239-576: The Hayes Theater (formerly the Little Theatre , New York Times Hall , Winthrop Ames Theatre , and Helen Hayes Theatre ) is a Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Named for actress Helen Hayes , the venue is operated by Second Stage Theater . It is the smallest Broadway theater, with 597 seats across two levels. The theater
478-668: A " grindhouse " format, with films running continuously. This was part of a decline in the Broadway theater industry in the mid-20th century; from 1931 to 1950, the number of legitimate theaters decreased from 68 to 30. The box seats were removed when the Selwyn became a movie theater. Billy Rose considered restoring either the Selwyn or the Apollo to legitimate use in 1943. By then, the ten theaters along 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues were all showing movies; this led Variety to call
717-578: A $ 45 million capital campaign, with commitments for half that amount, and the theater company was planning to sell the theater's naming rights for $ 15 million. Pfeiffer Partners had completed plans for a renovation of the theater's interior. The same year, the Hayes staged the play Next Fall , as well as Colin Quinn 's one-man show Long Story Short , the latter of which was recorded at the theater as an HBO special. The popular rock musical Rock of Ages transferred to
956-518: A 199-seat off-Broadway theater, on the second floor. It is named for philanthropist Doris Duke , who donated $ 3.5 million toward its construction. The Duke on 42nd Street is housed within an enclosure measuring 57 by 49.5 ft (17.4 by 15.1 m) across and 19.5 ft (5.9 m) high. The building's ground level contains 2,500 square feet (230 m ) of retail space next to the Todd Haimes Theatre's lobby. Times Square became
1195-472: A 7:00 p.m. or 8:00 p.m. "curtain". The afternoon " matinée " performances are at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays and at 3:00 p.m. on Sundays. This makes for an eight-performance week. On this schedule, most shows do not play on Monday and the shows and theatres are said to be "dark" on that day. The actors and the crew in these shows tend to regard Sunday evening through Monday evening as their weekend. The Tony award presentation ceremony
1434-505: A Crowd (1930). After Arch Selwyn's bankruptcy in 1934, the Selwyn became a cinema; the Brandt family took over the theater in 1937 and operated it for the next five decades. The Selwyn largely showed movies, except in 1949–1950, when legitimate plays alternated with film screenings. There were several proposals to redevelop theaters along 42nd Street in the 1980s. New 42nd Street took over the Selwyn and several neighboring theaters in 1990, leasing
1673-462: A Kiss . The Hayes was remodeled in 1992, and the musical revue The High Rollers Social and Pleasure Club and the musical 3 From Brooklyn were staged the same year. Lynn Redgrave performed her solo show Shakespeare For My Father in 1993, followed the next year by Joan Rivers in Sally Marr...and Her Escorts and a stunt show by The Flying Karamazov Brothers . Rob Becker's monologue Defending
1912-771: A Theater Advisory Council, which included Papp. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City , Broadway theaters closed on March 12, 2020, shuttering 16 shows that were playing or were in the process of opening. The Broadway League shutdown was extended first to April, then to May, then June, then September 2020 and January 2021, and later to June 1, 2021. Then-governor Andrew Cuomo announced that most sectors of New York would have their restrictions lifted on May 19, 2021, but he stated that Broadway theatres would not be able to immediately resume performances on this date due to logistical reasons. In May 2021, Cuomo announced that Broadway theaters would be allowed to reopen on September 14, and
2151-449: A booming economy and abundant creative talent kept Broadway hopping. To this day, the shows of the 1950s form the core of the musical theatre repertory." Kenrick notes that "the late 1960s marked a time of cultural upheaval. All those changes would prove painful for many, including those behind the scenes, as well as those in the audience." Of the 1970s, Kenrick writes: "Just when it seemed that traditional book musicals were back in style,
2390-663: A cast. There are still, however, performers who are primarily stage actors, spending most of their time "on the boards", and appearing in screen roles only secondarily. As Patrick Healy of The New York Times noted: Broadway once had many homegrown stars who committed to working on a show for a year, as Nathan Lane has for The Addams Family . In 2010, some theater heavyweights like Mr. Lane were not even nominated; instead, several Tony Awards were given for productions that were always intended to be short-timers on Broadway, given that many of their film-star performers had to move on to other commitments. According to Mark Shenton, "One of
2629-434: A challenge to the stage. At first, films were silent and presented only limited competition. By the end of the 1920s, films like The Jazz Singer were presented with synchronized sound, and critics wondered if cinema would replace live theatre altogether. While live vaudeville could not compete with these inexpensive films that featured vaudeville stars and major comedians of the day, other theatres survived. The musicals of
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#17328594030272868-441: A cloak room. There were coat racks that could be pushed behind a Spanish-leather screen during performances. Also in the basement was a men's smoking room with oak wainscoting, yellowish-brown walls with benches, a cream-colored ceiling, and a red tile floor. The second and third floors were equipped with offices. These included Winthrop Ames's offices, which were directly above the auditorium. Backstage, elevators and stairs led from
3107-526: A company of twelve actors from Britain to the colonies with his brother Lewis as their manager. They established a theatre in Williamsburg, Virginia , and opened with The Merchant of Venice and The Anatomist . The company moved to New York in 1753, performing ballad operas and ballad-farces like Damon and Phillida . During the Revolutionary War , theatre was suspended in New York City. But after
3346-591: A day. The first new legitimate show at the theater was Tambourines of Glory , a Black revue that opened in November 1963 and closed after a week. Euster opened a bar in the Little's basement and offered free alcoholic beverages to patrons, but the New York City license commissioner quickly halted the practice because the theater had no liquor license. At the end of the year, the Paul Taylor Dance Company performed at
3585-552: A discount of 20 to 50%. The TKTS booths are located in Times Square , in Lower Manhattan , and at Lincoln Center . This service is run by Theatre Development Fund . Many Broadway theatres also offer special student rates, same-day "rush" or "lottery" tickets, or standing-room tickets to help ensure that their theatres are as full—and their grosses as high—as possible. According to The Broadway League , total Broadway attendance
3824-896: A few exceptions, compared with London runs, until World War I . A few very successful British musicals continued to achieve great success in New York, including Florodora in 1900–01. In the early years of the twentieth century, translations of popular late-nineteenth century continental operettas were joined by the "Princess Theatre" shows of the 1910s, by writers such as P. G. Wodehouse , Guy Bolton , and Harry B. Smith . Victor Herbert , whose work included some intimate musical plays with modern settings as well as his string of famous operettas ( The Fortune Teller (1898), Babes in Toyland (1903), Mlle. Modiste (1905), The Red Mill (1906), and Naughty Marietta (1910)). Beginning with The Red Mill , Broadway shows installed electric signs outside
4063-434: A foyer with a carpeted floor, as well as a main area with a gold-and-blue ceiling and gilded wall mirrors. The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015 that the subscribers' lobby was often unused, since many subscribers instead gathered in the ground-floor lobby during intermissions. The private lounge is immediately above the subscribers' lobby. It was originally intended for donors who contributed over $ 1,500 annually to
4302-610: A frontage of 37 ft (11 m) on 42nd Street and 96 feet on 43rd Street, with a depth of 100 feet from both streets. The theater shares the block with the Hotel Carter building to the west, as well as the Lyric , Times Square , and New Victory theaters and 3 Times Square to the east. Other nearby buildings include 255 West 43rd Street , the St. James Theatre , and the Hayes Theater to
4541-611: A half. The network, seeking a larger accommodation, ultimately leased the Manhattan (now Ed Sullivan) Theater in August 1936, vacating the Little Theatre by the end of the next month. The playwright Anne Nichols leased the theater for legitimate productions in September 1936. Nichols moved her play Pre-Honeymoon there, and the venue became Anne Nichols' Little Theatre. During 1936 and 1937,
4780-520: A heavy rainstorm on December 30, 1997. The collapse destroyed several pieces of memorabilia in the Times Square visitor center, including pinball machines and sex-store advertisements. The building had been vacant at the time, but police cordoned the area off because the collapse had occurred just before the Times Square Ball drop. The Times Square visitor center was subsequently relocated to
5019-459: A ladies' room. It was painted like the box office and had a large mirror, dressing table, chaise longue, and mahogany side chairs with armure coverings in a rose color. To the right, stairs descended to a tea room that was similar in design to a residential living room. The tea room had old-English oak furnishings, white-paneled walls, blue-green curtains, and a gray carpet. The tea room was used not only to serve drinks during intermission but also as
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#17328594030275258-406: A large billboard. Joseph Giovaninni of New York magazine wrote of the design: "The architects may have designed only what is, in the end, a familiar glass box, but with their totally original use of light they infused it with new life." Elaine Louie of The New York Times wrote that the structure "proves that a glass building can have a 21st-century reason for its transparency and not just be
5497-476: A larger theatre. Other productions are first developed through workshops and then out-of-town tryouts before transferring to Broadway. Merrily We Roll Along famously skipped an out-of-town tryout and attempted to do an in-town tryout—actually preview performances —on Broadway before its official opening, with disastrous results. After, or even during, successful runs in Broadway theatres, producers often remount their productions with new casts and crew for
5736-550: A legitimate house within 24 hours' notice, but producers did not take up his offer. By the late 1950s, the Selwyn was classified as a "move-over house", displaying features immediately after they ran at the Lyric, one of the street's two first-run theaters (the other being the New Amsterdam). As a move-over house, the Selwyn charged less than the first-run theaters but more than the "reissue houses" that screened old films. The Selwyn and
5975-485: A mechanical core within the New 42nd Street Building. Three elevators and two staircases were built when the theater was reconstructed. One of the elevators is housed within an old fire escape shaft. On the 42nd Street side of the New 42nd Street Building, a 15 ft-deep (4.6 m) space was added for backstage areas. Two stories were built above the roof, with reception, kitchen/dining, and bar areas; they are supported by
6214-521: A more experimental, challenging, and intimate performance than is possible in the larger Broadway theatres. Some Broadway shows, however, such as the musicals Hair , Little Shop of Horrors , Spring Awakening , Next to Normal , Rent , Avenue Q , In the Heights , Fun Home , A Chorus Line , Dear Evan Hansen , and Hamilton , began their runs Off-Broadway and later transferred to Broadway, seeking to replicate their intimate experience in
6453-539: A negative COVID-19 test (PCR within 72 hours or antigen within six hours of the performance start time). Beginning November 8, those ages 5–11 also had the option to provide proof of at least one vaccination shot. Effective December 14, in accordance with NYC's vaccination mandate, guests ages 5–11 were required to have at least one vaccination shot until January 29, 2022, where they had to be fully vaccinated. The vaccine mandate lasted until April 30, and attendees were also required to wear face masks until July 1. During
6692-1128: A new age of American playwright with the emergence of Eugene O'Neill , whose plays Beyond the Horizon , Anna Christie , The Hairy Ape , Strange Interlude , and Mourning Becomes Electra proved that there was an audience for serious drama on Broadway, and O'Neill's success paved the way for major dramatists like Elmer Rice , Maxwell Anderson , Robert E. Sherwood , Clifford Odets , Tennessee Williams , and Arthur Miller , as well as writers of comedy like George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart . Classical revivals also proved popular with Broadway theatre-goers, notably John Barrymore in Hamlet and Richard III , John Gielgud in Hamlet , The Importance of Being Earnest and Much Ado About Nothing , Walter Hampden and José Ferrer in Cyrano de Bergerac , Paul Robeson and Ferrer in Othello , Maurice Evans in Richard II and
