223-687: The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street , between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue , in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the Hudson was built from 1902 to 1903. The exterior was designed by J. B. McElfatrick & Son , while Israels & Harder oversaw the completion of the interior. The theater has 970 seats across three levels. Both its exterior and interior are New York City designated landmarks , and
446-406: A Greek key pattern. The key motifs surrounded light sockets, which have mostly been removed. The proscenium band also contains Tiffany mosaic tiles in green, yellow, and orange colors, as well as mother-of-pearl tiles. A laurel leaf molding surrounds the proscenium band. The stage area extends behind the proscenium arch to the northern wall of the stage house. The orchestra boxes' columns support
669-434: A loge , or theatrical box. The front of the balcony contains a wrought-iron balustrade. The auditorium retains most of its original wicker seat designs, except for the loge, where modern theatrical seats have been installed. The original seats were capable of unusually high levels of acoustic absorption; they were replaced in the 1980s by seats with similar acoustic qualities. The writer Harold C. Schonberg wrote that only
892-412: A sounding board , which curves onto the ceiling above the proscenium arch. Foliate bands and moldings surround the sounding board, form a cove. The sounding board is divided into hexagonal panels with light sockets, though few light bulbs remain. Behind the sounding board, the walls of the second balcony level curve to form the ceiling. There are wide plaster bands, containing moldings and octagonal panels;
1115-591: A $ 1.5 million renovation by Ron Delsener , the Hudson Theatre reopened as the Savoy dinner club. The club hosted performances by such personalities as Peter Allen , Miles Davis , and James Taylor . After hosting rock and similar genres, the Savoy closed for several months, reopening in July 1982. The theater was closed by 1983, and Harry Macklowe acquired the Hudson Theatre the next May. He acquired several other properties on
1338-400: A $ 281,000 grant in 1992 to fund the restoration of Town Hall's marquee. The architect Bonnie Roche was also hired to replace the doors, add information kiosks, and make the venue wheelchair-accessible. Town Hall had become profitable by the late 1990s, with an attendance of 400,000 in 1996. The Town Hall Foundation was raising money for a roof replacement, seat refurbishment, and repainting of
1561-472: 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
1784-827: 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
2007-449: 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,
2230-663: 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
2453-513: A ceremony where Sanders's grand-niece Eleanor Butler Roosevelt would have laid the cornerstone. E. B. Roosevelt could not attend because she was sick, so her husband Theodore Roosevelt Jr. laid the cornerstone for Town Hall on January 24, 1920. At a June 1920 dinner of the Economic Club, real-estate operator Joseph P. Day raised $ 7,500 in subscriptions for Town Hall, then tried to compel its attendees to give $ 100 each by locking them inside
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#17328514084112676-434: 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
2899-526: 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
3122-402: A cornice with modillions. The fourth-story windows are sash windows, similar to those on the third story, except that the three middle windows are flanked by quoins . Each fourth-story opening is topped by an entablature, containing three splayed keys above each window. The top of the fourth story contains a denticulated stone cornice and a parapet with a metal balustrade. Above the parapet,
3345-463: A diffused lighting system. The rectangular entrance vestibule from 44th Street measures 36 feet (11 m) wide by 16 feet (4.9 m) deep. It has green marble paneling on the lowest two-thirds of the room's height. The walls are 12 feet (3.7 m) high and were originally topped by a green frieze; there was also a domed ceiling with electric lights. The west and east walls of the vestibule contain doorways, which were added in 1989 and connect with
3568-584: A dining room. Town Hall was dedicated on January 12, 1921, with 1,600 audience members listing to speeches by John J. Pershing and Henry Waters Taft . At its opening, Town Hall hosted lectures during the morning, receptions during the afternoon, and mass meetings in the evening. A magazine from the building's completion wrote that McKim, Mead & White "are responsible for a very beautiful building, lovely in its graceful lines and simplicity". The New-York Tribune wrote: "The need of wise citizenship in New York
3791-552: 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
4014-845: 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
4237-452: A floor of terrazzo tiles, as well as classically styled pilasters and a paneled ceiling. The northern wall of the lobby has a screen divided into three portions. The central section of the screen has a set of double doors, flanked by Ionic -style engaged columns . The outer sections of the screen are made of marble with window openings, and they contain Doric -style pilasters. On either side of
