widmark, Maximilian Schell, Werner Klemperer, Marlene Dietr ...
''
* 2001: ''A Thousand Clowns
''A Thousand Clowns'' is a 1965 American comedy-drama film directed by Fred Coe and starring Jason Robards, Barbara Harris, Martin Balsam, and Barry Gordon. An adaptation of a 1962 play by Herb Gardner, it tells the story of an eccentric comedy ...
''
* 2002: '' One Mo' Time''
* 2002: '' Russell Simmons Def Poetry Jam''
* 2005: ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' is a play by Edward Albee first staged in October 1962. It examines the complexities of the marriage of a middle-aged couple, Martha and George. Late one evening, after a university faculty party, they receive ...
''
* 2006: ''Well
A well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, or drilling to access liquid resources, usually water. The oldest and most common kind of well is a water well, to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The ...
''
* 2007: ''Talk Radio
Talk radio is a radio format containing discussion about topical issues and consisting entirely or almost entirely of original spoken word content rather than outside music. Most shows are regularly hosted by a single individual, and often featur ...
''
* 2008: '' Boeing Boeing''
* 2009: '' Burn the Floor''
* 2010: '' La Cage aux Folles''
* 2011: ''Chinglish
Chinglish is slang for spoken or written English language that is either influenced by a Chinese language, or is poorly translated. In Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong and Guangxi, the term "Chinglish" refers mainly to Cantonese-influenced English. ...
''
* 2012: '' Magic/Bird''
* 2012: '' The Performers''
* 2013: ''First Date the Musical
''First Date'' is a musical with a book by Austin Winsberg and music and lyrics by Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. Based around the concept of a blind date, the musical made its world premiere during 2012 at Seattle's ACT Theatre in a 5th Aven ...
''
* 2014: ''Of Mice and Men
''Of Mice and Men'' is a novella written by John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it narrates the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers, who move from place to place in California in search of new job o ...
''
* 2014: '' You Can't Take It with You''
* 2015: ''Allegiance
An allegiance is a duty of fidelity said to be owed, or freely committed, by the people, subjects or citizens to their state or sovereign.
Etymology
From Middle English ''ligeaunce'' (see medieval Latin ''ligeantia'', "a liegance"). The ''al ...
''
* 2016: ''A Bronx Tale
''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of ...
''
* 2018: '' The Prom''
* 2019: ''The Lightning Thief
''The Lightning Thief'' is a 2005 American fantasy-adventure novel based on Greek mythology, the first young adult novel written by Rick Riordan in the ''Percy Jackson & the Olympians'' series. It won the Adult Library Services Association Be ...
''
* 2021: '' Diana''
* 2022: ''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 ...
''
* 2022: ''Leopoldstadt
Leopoldstadt (; bar, Leopoidstod, "Leopold-Town") is the 2nd municipal district of Vienna (german: 2. Bezirk) in Austria. there are 103,233 inhabitants over . It is situated in the heart of the city and, together with Brigittenau (20th distr ...
''
See also
* List of Broadway theaters
There are 41 active Broadway theaters listed by The Broadway League in New York City, as well as eight existing structures that previously hosted Broadway theatre. Beginning with the first large long-term theater in the city, the Park Theatre ...
*
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
*
*
*
*
External links
*
*
{{portal bar, Architecture, New York City, Theatre
1913 establishments in New York City
Broadway theatres
New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan
New York City interior landmarks
Shubert Organization
Theater District, Manhattan
Theatres completed in 1913