6931-443: A nod to old-fashioned Modernism". The Todd Haimes Theatre has a fan-shaped layout, which led one critic to observe that "a whisper in the farthest part of the stage may be heard at the most remote seat". While the theater originally had 1,180 seats, it has had 740 seats since the late 1990s. The modern theater has wider seats than the original Selwyn, necessitating the reduction in the number of seats. The original upholstery
7170-560: A rapid increase in the valuation of real estate along Times Square, the Criterion Center's owner notified Haimes that Roundabout's lease would be terminated in March 1999. The impending eviction prompted the company to intensify its search for a permanent home. Haimes wanted a theater that contained at least 500 seats, as well as fly space and wings . The Wooster Group brought a limited production of Eugene O'Neill 's The Hairy Ape to
7409-500: A rate acceptable to the producers, they may continue to run in the expectation that, eventually, they will pay back their initial costs and become profitable. In some borderline situations, producers may ask that royalties be temporarily reduced or waived, or even that performers—with the permission of their unions—take reduced salaries, to prevent a show from closing. Theatre owners, who are not generally profit participants in most productions, may waive or reduce rents, or even lend money to
Hayes Theater - Misplaced Pages Continue
7648-413: A rectangular lot covering around 7,538 sq ft (700.3 m ), with a frontage of 75 ft (23 m) on 42nd Street and a depth of 100 ft 5 in (30.61 m). The auditorium is also on a rectangular lot covering 9,708 sq ft (901.9 m ), with a frontage of 96 ft 8 in (29.46 m) on 43rd Street and a depth of 100 feet 5 inches. Originally, the theater had
7887-443: A revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner in late 1999. New 42nd Street opened the studios in its new building on June 20, 2000. The American Airlines Theatre informally reopened on June 30, 2000, even though the subscribers' lobby was incomplete at the time. At the time, Roundabout had 46,000 subscribers; this was nearly three times the 17,000 subscribers it had in 1983. The theater formally reopened on July 27, 2000. Typically,
8126-451: A revival of Richard Greenberg 's 2002 play Take Me Out . Grand Horizons was staged from January to March 2020. All Broadway theaters were temporarily closed on March 12, 2020 , due to the COVID-19 pandemic , and previews of Take Me Out were delayed. The Hayes reopened on November 3, 2021, with previews of Clyde's by Lynn Nottage . Take Me Out opened in April 2022, two years after it
8365-438: A row of orchestra seating. A red house curtain and a fire curtain were also installed. The auditorium's roof is supported by four columns, two each in the front and in the back. When the theater was rebuilt in the 1990s, the columns were extended upward by 25 ft (7.6 m) to support two additional stories. The auditorium's dome is suspended from two trusses that run between the front and rear pairs of columns. The dome
8604-431: A run of 253 performances. The first theatre piece that conforms to the modern conception of a musical, adding dance and original music that helped to tell the story, is considered to be The Black Crook , which premiered in New York on September 12, 1866. The production was five-and-a-half hours long, but despite its length, it ran for a record-breaking 474 performances. The same year, The Black Domino/Between You, Me and
8843-500: A second time in 1974, when Ray Aranha 's My Sister, My Sister opened there. Because of the Little's small size, the Actors' Equity Association gave the theater a special designation, which exempted the theater from some of Actors' Equity's strict rules regarding profits. This was followed in 1975 by the short-lived musical Man on the Moon and the play Lamppost Reunion , as well as in 1976 by
9082-481: A show to keep it running. Some Broadway shows are produced by non-commercial organizations as part of a regular subscription season— Lincoln Center Theatre , Roundabout Theatre Company , Manhattan Theatre Club , and Second Stage Theater are the four non-profit theatre companies that currently have permanent Broadway venues. Some other productions are produced on Broadway with "limited engagement runs" for several reasons, including financial issues, prior engagements of
9321-549: A six-month run of The Runner Stumbles . The next hit at the theater was Albert Innaurato 's play Gemini , which transferred from off Broadway in 1977 and ran for 1,819 performances over the next four years. Westinghouse subsequently sold the theater, but sources dissent on when the sale occurred. According to Ken Bloom and The New York Times , Martin Markinson and Donald Tick bought the theater from Westinghouse in 1979 for $ 800,000. However, media sources from March 1980 said that
9560-437: A sloped orchestra level, one balcony level, and a flat ceiling. There are other spaces throughout the theater, including lounges. Ames had intended for the Little Theatre to host new plays, but its unprofitability led him to expand the theater within a decade of its opening. Ames leased the theater to Oliver Morosco in 1919 and to John Golden in 1922. The New York Times bought the theater in 1931 with plans to raze it, but
9799-584: A stable door, was originally placed between two of these windows. Carriage lamps were also mounted on the facade to give the impression that the theater was formerly a residence. Above the ground floor, the theater building has a setback , which was formerly decorated with potted plants. The second and third stories each contain six sash windows flanked by shutters. The second-story window panes are arranged in an eight-over-twelve format; above them are splayed stone lintels , containing keystones with bead motifs and brackets. There are curved metal balconies in front of
Hayes Theater - Misplaced Pages Continue
10038-525: A stand-up comedy show at the theater. Roundabout's first musical at the theater was The Boys from Syracuse at the beginning of the 2002–2003 season. The theater then hosted the plays Tartuffe and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg and the musical Big River in 2003. Additionally, Yakov Smirnoff performed the comedy show As Long As We Both Shall Laugh on nights when Joe Egg did not perform. Despite critical acclaim for these shows, Roundabout recorded
10277-429: A venue for gay pornographic films. Moore, who claimed he did not know that his tenants were pornographic film exhibitors, quickly halted the film screenings after other theatrical owners protested. In May 1974, Westinghouse Broadcasting acquired the Little Theatre from Moore's company, after Moore defaulted on a mortgage that had been placed on the theater building. The Little Theatre returned to legitimate productions
10516-565: A venue for plays under the name Burton's Theatre. The Astor Opera House opened in 1847. A riot broke out in 1849 when the lower-class patrons of the Bowery Theatre objected to what they perceived as snobbery by the upper-class audiences at Astor Place: "After the Astor Place Riot of 1849, entertainment in New York City was divided along class lines: opera was chiefly for the upper-middle and upper classes, minstrel shows and melodramas for
10755-407: A year. By then, a lack of steady income led the Selwyn brothers to host shows on Sunday nights, when most other Broadway theaters did not operate. In addition to legitimate bookings, the Selwyn hosted events such as a debate about Benito Mussolini . Under Arch Selwyn, the theater became known for hosting revues. In November 1928, Arch Selwyn brought Noël Coward 's musical This Year of Grace to
10994-454: A year. Ames's lease on the Little expired in May 1932. The New York Times Company leased the theater to Little Theatre Operating Company for one year starting in September 1932. The new operator planned to host "contemporary light comedies". During this period, the Little hosted many relatively short-lived productions, including "a spate of plays with 'Honeymoon' in their titles". The theater passed to
11233-509: Is a brick arch, which contains impost blocks on either side, as well as a console -shaped keystone at the top. Within this arch are a set of wooden double doors, which are flanked by Ionic -style columns and by sidelights containing lozenge and oval patterns. The brick arch is flanked on either side by paired columns with Corinthian -style capitals . There are electronic signs between each column pair; these rest on pedestals and are topped by urns and volutes . A band course runs above
11472-578: Is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters , each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway , in Midtown Manhattan , New York City . Broadway and London 's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world . While the Broadway thoroughfare
11711-470: Is an internationally prominent tourist attraction in New York City . According to The Broadway League , shows on Broadway sold approximately US$ 1.54 billion worth of tickets in both the 2022-2023 and the 2023–2024 seasons. Both seasons featured theater attendance of approximately 12.3 million each. Most Broadway shows are musicals . Historian Martin Shefter argues that "Broadway musicals, culminating in
11950-426: Is at 229 West 42nd Street, on the northern sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue , at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . The theater occupies two land lots . The main entrance and lobby are in the New 42nd Street Building on 42nd Street, while the auditorium is on a separate lot to the north on 43rd Street. The New 42nd Street Building occupies
12189-556: Is designed in a blue-and-gold color scheme and has a shallow balcony, box seats , and murals. There are lounges for Roundabout subscribers above the auditorium and technical spaces in the basement. In addition, the New 42nd Street Building contains offices, rehearsal rooms, and an off-Broadway theater above the lobby. The theater opened on October 2, 1918, with Jane Cowl 's Information Please , and it initially hosted legitimate musical and dramatic productions. Arch Selwyn presented revues such as Wake Up and Dream (1929) and Three's
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#173285940302712428-553: Is eponymous with the district, it is closely identified with Times Square . Only three theaters are located on Broadway itself: Broadway Theatre , Palace Theatre , and Winter Garden Theatre . The rest are located on the numbered cross streets, extending from the Nederlander Theatre one block south of Times Square on West 41st Street, north along either side of Broadway to 53rd Street , and Vivian Beaumont Theater , at Lincoln Center on West 65th Street. While exceptions exist,
12667-448: Is even shallower than the orchestra, with seven rows of 40 seats each, or 280 seats in total. It has a continental seating configuration without any intermediate aisles. A technical booth is installed on the rear wall. The orchestra and balcony were connected by stairs with carved yellow marble balustrades. The walls were wainscoted in blue-veined marble. At mezzanine level, there are box seats within arched openings on either side of
12906-475: Is one of three Broadway theaters operated by the nonprofit Roundabout Theatre Company ; the others are Studio 54 and the Stephen Sondheim Theatre . The theater had originally been accessed from the six-story Selwyn Building on 42nd Street, which collapsed at the end of 1997. The building's 42nd Street elevation was made of brick with terracotta trim. One architectural publication described
13145-513: Is operated by Roundabout Theatre Company . The Selwyn Theatre was designed in the Italian Renaissance style, with a brick-and-terracotta facade . The auditorium, which is on 43rd Street, had been accessed from the six-story Selwyn Building on 42nd Street, which collapsed at the end of 1997. The modern theater is accessed through the ten-story New 42nd Street Building, which has an illuminated steel-and-glass facade. The fan-shaped auditorium
13384-453: Is operated by Second Stage Theater , a nonprofit theater company, as of 2018. The facade consists of red brick with Flemish bond , as well as limestone trim. It is asymmetrically arranged, with the theater's main entrance to the far east (left) side of the ground floor. A stone water table runs along the bottom of the ground-floor facade. The rest of the facade was designed with sash windows containing white frames. The entrance doorway
13623-461: Is painted blue and has a chandelier at its center. Smaller blue domes are placed near the rear of the ceiling. In front of the proscenium is a truss and rigging points for theatrical equipment. The rigging system includes 35 line sets . The front of the theater contains a safety beam that can accommodate up to 300 lb (140 kg) of equipment; two motors can pull the beam along a truss measuring 40 ft (12 m) wide. The first floor of
13862-567: Is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit this schedule. In recent years, some shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7:00 pm. The rationale for this move was that since fewer tourists take in shows midweek, Tuesday attendance depends more on local patrons. The earlier curtain makes it possible for suburban patrons to get home by a reasonable hour after the show. Some shows, especially those produced by Disney , change their performance schedules fairly frequently depending on