4460-468: A frieze with foliate ornament, a cornice with dentils, and cresting. Each frieze has a panel with Tiffany tiles, which were reported in contemporary media as being similar to decorations in the Golden House of Nero . After the Hudson Theatre stopped operating as a Broadway theater, the boxes were turned into kitchen space. Next to the boxes is the proscenium arch, which consists of a wide, paneled band with
4683-407: A frontage of 42.6 feet (13.0 m) on 44th Street and 83.4 feet (25.4 m) on 45th Street, with a depth of 200 feet (61 m) between the two streets. The modern hotel's lot includes the theater. The lot covers 16,820 square feet (1,563 m), with a frontage of 117.42 feet (35.79 m) on 44th Street and a depth of 200 feet (61 m). On the same block, 1530 Broadway is to the west and
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#17328514084114906-527: 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
5129-465: A lease with M&C Hotels with the intention of converting the Hudson back to a Broadway venue. The renovation included technical upgrades as well as expansions to the backstage and front of house areas. The Tony Awards Administration Committee ruled in October 2016 that the Hudson Theatre was a Tony-eligible theater, with "970 seats without the use of the orchestra pit and 948 seats when the orchestra pit
5352-476: A library, as well as communal spaces such as a bar, lounge, and dining area. The fourth story, which corresponded to the penthouse, had a kitchen and space for employees and food storage. Many of the original decorations, including plaster walls, paneled piers, and neoclassical moldings, still exist. The second story was intended to contain offices for the League for Political Education, as well as its subsidiaries,
5575-401: A metal-product manufacturer, received no salary from the foundation; Lawrence Zucker was hired as the director. NYU also provided a $ 70,000 subsidy, giving financial support to Town Hall for two years. The foundation did not raise any money for two years after acquiring the venue. Instead, the foundation operated Town Hall exclusively as a rental venue, charging $ 1,200 to host an event outside
5798-521: 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
6021-484: A movie theater, and the Savoy nightclub. The Millennium Times Square New York hotel was built around the theater during the late 1980s, and the Hudson Theatre was converted into the hotel's event space. The Hudson Theatre reopened as a Broadway theater in 2017 and is operated by ATG Entertainment ; the building is owned by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels . The Hudson Theatre is at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue near Times Square , in
6244-477: A narrow entrance to the south on 44th Street, as well as the auditorium on 45th Street. Both the 44th and 45th Street elevations are clad in tan brick with Flemish bond . The four-story 44th Street elevation is the more ornate street frontage, being the primary entrance. The five vertical bays are symmetrically arranged, with the three middle bays forming a projecting pavilion, and they are split into three horizontal sections of one, two, and one stories. The facade
6467-539: 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
6690-1128: 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
6913-576: A new clubhouse at 113 West 43rd Street. The plans for Town Hall were announced in April 1919. McKim, Mead & White had prepared plans for the building, which was expected to cost $ 500,000 and be completed by the next year. The structure was to house the League for Political Education, the Civic Forum, and the Economic Club. That July, Russell B. Smith began to raze the existing row houses. Work on Town Hall began on October 10, 1919. The League then scheduled
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7136-623: A new theater on the roof. The 1978 preservation effort led the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to consider the venue for city landmark status. The LPC designated the facade and auditorium as city landmarks in November 1978. Following the landmark designation, the electronic organ was removed. Hudson Guild then asked the LPC for permission to convert Town Hall into two auditoriums, but its application
7359-438: A pediment atop the central section, and contain carved swags and garlands . The organs themselves were donated in 1922 but saw little use and were removed in 1960. The organ pipes remain in place, but paintings were placed within the screens in a 1983 renovation. The elevators on the western side of the ground floor, lead to the second through fourth stories. The second and third stories were designed with club offices and
7582-471: A performance of her humorous analysis of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen , which was recorded. Duke Ellington performed for The Fresh Air Fund in 1957, and Carlos Montoya gave a guitar recital. The events in 1958 included Betty Allen 's first New York City performance; the American Opera Society 's presentation of The Coronation of Poppea ; and the 25th Year Retrospective Concert of
7805-399: A promenade that curves along the rear of the orchestra. The promenade's rear wall is paneled, while its ceiling contains bands and moldings that divide it into multiple sections. Three tall columns separate the promenade from the orchestra seating. The promenade formerly linked to a women's lounge, with large mirrors, east of the foyer. A marble-and-bronze staircase leads up from the west end of
8028-500: 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
8251-565: A record with 1,444 performances. The producers of Arsenic and Old Lace , Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse , bought the Hudson for $ 300,000 in January 1944. Their subsequent production, State of the Union , had 765 performances at the Hudson. Another long-running production was Detective Story , which had 581 performances from 1949 to 1950. NBC purchased the Hudson Theatre in June 1950 for $ 595,000, and
8474-431: 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
8697-493: A screening of amateur films in 1929. Town Hall sponsored the first season of the Town Hall Endowment Series in 1930. The series featured such figures as Mischa Elman , Margaret Matzenauer , John McCormack , Rosa Ponselle , and Sergei Rachmaninoff , who all appeared in the 1931–1932 season, as well as Feodor Chaliapin for the 1932–1933 season. The series originally had five performances per season, but this
8920-401: A scroll frame, which is topped by a circular window flanked by oval window lights. A marquee hangs above the inner bays and is supported by tie rods from the third story of the facade. This marquee dates from 1990 but is similar in design to the original marquee. A belt course with small dentils runs above the first floor. At the second and third stories, four double-height pilasters flank
9143-407: A series of concerts and speeches. At the time, the lobby and marquee were being renovated; an electronic organ was installed during this time. A task force also recommended that NYU sell off Town Hall to save money. Ross resigned as director in 1974 and was replaced by Jesse Reese. By March 1975, the venue was in danger of closing permanently unless $ 365,000 was pledged by that August to support
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9366-546: A shallow cornice, entablature, and neoclassical plaster frieze. The east wall has a box office with two ticket windows, as well as a staircase to the second balcony level of the auditorium. The ticket windows have bronze frames and are flanked by caryatids , which support entablatures above them. The ticket lobby has a coved plaster ceiling with 264 coffers . The coffers are separated by bands and originally contained mounts for incandescent light bulbs. The light bulbs were removed and replaced with chandeliers at some point after
9589-481: 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
9812-465: A single balcony, with a small stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium has a seating capacity of 1,495. Every effort was taken to ensure that no seats had obstructed views, which led to the Town Hall's long-standing mantra "Not a bad seat in the house". The balcony is cantilevered from the structural framework, which obviated the need for columns that blocked audience views. The balcony has
10035-506: A stair to the hotel. When the Hudson Theatre reopened in 2017, a VIP lounge was installed on the second story, connecting to the rear of the story. Part of the dress circle was demolished to make way for restroom stalls. The third and fourth stories on 44th Street were refitted with two residential apartments, one on each story, after the theater had closed in the late 20th century. These apartments fell into disrepair but retained many original decorative elements as of 2016. Times Square became
10258-481: A theater and six-story office structure on the site. J. B. McElfatrick was listed as the architect of record, though the permit only concerned structural elements and fire escapes. Work on the theater began on April 2, 1902, with the Ranald H. MacDonald Construction Company as general contractor . The Pennsylvania Electric Equipment Company was hired to construct a power plant for the theater. That August, Charles Frohman
10481-477: A thousand members. The club, which accepted both men and women, aimed to promote "a finer public spirit and a better social order". Town Hall acquired a property at 125 West 43rd Street in May 1930, and architect Louis Jallade filed plans to expand the original structure by five stories, as well as develop a twelve-story wing at number 125. This addition was never completed, and Town Hall instead expanded its offices into
10704-565: 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
10927-443: A venue, Town Hall was compared with the ideal of a New England town hall, with one book likening the venue to "an idea with a roof over it". This imagery was reinforced by reporters such as Hildegarde Hawthorne , who noted that "America was born in her town halls", as well as another writer, who said "New York's small town longings rise in the concrete". Architectural writer Robert A. M. Stern wrote that Town Hall, along with
11150-487: A way to gain revenue. The first musical event held at the venue was a recital by Spanish violinist Juan Manén on February 12, 1921. That December, German composer Richard Strauss gave three concerts, an event the Town Hall Foundation described as giving "the hall it's [ sic ] christening as an ideal space for musical performances". Cellist Pablo Casals made his debut in January 1923, followed
11373-410: Is set back from the curb. The northern elevation is not visible from the street since it faces another building. The first-story facade contains a blind arcade with seven arches containing double doors. The westernmost door leads to the upper story, the five center doors lead to the theater, and the easternmost door leads to the box office. The arches are accessed by either one or two steps, since