14101-660: The American Airlines Theatre and originally the Selwyn Theatre ) is a Broadway theater at 227 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . Built in 1918, it was designed by George Keister and developed by brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn , for whom the theater was originally named. The theater is owned by the city and state governments of New York and leased to New 42nd Street . It has 740 seats across two levels and
14340-597: The American Theatre Wing , a service organization. While the League and the theatrical unions are sometimes at loggerheads during those periods when new contracts are being negotiated, they also cooperate on many projects and events designed to promote professional theatre in New York. Of the four non-profit theatre companies with Broadway theatres, all four ( Lincoln Center Theater , Manhattan Theatre Club , Roundabout Theatre Company , and Second Stage Theatre ) belong to
14579-471: The City University of New York 's Graduate Center hosted an exhibition with photographs of the Selwyn and other theaters to advocate for the area's restoration. Another plan, in 1978, called for restoring the Selwyn, Apollo, and Harris for opera and dance, rather than for theatrical purposes. Other nearby buildings would have been razed to create a park. The Brandt family's Brandt Organization converted
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#173285940302714818-705: The Embassy Theatre . In August 1998, the DOB found that the Big Apple Wrecking and Construction Corporation, a contractor for the E-Walk project, was liable for the Selwyn Building's collapse. Big Apple had failed to underpin the building's foundation when it was excavating the E-Walk site, which contributed to the collapse. The DOB could only penalize Big Apple by issuing fines of several thousand dollars. The collapse of
15057-567: The League of Resident Theatres and have contracts with the theatrical unions which are negotiated separately from the other Broadway theatre and producers. ( Disney also negotiates apart from the League, as did Livent before it closed down its operations.) The majority of Broadway theatres are owned or managed by three organizations: the Shubert Organization , a for-profit arm of the non-profit Shubert Foundation, which owns seventeen theatres;
15296-542: The Little Theatre Movement . The New Theatre had failed quickly, as Ames's New Theatre Company only occupied the theater from 1909 to 1911. Ames saw the New as too large and too far away from Times Square. In September 1911, Ames announced his intention to build a 300-seat playhouse around Times Square. Two months later, Ingalls and Hoffman filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for
15535-493: The Nederlander Organization , which controls nine theatres; and ATG Entertainment , which owns seven Broadway houses. Both musicals and straight plays on Broadway often rely on casting well-known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre. Actors from film and television are frequently cast for the revivals of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving
15774-580: The Prudential Insurance Company of America . The Brandt family planned to submit a bid to redevelop some of the theaters they owned on 42nd Street. In June 1982, the Brandts' five theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, including the Selwyn, were added to the redevelopment plan. In August 1984, the UDC granted Jujamcyn Theaters the right to operate the Selwyn, Apollo, and Lyric theaters; as part of
16013-468: The Roaring Twenties , borrowing from vaudeville, music hall , and other light entertainment, tended to ignore plot in favor of emphasizing star actors and actresses, big dance routines, and popular songs. Florenz Ziegfeld produced annual spectacular song-and-dance revues on Broadway featuring extravagant sets and elaborate costumes, but there was little to tie the various numbers together. Typical of
16252-512: The Tony Awards ' administration committee ruled that the Selwyn counted as a Broadway theater, so productions there would be eligible for the Tonys. By that September, Roundabout had raised $ 15 million of a $ 21.5 million endowment for the theater. The Selwyn was renamed in March 2000 after American Airlines (AA), which would pay $ 850,000 annually over at least ten years. AA's name would be placed on
16491-409: The 1920s were lighthearted productions such as Sally ; Lady Be Good ; Sunny ; No, No, Nanette ; Harlem ; Oh, Kay! ; and Funny Face . Their books may have been forgettable, but they produced enduring standards from George Gershwin , Cole Porter , Jerome Kern , Vincent Youmans , and Rodgers and Hart , among others, and Noël Coward , Sigmund Romberg , and Rudolf Friml continued in
16730-504: The American Airlines hosted two to five Broadway productions per season due to Roundabout's subscription format; most shows ran for fewer than 100 performances. In the first decade of the 21st century, the theater had the most new productions of any Broadway venue, since all productions had limited runs regardless of their success. Actors at the theater were originally paid a lower rate than those at for-profit Broadway theaters, but this
16969-766: The American Viennese Group. The theater became a conference center named the New York Times Hall in December 1941. The first event at the conference hall was a speech by mayor Fiorello La Guardia about air-raid preparations at schools. Under the Times 's ownership, the theater sometimes hosted concerts and discussions. The events included "victory garden lectures", a book conference for children, an instrumental concert, and recitals from figures such as basso Emanuel List and dancer Lotte Goslar . The hall's steep rake
17208-498: The Apollo to legitimate use in 1979; the company also planned to convert the Lyric and Selwyn, but there were few bookings for either theater. Another plan, called the City at 42nd Street, was announced in December 1979 as part of a proposal to restore West 42nd Street around Times Square. Under the plan, the Selwyn would have been preserved, and some of the other theaters would have been modified. Mayor Ed Koch wavered in his support of
17447-536: The Broadway national tour, which travels to theatres in major cities across the country. Sometimes when a show closes on Broadway, the entire production, with most if not all of the original cast intact, is relaunched as a touring company, hence the name "Broadway national tour". Some shows may even have several touring companies out at a time, whether the show is still running in New York or not, with many companies "sitting down" in other major cities for their own extended runs. For Broadway national tours of top-tier cities,
17686-603: The Broadway orchestra is governed by an agreement with the musicians' union (Local 802, American Federation of Musicians) and The Broadway League. For example, the agreement specifies the minimum size of the orchestra at the Minskoff Theatre to be eighteen, while at the Music Box Theatre it is nine. Most Broadway shows are commercial productions intended to make a profit for the producers and investors ("backers" or "angels"), and therefore have open-ended runs (duration that
17925-656: The COVID-19 shutdown, the Shubert Organization, the Nederlander Organization, and Jujamcyn had pledged to increase racial and cultural diversity in their theaters, including naming at least one theater for a Black theatrical personality. The August Wilson Theatre , owned by Jujamcyn, had been renamed after Black playwright August Wilson in 2005. The Shuberts announced in March 2022 that the Cort Theatre , which
18164-564: The Cakewalk (1898), and the highly successful In Dahomey (1902). Hundreds of musical comedies were staged on Broadway in the 1890s and early 1900s made up of songs written in New York's Tin Pan Alley involving composers such as Gus Edwards , John Walter Bratton , and George M. Cohan ( Little Johnny Jones (1904), 45 Minutes From Broadway (1906), and George Washington Jr. (1906)). Still, New York runs continued to be relatively short, with
18403-516: The Caveman opened at the Hayes in 1995 and ran for nearly two years. This was followed in 1997 by Alfred Uhry 's play The Last Night of Ballyhoo , which had 577 performances before closing. The Hayes's productions at the end of the 1990s included Getting and Spending in 1998, as well as Band in Berlin , Night Must Fall , and Epic Proportions in 1999. The revue Dirty Blonde opened in 2000 and
18642-451: The Erlanger syndicate. During this time, the play Lightnin' by Winchell Smith and Frank Bacon became the first Broadway show to reach 700 performances. From then, it would go on to become the first show to reach 1,000 performances. Lightnin' was the longest-running Broadway show until being overtaken in performance totals by Abie's Irish Rose in 1925. The motion picture mounted
18881-467: The Frankwyn Corporation, operated by Arch Selwyn and H. B. Franklin. In December 1934, Allen Robbins and Jacob Weiser assumed operation of the theater. The next February, the theater was leased to CBS as a broadcast studio. At the time, producer Brock Pemberton had offices on the upper stories; he was allowed to stay. CBS reduced the capacity to 475 seats and occupied the theater for a year and
19120-424: The Hayes hosted the musical The News , which flopped after four performances in 1985. The next year, the Hayes staged the comedy Corpse! , the mime show Mummenschanz: "The New Show" , and the revue Oh, Coward! . The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) started to consider protecting the Hayes as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. The LPC designated
19359-469: The Hayes in 2011, running there for nearly four years. Rock of Ages achieved the box office record for the Helen Hayes Theatre, grossing $ 744,667 over nine performances for the week ending December 30, 2012. After Second Stage finally raised enough money to buy the theater, Tick's family and Markinson requested that the sale be delayed until Rock of Ages closed. In February 2015, Second Stage sued
19598-435: The Hayes in April 2024, running two months, and was followed between July and October 2024 by the play Job . For the 2024–2025 season, the theater is planned to host Leslye Headland 's play Cult of Love ; this is planned to be followed in March 2025 by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins 's play Purpose . Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. Broadway theater Broadway theatre , or Broadway ,
19837-493: The Hayes was Kenneth Lonergan 's Lobby Hero , which opened in March 2018. This was followed the same year by Young Jean Lee 's Straight White Men and a revival of Torch Song Trilogy . Subsequently, in 2019, the Hayes hosted Heidi Schreck 's What the Constitution Means to Me and Tracy Letts 's Linda Vista . After Linda Vista , the Hayes was to present two plays in early 2020: Bess Wohl 's Grand Horizons and
20076-433: The Hayes's facade and part of the interior as landmarks on November 17, 1987. That month, the owners announced that they would auction off the theater at a starting price of $ 5 million. The New York City Board of Estimate ratified the landmark designations in March 1988. The theater was auctioned the same month; both Jujamcyn Theaters and the Nederlander Organization attended the auction, but there were no bidders. Late in
20315-498: The Hayes's owners for allegedly reneging on the 2008 sale agreement. Second Stage alleged that Tick's family and Markinson were trying to invalidate the sale by rushing the closing process. While the sale was supposed to have been finalized on February 17, Second Stage did not have enough money at that time to cover the $ 25 million purchase price. By then, the costs of acquiring and renovating the theater had increased to $ 58 million from $ 35 million. In response, Markinson said he would sell
20554-474: The Hayes, and the Latino comedy revue Latinologues was also presented. The theater's productions in 2006 included Bridge and Tunnel , Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway , and Jay Johnson: The Two and Only . The musical Xanadu premiered at the Hayes in 2007 and ran there for 512 performances. While Tick died the same year, his family still co-owned the theater with Markinson. In July 2008, Markinson and
20793-458: The Horizon . John Golden 's production of Frank Craven 's The First Year , starring Craven and Roberta Arnold , opened at the Little in October 1920; that play ran for nearly two years. In August 1922, Golden acquired Morosco's stake in the lease, partnering with L. Lawrence Weber and F. Ray Comstock . By that year, Ames had incurred a net deficit of $ 504,372 from the theater's operation, and
21032-410: The League confirmed that performances would begin to resume in the fall season. Springsteen on Broadway became the first full-length show to resume performances, opening on June 26, 2021, to 1,721 vaccinated patrons at the St. James Theatre . Pass Over then had its first preview on August 4, and opened on August 22, 2021, becoming the first new play to open. Hadestown and Waitress were
21271-422: The Little Theatre, a 299-seat theater at 238–244 West 44th Street, to cost $ 100,000. The 299-seat capacity exempted Ames from New York City Fire Department regulations, wherein theaters with at least 300 seats required emergency-exit alleys on either side. Ames also formed a corporation to operate the theater. The corporation issued stock , with Ames being the sole stockholder. Ames released further details about