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#173285140841111596-521: Is a performance space at 123 West 43rd Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue near Times Square , in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . It was built from 1919 to 1921 and designed by architects McKim, Mead & White for the League for Political Education . The auditorium has 1,500 seats across two levels and has historically been used for various events, such as speeches, musical recitals, concerts, and film screenings. Both
11819-399: Is a splayed brick lintel and a wood-framed sash window. Five of the arched openings have steel-and-glass canopies above them. The canopies are cantilevered from steel rods that extend diagonally from the facade. There are three such canopies: one above each outermost arch and one above the center three doorways. Underneath each canopy are spherical lamps, with glass shades at the edges of
12042-470: 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
12265-491: Is on 123 West 43rd Street, between Broadway and Sixth Avenue near Times Square , in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . The land lot covers 12,563 square feet (1,167.1 m ), with a frontage of 125 feet (38 m) on 45th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (31 m). Nearby buildings include the Millennium Times Square New York , Hudson Theatre , Hotel Gerard , and
12488-557: Is part. The Hudson was originally operated by Henry B. Harris , who died in the 1912 sinking of the Titanic . His widow, Renee Harris , continued to operate the Hudson until the Great Depression . It then served as a network radio studio for CBS from 1934 to 1937 and as an NBC television studio from 1949 to 1960. The Hudson operated intermittently as a Broadway theater until the 1960s and subsequently served as an adult film theater,
12711-513: Is scheduled to open at the theatre for a limited 10-week engagement beginning December 10. Broadway theater Broadway theatre , or Broadway , 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
12934-520: 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
13157-664: Is utilized by a production". The New York state government also nominated the Hudson Theatre for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). The theater was added to the NRHP on November 15, 2016. The Hudson reopened with a revival of the Stephen Sondheim musical Sunday in the Park with George . Stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Annaleigh Ashford participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony on February 8, 2017. The Hudson became
13380-500: The America's Town Meeting of the Air radio program, broadcast from Town Hall between 1935 and 1956. New York University (NYU) leased Town Hall afterward, but the venue began to decline in popularity during the 1950s and 1960s. NYU closed the auditorium in 1978 due to financial shortfalls, and Town Hall was then renovated and reopened as a performance venue by the Town Hall Foundation. Town Hall
13603-502: The Eddie Condon's Jazz Concerts radio program from 1944 to 1945. One such concert by Dizzy Gillespie , Charlie Parker , Don Byas , Al Haig , Curley Russell , Max Roach , and Sid Catlett on June 22, 1945, was the first public performance of the jazz style that came to be known as bebop . Another jazz concert in 1946, featuring Billie Holiday 's first solo appearance, sold out rapidly. Town Hall's musical popularity peaked in
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#173285140841113826-548: 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
14049-486: The Beaux-Arts Classical style, while the backstage facilities in the basement, rear, and sides of the theater are simply decorated. The three lobby spaces collectively measure 30 feet (9.1 m) wide and 100 feet (30 m) long, wider than any other lobby in New York City when the theater opened in 1903. The lobbies and auditorium contained several hundred concealed lamps, which could be dimmed and which comprised
14272-611: The Durst Organization , developer of the neighboring building at 1133 Avenue of the Americas , for $ 25,000 a year. By the end of that decade, Lincoln Center had completed its new Alice Tully Hall , and Town Hall was largely supplanted in stature. This was evidenced by the number of bookings at both venues in 1969: while Tully Hall was nearly completely booked, less than half of available dates at Town Hall were booked. In 1971, Jerrold Ross became director of Town Hall, and he scheduled
14495-634: The Hotel Gerard and Belasco Theatre are to the east. Other nearby buildings include the High School of Performing Arts to the northeast, the Lyceum Theatre and 1540 Broadway to the north, One Astor Plaza to the west, 1500 Broadway to the southwest, and the Chatwal New York hotel and the Town Hall to the south. Generally, the area includes residential or commercial buildings much larger than
14718-551: The Hudson Guild acquired the lease to Town Hall at $ 1 per year. He created the Town Hall Theater Foundation and announced that the auditorium would be split into two smaller theaters. The Town Hall Foundation was to take title to the venue while the Town Hall Theater Foundation would operate it. Amid opposition to the plan, Anderson then said he would consider retaining the original 1,500-seat auditorium and erecting
14941-519: 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;
15164-493: 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
15387-670: The New York University (NYU)'s alumni club signed a five-year lease with Town Hall Inc. to use the upper floors formerly occupied by the Town Hall Club. NYU then renovated the two top floors. The NYU alumni clubhouse opened on September 12, 1956. Concurrently, the university booked Town Hall for all evenings for the following several months, eliminating Town Hall's mounting debt load. NYU and Town Hall Inc. also signed an agreement in which NYU would take over Town Hall's programming, and NYU president Alvin C. Eurich became chairman of