21510-528: The Little Theatre, with Golden, Weber, and Comstock operating the venue. Two months later, the Little Theatre was leased to Chauncey W. Keim of the Harkem Holding Corporation for ten years. Harkem gave up its lease in June 1930, citing an unprofitable season. Later that year, the Little hosted Mr. Samuel with Edward G. Robinson , which was Ames's last show at the theater. This was followed in 1931 by Elmer Rice 's The Left Bank . Vincent Astor sold
21749-492: The Little continued hosting plays until 1941, when it was converted into a conference hall. The theater became an ABC broadcasting studio in 1951. The Little again hosted Broadway productions from 1963 to 1965, when it became a Westinghouse studio, taping shows such as the Merv Griffin Show . The Little again hosted Broadway productions starting in 1977, and it was then sold to Martin Markinson and Donald Tick, who renamed
21988-453: The Little, running for 252 performances. The plans for the theater's renovation were approved in June 1919, and Ames leased the theater to Oliver Morosco the same month. The same year, Morosco presented Please Get Married , featuring Ernest Truex and Edith Taliaferro . When the theater's expansion was completed in early 1920, Morosco hosted two "experimental dramas": Rachel Barton Butler 's Mama's Affair and Eugene O'Neill 's Beyond
22227-699: The Little. Subsequently, in early 1964, the Habima Theatre of Israel performed three shows at the Little: The Dybbuk , Children of the Shadows , and Each Had Six Wings . Euster and Leonard Tow sold the theater in June 1964 to Leonard B. Moore and Richard S. Smith. The theater was renamed the Winthrop Ames Theatre that September, when Frank D. Gilroy 's play The Subject Was Roses transferred there. According to one media source, Moore "did not want
22466-632: The Little. The comedy Pigs opened at the Little in September 1924 and ran for 347 performances. This was followed in 1926 by two shows with over a hundred performances: Marc Connelly 's The Wisdom Tooth and Gladys Buchanan Unger 's Two Girls Wanted . Another hit was a transfer of the Grand Street Follies in 1927. Additionally, Rachel Crothers's Let Us Be Gay opened in 1929 with Francine Larrimore and Warren William , running for 353 performances. Ames announced his retirement from producing in October 1929, but he said he would continue to control
22705-463: The New Amsterdam Theatre in 1994, most of the other theaters around 42nd Street were quickly leased, but the Selwyn remained empty. The Times Square Business Improvement District opened a visitor center in the Selwyn's lobby in April 1996, and Jujamcyn again considered leasing the theater at that time. Though Jujamcyn was a for-profit operator, the New York City government had specified that
22944-592: The Opera at the Majestic Theatre became the longest-running Broadway musical, with 7,486 performances, overtaking Cats . The Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway on April 16, 2023, soon after celebrating its 35th anniversary, after a total of 13,981 performances. Attending a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York. The TKTS booths sell same-day tickets (and in certain cases, next-day matinee tickets) for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at
23183-507: The Palace of Han . The Little's productions of the 1912–1913 season included a revival of The Affairs of Anatol , as well as the original productions Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Rutherford and Son . Ames financed several of the initial shows at the theater, including Prunella and The Philanderer in 1913. The following year, the theater hosted A Pair of Silk Stockings , which
23422-531: The Post was the first show to call itself a "musical comedy". Tony Pastor opened the first vaudeville theatre one block east of Union Square in 1881, where Lillian Russell performed. Comedians Edward Harrigan and Tony Hart produced and starred in musicals on Broadway between 1878 ( The Mulligan Guard Picnic ) and 1890, with book and lyrics by Harrigan and music by his father-in-law David Braham . These musical comedies featured characters and situations taken from
23661-555: The Roundabout Theatre Company. It is known as the Langworthy Lounge, after donor Norma S. Langworthy. The space can fit 40 people seated for a dinner or 70 people standing for a cocktail reception. The building also contains 84,000 sq ft (7,800 m ) of rehearsal and performing space for New 42nd Street. There are two studio/reception spaces and 14 rehearsal rooms. The New 42nd Street Studios, as
23900-615: The Selwyn Building had forced New 42nd Street to redesign its proposed building. According to New 42nd Street president Cora Cahan, the original plans "had been more than 75 percent drawn". The New York State Council on the Arts, which had pledged funding for the Selwyn's restoration, instead allocated the money toward a new design for the New 42nd Street Building. In September 1998, the Doris Duke Foundation donated $ 3.5 million to New 42nd Street. The project also received $ 11.9 million from
24139-441: The Selwyn Building was almost entirely occupied by the theater's lobby, lounges, and restrooms, while the other five floors were used as offices. The lounges and lobby were decorated in the same way as the auditorium, with ornate foyers, lounges, and restrooms. The Selwyn Theatre's design had several innovations, including separate smoking rooms for men and women, as well as a shower and telephone in each dressing room. The theater
24378-533: The Selwyn Theatre was developed, the brothers operated the Harris Theatre on 42nd Street. At the beginning of January 1917, the Selwyn brothers announced their intention to build a theater on 240–248 West 43rd Street, with an entrance on 42nd Street. The theater was planned to have 1,100 seats and, according to The New York Times , "novel features" such as rehearsal rooms and a women's lounge. In May 1918,
24617-527: The Selwyn Theatre, with discussions continuing over the next several years. While the LPC granted landmark status to many Broadway theaters starting in 1987, it deferred decisions on the exterior and interior of the Selwyn Theatre. Further discussion of the landmark designations was delayed for several decades. In late 2015, the LPC hosted public hearings on whether to designate the Selwyn (by then American Airlines) and six other theaters as landmarks. The LPC rejected
24856-482: The Selwyn Theatre, designed by George Keister and constructed in 1918 for brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn . The Selwyn was originally decorated in the Italian Renaissance style. The original design plans are preserved at the Shuger Archives. The current design dates to a late-1990s renovation, when the New 42nd Street Building (designed by Platt Byard Dovell ) was constructed around it. The Todd Haimes
25095-551: The Selwyn brothers agreed to give the exclusive booking rights for their plays to the Shubert family . Thereafter, the Shuberts held a partial interest in the three theaters that the Selwyns were constructing. The gangster Arnold Rothstein reportedly provided some financing for the project. Work was halted temporarily in early 1918 due to legal issues and material shortages. Construction of
25334-569: The Selwyn brothers purchased the site of the Selwyn Building on 42nd Street from Mary Cassidy. Most of the Selwyn's productions in 1922 and early 1923 were not hits. The musical The Blue Kitten opened in January 1922 with Joseph Cawthorn and Lillian Lorraine , followed by Partners Again that May. At the end of that year, the theater installed a Teleview projection system for screening stereoscopic motion pictures . The theater hosted three short-lived productions in early 1923. The next hit
25573-465: The Selwyn in April 1997 for an eight-week run. By that time, the buildings to the west were being demolished to make way for the E-Walk project, requiring motion detectors to be installed on the Selwyn Building. Roundabout committed to renovating the Selwyn in September 1997. At the time, Roundabout had raised about half of the $ 10–12 million required for the Selwyn's restoration. Roundabout did not receive any of New 42nd Street's $ 18.2 million grant, as
25812-424: The Selwyn operate as a nonprofit venue. There was still no long-term plan for the Selwyn, even as plans had been announced for all the other theaters on the block. The Roundabout Theatre Company had submitted a bid for one of the six theaters on 42nd Street, but its artistic director Todd Haimes initially rejected the area as being too rundown. Instead, Roundabout leased one Broadway and one off-Broadway space at
26051-484: The Selwyn to the Roundabout Theatre Company in 1997. Following the collapse of the Selwyn Building, the theater was redesigned as part of the New 42nd Street Building. The theater reopened on June 30, 2000, after being renamed for American Airlines , which had bought the theater's naming rights . In June 2023, Roundabout announced that the theater would be renamed after Roundabout's artistic director, Todd Haimes , who had died in April of that year. The Todd Haimes Theatre
26290-406: The Selwyn's facade, which rose straight from the street. The building's 42nd Street elevation would have been covered with a projecting angular steel-and-glass "armature". Lighting designer Anne Militello had also been hired to design color-changing illumination for the New 42nd Street Building. A marquee and entrance to the Selwyn Theatre, as well as a storefront, would have been placed at the base of
26529-574: The Selwyn's films moved to the Liberty afterward. Several producers offered to stage legitimate productions in these theaters, but none of the offers were successful. William Brandt indicated in 1946 that he might replace the theaters on the north side of 42nd Street with a skyscraper. By then, there was a shortage of new films in the theaters along 42nd Street, which led to decreased attendance. In August 1949, George Brandt suggested running live shows in their 42nd Street theaters, though his father William
26768-462: The Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square were to be converted to commercial use. By the end of the year, the plans were threatened by a lack of money. In early 1989, several dozen nonprofit theater companies submitted plans to the UDC for the takeover of six theaters. Most of the bids were for the Liberty and Victory, but the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square theaters received 13 bids between them. That year, The Durst Organization acquired
27007-512: The Selwyn, to the Cine 42nd Street Corporation in 1986. From 1987 to 1989, Park Tower and Prudential hired Robert A. M. Stern to conduct a study on the Apollo, Lyric, Selwyn, Times Square, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street. Stern devised three alternatives for the five theaters. City and state officials announced plans for the five theaters, along with the Liberty Theatre on
27246-470: The Selwyn. Martin Levine and Richard Brandt took over the 42nd Street Company in 1972. The Selwyn still operated as a move-over house, screening films that had previously played at the Lyric. The other five theaters showed a variety of genres, though Levine said none of the company's 42nd Street theaters showed hardcore porn. The Brandts' theaters had a combined annual gross of about $ 2 million and operated nearly
27485-461: The Selwyns filed plans with the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings for their theater, to be designed by George Keister. In addition, Keister designed a renovation for the existing three-story building on 42nd Street, owned by Mary L. Cassidy, into an office structure. Crosby Gaige would oversee the theater and office building's construction. The project was expected to cost $ 200,000 in total, and
27724-490: The Tick family indicated their intention to sell the Hayes to Second Stage Theater, which planned to take over the theater in 2010. Second Stage was raising $ 35 million for both the acquisition and a renovation. In the meantime, Slava's Snowshow had a limited run at the Hayes during the 2008–2009 winter season. The 39 Steps moved to the Hayes in 2009 and ran for a year before relocating off-Broadway. In 2010, Second Stage launched
27963-406: The actual purchase, $ 22 million for renovation, and $ 14 million for programming. Jordan Roth of Jujamcyn Theaters , which operated the neighboring St. James Theatre, approached Second Stage about the possibility of simultaneously renovating both theaters. Second Stage sold the alley between the theaters to Jujamcyn, which helped Second Stage fund the cost of renovating the Hayes. The Rockwell Group
28202-455: The arch, behind the paired columns. Above this is a stone plaque with inscribed letters reading "The Little Theatre MCMXII", as well as a pair of dancing figures in low relief. The paired columns support a stone architrave above the doors. To the west (right) of the entrance are four double doors, which provide an emergency exit from the lobby. This section of the facade formerly contained three narrow windows. A double door, designed to resemble
28441-506: The architrave panels above the exit doors are also designed in the Adam style. The Hayes Theater is the smallest Broadway venue, with 597 seats. The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony, and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The space is designed with plaster decorations in relief . Originally, the Little Theatre had only 299 seats on a single level, the orchestra. In the original configuration, there were only 15 rows of seats. One of
28680-421: The auditorium; the rear box is higher than the front box. Above the boxes, sail vaults ride to the ceiling. There were five Italianate murals above the boxes and the proscenium opening. Arthur Brounet had painted the murals, which depicted various performers in classical garb, such as jesters. The murals were painted over in the mid-20th century before EverGreene Architectural Arts restored them in
28919-488: The authors and also in numerous unlicensed productions). They were imitated in New York by American productions such as Reginald Dekoven 's Robin Hood (1891) and John Philip Sousa 's El Capitan (1896), along with operas, ballets, and other British and European hits. Charles H. Hoyt 's A Trip to Chinatown (1891) became Broadway's long-run champion when it surpassed Adonis and its 603 total performances in 1893, holding
29158-451: The balcony contains a promenade, accessed on either end by the stairways in the foyer. Near the front of the balcony level, both of the side walls contain two arched openings with pilasters on either side, as well as fan-shaped lunettes above. One of these is an emergency exit, while the other is a window opening; these windows allowed Ames to observe the auditorium from his office. The side walls have lighting sconces as well. The underside of
29397-405: The balcony is made of plaster paneling. The front railing of the balcony has Adam-style plasterwork paneling with pilasters, urns, and molded bands, with light boxes mounted in front. The railing curves onto the side walls, giving the impression of box seats. At the front of the auditorium is the proscenium, which contains a flat-arched opening flanked by angled bands. Behind the proscenium, there
29636-435: The beginning of the nineteenth century, the area that now comprises the Theater District was owned by a handful of families and comprised a few farms. In 1836, Mayor Cornelius Lawrence opened 42nd Street and invited Manhattanites to "enjoy the pure clean air." Close to 60 years later, theatrical entrepreneur Oscar Hammerstein I built the iconic Victoria Theater on West 42nd Street. Broadway's first "long-run" musical
29875-476: The biggest changes to the commercial theatrical landscape—on both sides of the Atlantic—over the past decade or so is that sightings of big star names turning out to do plays has [sic] gone up; but the runs they are prepared to commit to has gone down. Time was that a producer would require a minimum commitment from his star of six months, and perhaps a year; now, the 13-week run is the norm." The minimum size of
30114-537: The bill was not passed. The Save the Theatres campaign then turned their efforts to supporting the establishment of the Theater District as a registered historic district . In December 1983, Save the Theatres prepared "The Broadway Theater District, a Preservation Development and Management Plan", and demanded that each theater in the district receive landmark designation. Mayor Ed Koch ultimately reacted by creating
30353-560: The block the "biggest movie center of the world". The Brandts owned seven of these theaters, while the Cinema circuit operated the other three. The Brandt theaters included the Selwyn, Apollo, Times Square, Lyric, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, as well as the Eltinge and Liberty theaters on the south side. The Brandts used the Selwyn as their flagship theater on 42nd Street, screening first runs of Loews movies; some of
30592-530: The brothers could produce a hit. Arch Selwyn hired Crosby Gaige to produce several shows, but none of them lasted for very long; one play, Ragged Army , ran for just two days. The theater was leased in April 1934 to the Anru Amusement Corporation, which started operating the Selwyn as a movie house the following month. The Selwyn brothers never again hosted a show at the theater. Arch Selwyn filed for bankruptcy shortly afterward; one of his debts
30831-529: The building as also containing "generous glass surfaces to light the interior". A marquee overhung the theater's entrance on 42nd Street. Six windows on the second story, directly above the marquee, were grouped together within a wide window frame. On each of the third through fifth stories, the windows were divided vertically into five bays , with the center bay being separated from the outer two bays on each side by piers . The windows on different stories were separated by decorated spandrels . An entablature with
31070-412: The building. Plans for the facade of the New 42nd Street Building were modified slightly after the Selwyn Building's facade collapsed. The 13,000 sq ft (1,200 m ) facade is illuminated by 300 computer-controlled lamps, part of an illumination scheme created by Anne Militello . The building's 42nd Street elevation is covered in stainless steel bars, which act as brises soleil , screening
31309-564: The construction of the four towers around 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue. In 1992, New 42nd Street received $ 18.2 million for restoring the six theaters as part of an agreement with Prudential and Park Tower. Artists Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel placed an art installation in the empty theater the next year. By 1994, the Warner Music Group considered leasing the Selwyn as a recording studio. After Disney committed to restoring
31548-400: The corporation operating the theater was dissolved. Craven's Spite Corner opened in September 1922 and stayed at the Little for three months. Two plays by Guy Bolton were staged at the Little in 1923: Polly Preferred with Genevieve Tobin and Chicken Feed with Roberta Arnold. The latter was transferred to another theater when Golden sought to transfer the revue Little Jessie James to
31787-474: The daytime show Who Do You Trust? with Johnny Carson from the theater. In June 1962, Roger Euster purchased the Little Theatre through his company Little Theatre Inc., beating out several other bidders. The acquisition cost $ 850,000, part of which the company financed through a stock offering of $ 294,000. Euster planned to host daily "marathon presentations", with various legitimate plays, impersonations, children's shows, and classic shows running for 17 hours
32026-422: The decade ended with critics and audiences giving mixed signals." Ken Bloom observed that "The 1960s and 1970s saw a worsening of the area [Times Square] and a drop in the number of legitimate shows produced on Broadway." By way of comparison, in the 1950 to 1951 season (May to May) 94 productions opened on Broadway; in the 1969 to 1970 season (June to May) there were 59 productions (fifteen were revivals). In
32265-407: The decade, the Hayes hosted Larry Shue 's The Nerd in 1987 and the two-act musical Romance/Romance in 1988. This was followed in 1989 by Mandy Patinkin 's Dress Casual and Artist Descending a Staircase . Premiering at the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1990 were a short run of Estelle Parsons 's solo show Miss Margarida's Way , as well as a year-long run of the off-Broadway hit Prelude to
32504-525: The designations in February 2016, as the theaters were already subject to historic-preservation regulations set by the state government. The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, then proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. The plan centered around four towers that were to be built at 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue, developed by Park Tower Realty and
32743-536: The developers of the 42nd Street Redevelopment's four large towers; $ 4 million from the city government; and $ 1 million from the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust . The next month, the organization announced that it had finalized plans for its building and would start construction immediately. The ten-story building was to cost $ 22.9 million and was planned to be completed by the end of the next year. In February 1999, Roundabout announced that it would raise $ 17 million for
32982-609: The effort. At Papp's behest, in July 1982, a bill was introduced in the 97th Congress , entitled "H.R.6885, A bill to designate the Broadway/Times Square Theatre District in the City of New York as a national historic site". The legislation would have provided certain U.S. government resources and assistance to help the city preserve the district. Faced with strong opposition and lobbying by Mayor Ed Koch's Administration and corporate Manhattan development interests,
33221-469: The entire Broadway production is transplanted almost entirely intact and may run for many months (or years) at each stop. For example, the first U.S. tour of The Phantom of the Opera required 26 53-foot-long (16.1 m) semi-trailers to transport all its sets, equipment, and costumes, and it took almost 10 days to properly unload all those trucks and install everything into a theater. Todd Haimes Theatre The Todd Haimes Theatre (previously known as
33460-499: The entire day. However, the area was in decline; the Brandts' theaters only had three million visitors by 1977, about half of the number in 1963. The Brandts' movie theaters on 42nd Street continued to operate through the mid-1980s, at which point the Selwyn was primarily screening successful mainstream films, interspersed with double bills of exploitation films. The 42nd Street Development Corporation had been formed in 1976 to discuss plans for redeveloping Times Square. The same year,
33699-734: The epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression . Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from Union Square and Madison Square during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. George Keister had designed several of these Broadway theaters, including the Selwyn, Astor , Belasco , and Earl Carroll theaters, in addition to other commissions such as Harlem 's Apollo Theater . The Selwyn brothers, meanwhile, developed several Broadway theaters on 42nd Street. Before
33938-456: The everyday life of New York's lower classes and represented a significant step forward from vaudeville and burlesque, towards a more literate form. They starred high-quality professional singers ( Lillian Russell , Vivienne Segal , and Fay Templeton ), instead of the amateurs, often sex workers, who had starred in earlier musical forms. As transportation improved, poverty in New York diminished, and street lighting made for safer travel at night,
34177-473: The first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, including the Little Theatre. Winthrop Ames, a member of a wealthy publishing family, did not enter the theatrical industry until 1905, when he was 34 years old. After being involved in the development of two large venues, Boston's Castle Square Theatre and New York City's New Theatre , Ames decided to focus on erecting smaller venues during
34416-463: The first musicals to resume performances on September 2, 2021. The 74th Tony Awards were also postponed; the Tony nominations were announced on October 15, 2020, and took place on September 26, 2021. On July 30, 2021, it was announced that all Broadway theaters required attendees to provide proof of full COVID-19 vaccination . The rule applied to guests ages 12+. Those under age 12 were required to provide
34655-497: The four columns in the auditorium. The additional stories are placed on a separate structure that does not touch the roof of the auditorium. The upper stories contain a subscribers' lobby facing 43rd Street, as well as a smaller private lounge for large donors. The subscribers' lobby, covering 3,500 sq ft (330 m ) or 4,000 sq ft (370 m ), was originally named for snack company Nabisco , which had paid $ 500,000 for naming rights . This lobby consists of
34894-418: The four emergency-exit doors on 44th Street. The western end of the lobby foyer contains an archway to the basement; this was originally a wall with a fireplace. The foyer's north wall contains Ionic-style columns, behind which is the emergency-exit area. The south wall contains doors to the auditorium, as well as Ionic-style pilasters that are directly across from the north-wall columns. There are staircases on
35133-423: The four westernmost windows, while the two easternmost windows share a terrace over the main entrance. The third-story window panes are arranged in an eight-over-eight format with paneled keystones. A cornice with modillions runs above the third story. A balustrade formerly ran above the cornice but has since been removed. The main entrance leads to a box office, as well as a lobby with two sections. The box office
35372-418: The front seats was designed specifically to accommodate businessman J. P. Morgan . The rear of the auditorium did initially have a balcony-level terrace, but it was only 4 to 5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) wide and had no seats. The rear or southern end of the orchestra contains two paneled-wood doors from the foyer. The orchestra level is raked , sloping down toward the stage, similar to in the original layout of
35611-508: The late 1990s. The murals on house right were restored using historical photographs, as no trace existed of the murals there. A New York Daily News critic said the restored murals have "a graciousness modern design seldom achieves". The stage measures 50 ft (15 m) deep and 75 ft (23 m) wide. The stage contains traps and three removable sections. The front of the stage can be disassembled to accommodate an orchestra pit measuring 40 by 10 ft (12.2 by 3.0 m) or