15610-468: 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
15833-507: The Tammany Hall Building at 44 Union Square , were two "unofficial civic monuments" built between the first and second world wars. Within the first year of Town Hall's opening, it had seen 200,000 guests. Some of Town Hall's popularity came from a variety of speeches and programs regarding social issues, but the musical productions were also major attractions. Over a million people used Town Hall within its first three years. At
16056-408: The Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . It is between the two wings of the Millennium Times Square New York hotel, of which the Hudson Theatre is technically part. The primary elevation of the facade is along 44th Street; a rear elevation extends north to 45th Street. The theater's land lot originally had the addresses 139 West 44th Street and 136–144 West 45th Street. It had
16279-409: 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
16502-507: The 1977–1978 season, the announcement of Town Hall's closure had resulted in the loss of over $ 165,000 of potential revenue for 1978–1979. After Town Hall's closure was announced, the Committee to Save Town Hall organized a campaign to preserve the venue. Despite the advocacy in favor of Town Hall, NYU's trustees closed the venue and planned to turn over the operation to the nonprofit Town Hall Foundation. In September 1978, Craig Anderson of
16725-413: The 41st Broadway theater and was both the newest and oldest Broadway theater in operation. The reopened Hudson hosted productions such as 1984 (2017), The Parisian Woman (2017), Head over Heels (2018), Burn This (2019), and American Utopia (2019). The theater closed on March 12, 2020 , due to the COVID-19 pandemic . Another engagement of American Utopia , planned for the Hudson before
16948-536: 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,
17171-603: 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
17394-704: 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
17617-564: 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
17840-562: The Chatwal New York hotel to the north; the Belasco Theatre to the northeast; the Bank of America Tower and Stephen Sondheim Theatre to the south; 4 Times Square to the southwest; and 1500 Broadway to the west. Town Hall was designed by McKim, Mead & White in the Georgian Revival style and constructed from 1919 to 1921 as a lecture venue. Teunis (Dennis) J. van der Bent of
18063-508: The Civic Forum and the Economic Club . In addition, there was to be an adjoining political science library. The third story and the roof were to be arranged with space for a social club. While the League's offices were occupied from the building's completion, the two upper stories were not furnished until the end of 1924. As ultimately completed, the third floor was equipped with two main dining rooms and four private dining rooms. In addition,
18286-451: 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
18509-542: The Georgian facade of the Stephen Sondheim Theatre immediately across the street. The western elevation abuts an adjacent four-story building, which was formerly an annex of Town Hall and retains a connection at a single story. The eastern elevation is clad with common brick and originally was not visible from the street, but the site immediately to the east was redeveloped in the 1970s with an office building, which
18732-533: The Hudson Theatre. The theater was originally operated by producer Henry B. Harris , who had become well known in the theatrical community by the 1900s. The site, at 44th and 45th Street, was owned by financier George Gustav Heye . In January 1902, Harris formed the Henry B. Harris Company to lease the site from Heye. That March, Heye filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) to develop
18955-559: The Hudson as being "more than modest externally, yet boasts an auditorium which for beauty of proportions chasteness of coloring, and good taste of equipment, is unsurpassed by any theatre in America". Architectural Record wrote that the decorative scheme "errs on the side of understatement", given the grandeur of the interior. From its inception, the Hudson Theatre was intended as a venue for "drawing-room comedies". Such comedies included The Marriage of Kitty , which in November 1903 became
19178-512: The Hudson was "perhaps the most active theater in town", with many shows in the auditorium and booking offices in the 44th Street wing. CBS announced in January 1934 that it had leased the Hudson Theatre and would use the stage as a studio for radio broadcasts. The move followed an unsuccessful attempt to take over the unused rooftop theater at the New Amsterdam Theatre . The studio was dedicated on February 3, 1934, with free admission to
19401-447: The Hudson, including Song and Dance Man (1924), American Born (1925), and Whispering Friends (1928). Howard Schnebbe leased the Hudson Theatre in May 1928 after Renee Harris announced her intention to take a break from theatrical management. Later that year, a Brooklyn Daily Eagle article said eight of the theater's original employees were still on the payroll, including Schnebbe and his brother Alan. The Hudson's performances during