35850-542: The latter had already announced plans for its new building. The development of the New 42nd Street Building forced the closure of the Grand Luncheonette in the Selwyn's lobby in October 1997; the restaurant had operated in Times Square for 58 years. In late December 1997, E-Walk contractors noticed cracks on the Selwyn Building's facade but failed to notify the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) of any potential problems. The Selwyn Building collapsed during
36089-426: The leases to eight theaters in Times Square, including the Selwyn. It subsequently announced plans to renovate the eight theaters in February 1990. The New York state government acquired the theater sites that April via eminent domain . The city had planned to buy out the theaters' leases but withdrew after the 42nd Street Company indicated it would lease the theaters to another developer. Although Durst protested
36328-440: The lighting conditions. There is a "light pipe" along the western part of the facade, measuring 175 ft (53 m) tall; it was designed by James Carpenter . The building's illumination scheme allows it to blend in with other structures with billboards on Times Square. Under a zoning ordinance, the developers of new buildings had to install large signs facing Times Square, but New 42nd Street had not wanted to install
36567-417: The lobby, and the auditorium ceiling in their original condition. He removed the wainscoting and wall coverings, since these did not conform to New York City building regulations for larger venues, and added Adam-style decorations in their place. A disagreement with the New York City Department of Buildings delayed the renovation by three years. In 1918, Rachel Crothers 's play A Little Journey opened at
36806-441: The main entrance is through the current New 42nd Street Building. The stage door is also on 43rd Street. The new facade on 42nd Street is part of the New 42nd Street Building. Initial plans for the building in 1997 had called for the original terracotta facade of the Selwyn Building to be preserved as a separate structure. The New 42nd Street facade would have been constructed as a glass box with two setbacks , contrasting with
37045-471: The marquee as well as all advertisements and tickets. At the time, Broadway theaters were typically named for actors or theater operators rather than companies. The renaming was the most controversial part of the renovation. In total, the existing theater cost $ 25 million to renovate, while the new building cost $ 29.6 million. A revival of Uncle Vanya was originally scheduled as the renovated theater's first production, but Roundabout instead booked
37284-544: The middle-class, variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working class and the slumming middle-class." The plays of William Shakespeare were frequently performed on the Broadway stage during the period, most notably by American actor Edwin Booth who was internationally known for his performance as Hamlet . Booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865 (with
37523-410: The move, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the condemnation could occur. By then, the Selwyn was derelict; its marquee had the text "Enjoy a movie on 42d Street and bring the family." A nonprofit organization, New 42nd Street , was formed in September 1990 to restore six of the theaters and find uses for them. Government officials hoped that development of the theaters would finally allow
37762-460: The murals. The orchestra level seats are arranged in 14 rows. The orchestra is more steeply raked than in the original design, and it contains two layers of sound insulation under the back rows. Two side aisles divide the orchestra seating into three sections. The Todd Haimes has a single balcony. At the time of the Selwyn's construction, many new theaters were being built with one balcony, rather than two, to make it appear more cozy. The balcony
38001-421: The nearby Criterion Center , but it still had no permanent building. In October 1996, Haimes and 42nd Street Development Corporation executive Rebecca Robertson began discussing the possibility of Roundabout leasing a theater on 42nd Street. By January 1997, the company was negotiating for the Selwyn Theatre, just as New 42nd Street was planning a six-story headquarters on the adjacent site. Two months later, amid
38240-459: The next eight months. Oscar Hammerstein II , Otto Harbach, and Frank Mandel 's musical Tickle Me opened at the Selwyn in 1920. This was followed the next year by the revue Snapshots of 1921 , as well as W. Somerset Maugham 's comedy The Circle , the latter of which was the theater's first non-musical hit. The theater also hosted films around this time, including a Greek war film. In 1922,
38479-420: The next sixteen years. However, smaller vaudeville and variety houses proliferated, and Off-Broadway was well established by the end of the nineteenth century. A Trip to Coontown (1898) was the first musical comedy entirely produced and performed by African Americans in a Broadway theatre (inspired largely by the routines of the minstrel shows ), followed by the ragtime -tinged Clorindy: The Origin of
38718-563: The northwest, the Majestic and Broadhurst theaters to the north, and the Shubert Theatre and One Astor Plaza to the northeast. Other nearby structures include the John Golden , Bernard B. Jacobs , Gerald Schoenfeld , and Booth theaters to the north, as well as the former Hotel Carter , Todd Haimes Theatre , and Lyric Theatre to the south. Prior to the theater's development, the site
38957-666: The northwest; 229 West 43rd Street and 1501 Broadway to the north; 5 Times Square and the New Amsterdam Theatre to the southeast; and the Candler Building to the south. The surrounding area is part of Manhattan 's Theater District and contains many Broadway theaters . In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues for Legitimate theatre were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The New Amsterdam, Harris , Liberty , Eltinge , and Lew Fields theaters occupied
39196-552: The number of potential patrons for the growing number of theatres increased enormously. Plays could run longer and still draw in the audiences, leading to better profits and improved production values. As in England, during the latter half of the century, the theatre began to be cleaned up, with less prostitution hindering the attendance of the theatre by women. Gilbert and Sullivan 's family-friendly comic opera hits, beginning with H.M.S. Pinafore in 1878, were imported to New York (by
39435-471: The office building and theater in 1931. At the onset of the Great Depression , many Broadway theaters were impacted by declining attendance. The Selwyn Theatre was among the venues that suffered, hosting 11 consecutive flops from 1931 to 1933. The Dry Dock Savings Bank, which had given the Selwyn brothers a mortgage loan on the theater, had stipulated that it would not foreclose on the mortgage as long as
39674-515: The office building resumed that April, at which point the auditorium had been completed. The same month, the Selwyns announced that the theater's first production would be a play written by Jane Cowl . By that July, the Selwyn brothers' company Selwyn & Co. indicated it would relocate its offices to the new building. Edgar Selwyn's wife Margaret Mayo also had an office in the building. The theater informally opened for media tours on October 1, 1918, and Cowl's Information Please opened at
39913-432: The operation of the rebuilt theater. Roundabout hired Robert Ascione and Karlsberger Architecture to redesign the theater. In addition, Francesca Russo was the restoration architect, while Tony Walton was the scenic designer. The Selwyn was reduced to 740 seats as part of the renovation. After being evicted from the Criterion Center in March 1999, Roundabout had to rent temporary space for several months. In May 1999,
40152-426: The other 42nd Street theaters operated from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with three shifts of workers. The ten theaters on the block attracted about five million visitors a year between them. The 42nd Street Company was established in 1961 to operate the Brandts' seven theaters on 42nd Street. By the early 1960s, the surrounding block had decayed, but many of the old theater buildings from the block's heyday remained, including
40391-556: The performers, or temporary availability of a theatre between the end of one production and the beginning of another. However, some shows with planned limited engagement runs may, after critical acclaim or box office success, extend their engagements or convert to open-ended runs. This was the case with 2007's August: Osage County , 2009's God of Carnage , 2012's Newsies , and 2022's Take Me Out . Historically, musicals on Broadway tend to have longer runs than "straight" (i.e., non-musical) plays. On January 9, 2006, The Phantom of
40630-399: The perimeter of the oval contains reliefs of cherubs and female figures, connected by swags. The corners of the oval contain triangular panels; those in the rear depict female figures with mirrors, while those in the front depict Roman masks. There are fan-shaped medallions inside the oval, from which hang chandeliers. On the west wall of the foyer, the door to the left of the fireplace led to
40869-556: The plan, criticizing it as a "Disneyland on 42nd Street". Subsequently, Hugh Hardy conducted a report on 42nd Street's theaters in 1980. His report, in conjunction with a movement opposing the demolition of the nearby Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters, motivated the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to survey fifty of Midtown Manhattan's extant theaters in the early 1980s. The LPC started to consider protecting theaters, including
41108-458: The plays had to be less than an hour long, though the Brandts had difficulty finding such short plays. Though ticket prices ranged from 38 cents in the morning to $ 1.10 on Sunday nights, the theater earned $ 24,000 during The Respectful Prostitute's first week, compared to $ 8,000 weekly before the new policy was implemented. Ninety percent of the audience members had never seen a play before. The Respectful Prostitute closed in February 1950 and
41347-464: The plays of George Bernard Shaw , and Katharine Cornell in such plays as Romeo and Juliet , Antony and Cleopatra , and Candida . In 1930, Theatre Guild 's production of Roar, China! was Broadway's first play with a majority Asian cast. As World War II approached, a dozen Broadway dramas addressed the rise of Nazism in Europe and the issue of American non-intervention. The most successful
41586-405: The possible enlargement of the theater. The New-York Tribune lamented that the city would "lose its gem among playhouses" with the planned enlargement. A Billboard magazine article that July indicated that the theater would receive a 200-seat balcony, increasing the capacity only to 500 seats. Ames hired Herbert J. Krapp in 1917 to remodel the theater with a balcony. Krapp kept the box office,
41825-423: The production plays), meaning that the length of their presentation is not set beforehand, but depends on critical response, word of mouth, and the effectiveness of the show's advertising, all of which determine ticket sales. Investing in a commercial production carries a varied degree of financial risk. Shows need not make a profit immediately; should they make their "nut" (weekly operating expenses), or lose money at
42064-640: The productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein , became enormously influential forms of American popular culture " and contributed to making New York City the cultural capital of the world . New York City's first significant theatre was established in the mid-18th century, around 1750, when actor-managers Walter Murray and Thomas Kean established a resident theatre company at the Theatre on Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan , which held about 280 people. They presented William Shakespeare 's plays and ballad operas such as The Beggar's Opera . In 1752, William Hallam sent
42303-525: The rehearsal rooms are called, span five stories. The studios contain 13-to-15 ft-high (4.0-to-4.6 m) ceilings, sprung floors, and full-height mirrors. The other stories were designed with lower ceilings. The office space in the building is leased to nonprofit theatrical groups. Roundabout has its offices there, as do the Williamstown Theatre Festival and Parsons Dance Company . The building also houses The Duke on 42nd Street ,
42542-531: The run ending just a few months before Booth's brother John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln ), and would later revive the role at his own Booth's Theatre (which was managed for a time by his brother Junius Brutus Booth Jr. ). Other renowned Shakespeareans who appeared in New York in this era were Henry Irving , Tommaso Salvini , Fanny Davenport , and Charles Fechter . Theatre in New York moved from Downtown gradually to Midtown Manhattan , beginning around 1850, seeking less expensive real estate. At
42781-473: The same distance from Times Square. Another criticism was that Ames's theater was elitist because all seats had equally good views of the stage, with one ticket price for all seats. Construction progressed quickly, with over 150 workers being employed at one point. The Little opened on March 12, 1912, with John Galsworthy 's play The Pigeon . This was followed by a special matinee with Charles Rann Kennedy 's The Terrible Meek and Ma Tcheu-Yuen's The Flower of
43020-543: The same project, the Times Square Theatre would have become retail space. In response, Brandt and Cine Theater Corp. sued the UDC, claiming that the moves shut out independent theatrical operators, but a state court dismissed the lawsuit. Michael J. Lazar would have renovated the four theaters for Jujamcyn, but the city and state removed him from the project in 1986 following a parking scandal. The Brandts also leased all their movie theaters on 42nd Street, including
43259-414: The season. This is done in order to maximize access to their target audience. Most Broadway producers and theatre owners are members of The Broadway League (formerly "The League of American Theatres and Producers"), a trade organization that promotes Broadway theatre as a whole, negotiates contracts with the various theatrical unions and agreements with the guilds, and co-administers the Tony Awards with
43498-435: The small capacity of the Little had restricted Ames's ability to profit from the venue, even though Ames charged a relatively affordable $ 2.50 per seat (equivalent to $ 75.3 in 2023). That March, The New York Times reported that Ames was planning to increase the capacity to 1,000 seats by adding a balcony, enlarging the auditorium, and replacing the stage. Two months later, Ames leased the dwelling at 244 West 44th Street for
43737-473: The south side of 42nd Street, in September 1988. Stern presented a model of his plan the next month. The plan called for reducing the size of the Selwyn Theatre to accommodate "intimate drama", as well as replacing the Selwyn Building with a structure containing rehearsal studios. The UDC opened a request for proposals for six of the theaters that October. The Liberty and Victory were to be converted into performing-arts venues for nonprofit organizations, while
43976-419: The south side of the street. The original Lyric and Apollo theaters (combined into the current Lyric Theatre), as well as the Times Square, Victory, Selwyn (now Todd Haimes), and Victoria theaters, occupied the north side. These venues were mostly converted to movie theaters by the 1930s, and many of them had been relegated to showing pornography by the 1970s. The Todd Haimes Theatre was originally named
44215-589: The southern elevation from sunlight. The steel bars contain uplights that can be illuminated in many colors; these reflect onto a blue background. There are 54 rows of bars in total. Behind the bars is the building's glass curtain wall , which overlooks the studios inside. The leftmost portion of the second through fourth stories, marking the former site of the Selwyn Building, is left bare. This section measures 32 by 32 ft (9.8 by 9.8 m) across and consists of translucent and reflective glass panels. It uses dichroic glass , which can change colors based on
44454-461: The stage for 657 performances. Chinatown itself was surpassed by the musical Irene (1919) in 1921 as the longest-running Broadway musical, and even earlier, in March 1920, by Lightnin' (1918) as the longest-running Broadway show. In 1896, theatre owners Marc Klaw and A. L. Erlanger formed the Theatrical Syndicate , which controlled almost every legitimate theatre in the U.S. for
44693-515: The stage to the dressing rooms. There was also a green room from which the dressing rooms were accessed. Though green rooms were falling out of favor by the time the Little Theatre was constructed, one was included on Ames's insistence. The room was decorated with green walls, a long seat, and mirrors. Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression . Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from Union Square and Madison Square during
44932-434: The term "Broadway theatre" is used predominantly to describe venues with seating capacities of at least 500 people. Smaller theaters in New York City are referred to as off-Broadway , regardless of location, while very small venues with fewer than 100 seats are called off-off-Broadway , a term that can also apply to non-commercial, avant-garde , or productions held outside of traditional theater venues. The Theater District
45171-406: The theater for 158 performances. The revue Keep It Clean opened in June 1929 but lasted only a short time. More successful was Cole Porter 's Wake Up and Dream , which opened that December and ran for 138 performances. The Selwyn hosted the revue Three's a Crowd with Clifton Webb in October 1930, which lasted 272 performances. The Selwyn brothers received a $ 650,000 loan for
45410-604: The theater at the agreed price of $ 24.7 million if Second Stage could get the money. The dispute was resolved in April 2015, when the sale of the Hayes to Second Stage was finalized. With the sale, Second Stage became one of four nonprofit theater companies to own and operate Broadway theaters. Before a planned renovation, the Hayes hosted short runs of the off-Broadway hit Dames at Sea in 2015 and then The Humans in 2016. The Humans relocated to another theater in July 2016 to make way for Second Stage's renovation. Second Stage ultimately spent $ 64 million, including $ 28 million for
45649-400: The theater at the time. The Shubert family (which operated several nearby theaters) and the operators of the neighboring Astor Hotel objected that the proposed demolition would lower their property values. The Times relented that July, delaying the proposed demolition by offering three-year leases in the theater building. In 1940, the Little hosted the revue Reunion in New York , featuring
45888-465: The theater for Helen Hayes in 1983. Second Stage bought the theater in 2015 and reopened it in 2018, shortening the name to the Hayes Theater. The Hayes Theater is at 240 West 44th Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue , near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . The land lot is nearly rectangular, with an indentation on
46127-589: The theater had been sold to Ashton Springer for $ 800,000. Springer's group, known as the Little Theater Group, planned to spend $ 400,000 to renovate the theater. The firm Adcadesign subsequently renovated the theater in 1981. In the early 1980s, the Little saw three short runs: Ned and Jack in 1981, as well as The Curse of an Aching Heart and Solomon's Child in 1982. The theater's next hit came in June 1982 when Harvey Fierstein 's play Torch Song Trilogy opened; it ran for three years. The Little Theatre
46366-420: The theater hosted productions such as Promise with Cedric Hardwicke , Sun Kissed with Jean Adair and Charles Coburn , and Abie's Irish Rose . The Little Theatre's original name was restored when Cornelia Otis Skinner 's solo show Edna His Wife opened in December 1937. By March 1939, the Times was again contemplating destroying the Little Theatre. The theatrical firm of Bonfils and Somnes were leasing
46605-458: The theater in December 1911. The Little was to be a single-level auditorium without balconies or boxes, and it was to host "plays of wide appeal" and "novelties". Ames wanted the theater to host "the clever, the unusual drama that has a chance of becoming a library classic". Some critics said the site was too far from Times Square, but Ames countered that the Belasco Theatre , one block east, was
46844-483: The theater the next day. To mark the theater's official opening, the Selwyn brothers decorated the stage curtain with World War I Allied nations ' flags, and they played the United States' national anthem, " The Star-Spangled Banner ", before the first performance. Information Please flopped with 46 performances. This was followed the same November by The Crowded Hour , in which Cowl also starred. Because of
47083-492: The theater to the New York Times Company that November. According to the Times , the theater would "protect the light and air" of the Times annex at 229 West 43rd Street, as well as provide an additional exit from the annex. Variety magazine reported that the theater would be demolished to make way for the annex exit. Due to Depression-era budget cuts, the Times decided to keep the theater operating for at least
47322-504: The theater to suffer under the handicap of being called Little any longer". The Subject Was Roses relocated in March 1965, and the theater's name reverted to the Little. Westinghouse Broadcasting paid the producers of The Subject Was Roses to relocate, as it was seeking to lease the theater as a broadcast studio. At first, Westinghouse taped the syndicated Merv Griffin Show at the Little. By 1969, Merv Griffin moved to another network and
47561-467: The theater was being used for taping The David Frost Show . The 1969–70 season of the game show Beat the Clock , hosted by Jack Narz , was also taped there. A show by psychologist Joyce Brothers was also hosted at the Little Theatre. Amid a general decline in the Times Square neighborhood, the Little Theatre became vacant by mid-1972. The venue stood vacant for six months in 1973, reopening in September as
47800-493: The theater would be known as the Selwyn. At the time, it was one of three theaters being erected on the block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, which already had nine theaters. By September 1917, the site of the Selwyn Theatre was being cleared. The Selwyn brothers had announced two additional theaters on an adjoining site to the east, later the Apollo (42nd Street) and Times Square theaters. In February 1918,
48039-465: The theater's acoustic qualities, Selwyn & Co. announced in December 1918 that it would host concerts in the Selwyn on Sundays. The first such concert took place on December 30, 1918. This was followed in 1919 by Rudolf Friml and Otto Harbach 's musical Tumble In and Eugene Walter 's play The Challenge . The first hit at the theater was George V. Hobart 's musical Buddies , which opened in October 1919 and ran for 269 performances over
48278-481: The theater's bookings for one year. The play The Constant Nymph also opened at the Selwyn in 1926; despite a successful West End run, it stayed on Broadway for a relatively short 148 performances. The theater's bookings in 1927 consisted of several short runs, such as The Mating Season , The Manhatters , The Garden of Eden , and Nightstick . The next hit was Kaufman and Edna Ferber 's The Royal Family , which opened in December 1927 and ran for nearly
48517-470: The theater's interior are New York City landmarks . The facade is made largely of red brick. The main entrance is through an arch on the eastern portion of the ground-floor; the rest of the ground floor is taken up by emergency exits, shielded by marquee . The main entrance connects to a box-office lobby, as well as a foyer with a vaulted ceiling and staircases. The auditorium is decorated with ornamental plasterwork , with Adam-style design elements; it has
48756-402: The theater. At the time, $ 10 million had been raised. Roundabout hoped to raise the remaining funds by selling off "gift opportunities". Donors could pay $ 5,000 for a plaque affixed to one of the orchestra-level seats; $ 75,000 for a bathroom; $ 375,000 for the orchestra pit; and $ 10 million for naming rights to the entire theater. Roundabout was still negotiating with performers' unions over
48995-403: The theater. The side walls of the auditorium were originally covered in wooden panels, but these were replaced with plasterwork panels when Krapp renovated the theater. The front sections of the side walls are angled toward the proscenium, with emergency-exit doors at orchestra level. As of 2018, the side walls contain a pixelated blue mural that resembles the walls' former tapestries. The rear of
49234-474: The theatres. Since colored bulbs burned out too quickly, white lights were used, and Broadway was nicknamed "The Great White Way". In August 1919, the Actors' Equity Association demanded a standard contract for all professional productions. After a strike shut down all the theatres, the producers were forced to agree. By the 1920s, the Shubert Brothers had risen to take over the majority of the theatres from
49473-474: The theatrical producer and director who established The Public Theater , led the "Save the Theatres" campaign. It was a not-for-profit group supported by the Actors Equity union to save the theater buildings in the neighborhood from demolition by monied Manhattan development interests. Papp provided resources, recruited a publicist and celebrated actors, and provided audio, lighting, and technical crews for
49712-461: The time, the average age of theatergoers was 40.4; nearly two-thirds of the audience were women; and 29% identified as a racial minority. The classification of theatres is governed by language in Actors' Equity Association contracts. To be eligible for a Tony, a production must be in a house with 500 seats or more and in the Theater District, which are the criteria that define Broadway theatre. Off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway shows often provide
49951-558: The twenties, there were 70–80 theaters, but by 1969, there were 36 left. During this time, many Broadway productions struggled due to low attendance rates, which resulted in perceived mediocrity among such plays. For this reason, the Theatre Development Fund was created with the purpose of assisting productions with high cultural value that likely would struggle without subsidization, by offering tickets to those plays to consumers at reduced prices. In early 1982, Joe Papp ,
50190-560: The vein of Victor Herbert. Live theatre has survived the invention of cinema. Leaving these comparatively frivolous entertainments behind and taking the drama a step forward, Show Boat premiered on December 27, 1927, at the Ziegfeld Theatre . It represented a complete integration of book and score, with dramatic themes, as told through the music, dialogue, setting, and movement, woven together more seamlessly than in previous musicals. It ran for 572 performances. The 1920s also spawned
50429-685: The war's end, theatre resumed in 1798, when the 2,000-seat Park Theatre was built on Chatham Street on present-day Park Row . A second major theatre, Bowery Theatre , opened in 1826, followed by others. By the 1840s, P.T. Barnum was operating an entertainment complex in Lower Manhattan. In 1829, at Broadway and Prince Street, Niblo's Garden opened and soon became one of New York's premier nightspots. The 3,000-seat theatre presented all sorts of musical and non-musical entertainments. In 1844, Palmo's Opera House opened and presented opera for only four seasons before bankruptcy led to its rebranding as
50668-427: The western and eastern ends of the foyer's north wall, which lead up to the balcony; the eastern staircase has a metal railing with lyres. An architrave, with a frieze depicting urns and lyres, runs along the top of the foyer walls. The foyer contains a barrel-vaulted ceiling above the architrave, with a chandelier suspended from an Adam-style medallion. The emergency-exit area's ceiling contains Adam-style panels, and
50907-464: The western end. The lot covers 7,225 square feet (671.2 m), with a frontage of 75 feet (23 m) on 44th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (31 m). The Hayes Theater shares the city block with St. James Theatre to the west, Sardi's restaurant and 1501 Broadway to the east, and 255 West 43rd Street and 229 West 43rd Street to the south. Across 44th Street are the Row NYC Hotel to
51146-492: The words "Selwyn Building" ran above the fifth story, with a triangular pediment in the center. The sixth story was grouped into two bays of three windows, and a sign with the letter "S" was hung in between these windows. Above was a cornice with modillions , as well as a stone balustrade . The 43rd Street elevation of the theater retains its original facade. Like the original Selwyn Building, it has brick, terracotta, and stonework. This elevation contains exit-only doors;
51385-449: Was Lillian Hellman 's Watch on the Rhine , which opened in April 1941. After the lean years of the Great Depression , Broadway theatre had entered a golden age with the blockbuster hit Oklahoma! , in 1943, which ran for 2,212 performances. According to John Kenrick 's writings on Broadway musicals, "Every season saw new stage musicals send songs to the top of the charts. Public demand,
51624-539: Was 14.77 million in 2018–2019, compared to 13.79 million in 2017–2018. The average age of the Broadway audience in the 2017–18 theater season was 40, the lowest it had been in nearly two decades. By 2018, about 20% of Broadway tickets were sold to international visitors, although many visitors reported not being able to use their tickets. In 2022–2023, the first full season since the COVID-19 pandemic, Broadway theaters sold 12.3 million tickets, of which 35% were to local residents and 17% to international visitors. At
51863-634: Was a 50-performance hit called The Elves in 1857. In 1870, the heart of Broadway was in Union Square , and by the end of the century, many theatres were near Madison Square . Theatres arrived in the Times Square area in the early 1900s, and the Broadway theatres consolidated there after a large number were built around the square in the 1920s and 1930s. New York runs continued to lag far behind those in London, but Laura Keene 's "musical burletta" The Seven Sisters (1860) shattered previous New York records with
52102-645: Was a hit. This was followed by Hershey Felder 's solo musical tribute George Gershwin Alone and the musical By Jeeves in 2001, as well as the black comedy The Smell of the Kill in 2002. Frank Gorshin performed solo in Say Goodnight Gracie for 364 performances starting in 2002. William Gibson 's play Golda's Balcony opened the next year, featuring Tovah Feldshuh , and ran for 493 performances. During 2005, Jackie Mason hosted his comedy Freshly Squeezed at
52341-488: Was canceled in September 1925 because the Selwyn brothers felt they could manage the theater themselves. The hypnotist Fakir Rahman Bey performed at the Selwyn in May 1926, and the comedy The Man from Toronto had a short run the same year. George White took over the Selwyn's operation that July. Afterward, the theater hosted the musical Castles in the Air , which opened that September and ran for 160 performances. That October, Arch Selwyn assumed responsibility for
52580-434: Was changed in 2002 following negotiations with the Actors' Equity Association . The reopened theater featured the plays The Man Who Came to Dinner and Betrayal in 2000; Design for Living , Major Barbara , and The Women in 2001; and An Almost Holy Picture and The Man Who Had All the Luck in 2002. During mid-2002, on evenings when The Man Who Had All the Luck did not perform, Mario Cantone hosted
52819-412: Was constructed in 1912 for impresario Winthrop Ames and designed by Ingalls & Hoffman in a neo-Georgian style. The original single-level, 299-seat configuration was modified in 1920, when Herbert J. Krapp added a balcony to expand the Little Theatre. The theater has served as a legitimate playhouse, a conference hall, and a broadcasting studio throughout its history. The facade and parts of
53058-451: Was extended into the orchestra, and lighting, control rooms, and camera arrangements were modified. The Little Theatre was also used for ABC radio broadcasts. In 1953, executives of the Ern Westmore Show arranged to broadcast from the Little for six and a half years. Dick Clark 's The Dick Clark Show started broadcasting from the Little Theatre in February 1958, remaining there through September 1960. During this time, ABC also broadcast
53297-445: Was first supposed to premiere. This was followed by Matthew Spangler 's play The Kite Runner in July 2022 and Stephen Adly Guirgis 's play Between Riverside and Crazy in December 2022. Larissa FastHorse 's The Thanksgiving Play opened at the Hayes in April 2023 for a two-month run, followed by Sandy Rustin's The Cottage in July 2023 and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins 's Appropriate in November 2023. Mother Play opened at
53536-474: Was followed by a dramatization of the film Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath . This show ran for four weeks before going on tour. The Selwyn returned to showing movies exclusively in early 1950, after two months of alternating films and live shows. Though the stage-and-film format had the potential to be lucrative, there were not enough plays that fit the Brandts' criteria. William Brandt said in 1953 that any of his 42nd Street theaters could be converted to
53775-400: Was followed immediately afterward by the musical Kid Boots , which had transferred from the Earl Carroll and ran for 489 total performances. The Selwyn housed several flops in early 1925, including The Gorilla . Charlot hosted another edition of his revue later that year, which continued for 138 performances. The Shubert brothers also negotiated to operate the Selwyn, but that deal
54014-473: Was hired as the architect. The project added an elevator, restrooms, and mechanical systems. In addition, the dressing rooms were relocated from the basement to the third floor. Second Stage planned to host works by living American playwrights, particularly from female and minority writers, at the Hayes Theater. This was a contrast to other Broadway theaters, which often hosted revivals by dead playwrights as well as foreign works. Second Stage's first production at
54253-404: Was initially against it. Even so, the Brandts announced the same December that they would stage a live show at the Selwyn, The Respectful Prostitute , the first such show in 15 years. There were five performances on most days and four on Sundays, presented in conjunction with the film Flame of Youth . Two casts were hired, rotating between performances. To accommodate the mixed format,
54492-409: Was meant to give theater patrons the feeling that they were Ames's "guests for the nonce, in an old colonial house behind a garden wall, left behind in the march of progress, the front untouched and the interior remodeled by an amateur of the stage". The current two-level layout was completed in 1920 and designed by Herbert J. Krapp , who went on to become a prolific Broadway theater architect. The Hayes
54731-411: Was originally a revolving stage, as well as three sets of curtains. A cornice runs above the proscenium and the side and rear walls, with rosettes , swags , and cartouches . The ceiling is flat but is decorated in ornate plasterwork, dating to Ingalls and Hoffman's design. The entire ceiling is surrounded by a band of rosette, swag, and urn motifs. The center of the ceiling contains a molded oval panel;
54970-416: Was originally paneled in ivory-colored wood. A passage to the stage is through a door to the west of the box office. The lobby, to the west (right) of the box office, is designed with reliefs in the Adam style . The main section of the lobby is a rectangular foyer, accessed through a doorway on the box office's right wall. To the north of the foyer is a secondary area, one step below the foyer, which leads to
55209-413: Was part of the Astor family estate and contained several brownstone townhouses. The Hayes Theater was designed by Ingalls & Hoffman for impresario Winthrop Ames using elements of the neo-Federal , colonial , and Georgian Revival styles. It was originally constructed in 1912 as the Little Theatre. In its original configuration, the Little's auditorium had just one level of seating. The layout
55448-470: Was removed, and the pipes throughout the theater building were replaced. In August 1944, the New York Times Company filed plans for a 11-story building on the site of the Little Theatre, but these plans were not executed. The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) leased the theater as a television studio by July 1951. ABC renovated the theater for The Frances Langford–Don Ameche Show , a variety show featuring Frances Langford and Don Ameche . The stage apron
55687-474: Was renamed in July 1983 for actress Helen Hayes , who was then 82 years old. Hayes had outlived her previous namesake theater on 46th Street, which had been demolished to make way for the New York Marriott Marquis hotel. Ed Koch , then the mayor of New York City, said that Hayes wanted her name on "a small theater" when asked whether she wanted the hotel's new 1,500-seat theater (later the Marquis Theatre ) renamed in her honor. After Torch Song Trilogy ended,
55926-447: Was replaced with vinyl in the mid-20th century, then changed to dark red in the late 1990s. The Selwyn was originally decorated in old Italian blue and antique gold. The theater had also contained Alps-green and Pavanazzo marbles, as well as murals and gold-leaf ornamentation. In the mid-20th century, the theater was repainted in red and cream. It was later renovated to feature a dark red color scheme, with hues of blue and green from
56165-485: Was retrofitted with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system when it was rebuilt. When the theater was rebuilt in the 1990s, new spaces were constructed both above and below the original theater. A 13 ft-deep (4.0 m) basement was built beneath the existing auditorium. It contains classrooms, lounges, restrooms, storage space, and technical rooms. The Todd Haimes' dressing and wardrobe room, mechanical spaces, green room , and public restrooms are in
56404-521: Was secured by a mortgage on the theater and office building. The theater was placed for sale at a foreclosure auction, and Dry Dock Savings Bank bought the theater in August 1934 for $ 610,000. Later the same year, Joseph Fitzula renovated the Selwyn Building. Among the office building's tenants at the time was the National Shakespearean Studio of Dramatic Art. The Brandt family bought the Selwyn Theatre and offices in 1937, subject to an existing first mortgage loan of $ 620,000. The theater operated under
56643-410: Was the Marc Connelly and George S. Kaufman musical Helen of Troy, New York , which opened in June 1923 and ran for several months before moving to the Times Square Theater. Also popular was the musical Battling Buttler , which arrived that October and ran for nearly 300 performances. French impresario André Charlot hosted his popular Charlot Revue at the Selwyn during early 1924. It
56882-446: Was the Little's first major hit with 223 performances. In addition, in 1914, Ames started hiring musicians to play "new, original, unpublished American music" during intermission. At the end of that year, Ames's physician ordered him to take a twelve-month hiatus from theatrical productions. The Little Theater hosted no productions during the 1915–1916 theatrical season, as Ames did not return to producing until August 1916. By early 1915,
57121-458: Was under renovation at the time, would be renamed after actor James Earl Jones . In June 2022, the Nederlanders announced that the Brooks Atkinson Theatre would be renamed after Lena Horne , The James Earl Jones Theatre was rededicated in September 2022, while the Lena Horne Theatre was rededicated that November. Although there are some exceptions, shows with open-ended runs generally have evening performances Tuesday through Saturday, with
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