19624-463: The Hudson. Just before the theater's development at the beginning of the 20th century, the portion of the site on 45th Street had belonged to Paul J. Crovat, while the 44th Street portion was owned by the estate of Joseph Deutsch. The Hudson Theatre was designed in the Beaux-Arts style and constructed from 1902 to 1903. The architectural firm J. B. McElfatrick & Son was the original architect, but
19847-454: 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
20070-406: The League had no dedicated clubhouse. The Economic Club and Civic Forum were both founded in 1907 as offshoots of the League for Political Education. In 1912, Anna Blakslee Bliss gave money to fund the construction of a dedicated clubhouse; her initial donation of $ 1,000 was followed the next year by a larger donation. Plans for a dedicated clubhouse for the League were first announced in 1914;
20293-436: The League's director. The League formally reorganized as Town Hall Inc. in January 1938, with Denny as the new organization's president. The move reflected the fact that political education was no longer the League's priority, especially with Town Hall hosting Town Meeting over the last several years. Town Meeting was being broadcast on 78 stations by 1939; the show's own popularity was largely fueled by its setting within
20516-554: The Millennium Times Square New York) in 1988. The Hudson was incorporated into the hotel as a conference center and auditorium space. The modifications included preserving the landmarked decorations, including the Tiffany glass, marble stairs, and woodwork, as well as refurbishing the seating. A new deck, dressing rooms, and stage rigging were added, and a projectionists' booth and a Dolby sound system were installed. During
20739-592: 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
20962-458: The People . Among the other productions at the revived Hudson were The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse (1938) and Lew Leslie's Blackbirds of 1939 . The Emigrant Savings Bank owned the revived theater until 1939, when the Shubert Organization took over. Before Shubert took over the Hudson Theatre, it was closed for over six months. From 1941 to 1944, the Hudson hosted Arsenic and Old Lace , which set
21185-531: 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
21408-457: The Town Hall board in 1957. NYU fully acquired Town Hall in March 1958, and the venue became known as The Town Hall of New York University, an educational and cultural center directed by Ormand Drake. The annex at 125 West 43rd Street, which had been used for offices for Town Meeting , was sold in early 1959. The Town Hall of NYU held its first performances in October 1958. Within a few months, The New York Times had written that "Town Hall
21631-411: The Town Hall building. The Town Hall 50th Anniversary Committee, under Denny's leadership, started raising funds for a five-story expansion to Town Hall in 1940, though this was also not built. Town Hall also started a fundraiser in 1946 to pay off the $ 200,000 mortgage on the building. The venue was musically successful between 1946 and 1948, immediately after World War II. During October 1947 alone,
21854-472: The Town Hall in early 1935, and contralto Marian Anderson made her Town Hall debut that December after facing discrimination against African-Americans at other venues. Alice Tully sang at Town Hall in 1936, and young violinist Isaac Stern debuted at Town Hall the next year. Other performers of the decade included Lily Pons in 1938 and the Von Trapp family the same year. The Kolisch Quartet gave
22077-519: The Town Hall was initially intended as a speaking hall, it quickly became known for musical performances and recitals, leading one New York Times writer to call it an "accidental concert hall". McKim, Mead & White had written in 1921 that the venue could be adapted to "concerts, moving picture exhibitions, and similar entertainment". Throughout its history, the Town Hall has hosted performances by hundreds of musicians and composers. Town Hall hosted musical performances and other recitals initially as
22300-563: The Truth and / the Truth Shall Make You Free'". On either side are two empty niches surrounded by limestone frames. The niches are topped by round arches and contain similar keystones to the openings below them. There are light fixtures at the bases of the niches, as well as on the sills of the round arches. Above the niches and plaque is a set of sash windows with brick and limestone frames. A Greek key band course runs above
22523-468: The auditorium is two stories tall, it has been described in contemporary publications as a four-story space. The lobby is accessed from the five center doorways on 43rd Street. It has a largely rectangular plan, except for the north wall, which corresponds to the auditorium's rear wall. A contemporary publication called the lobby "a memorial to public-spirited citizens not now living who were leaders of their day in public usefulness". The lobby contains
22746-509: The auditorium within six months. The NYU Club and Alvin Ailey Dance Company would continue to use the upper stories, and NYU planned to hand over operation to "a responsible group" rather than demolish it. By then, the venue was mostly vacant during prime-time evenings and weekends, and the neighborhood had become dilapidated. The high crime rates of Times Square also discouraged potential events. Although 355 events had been hosted in
22969-401: The auditorium's 1,500 seats. James Speyer donated an organ to the auditorium in 1922. Anna Blakeley Bliss donated money to cover the estimated $ 500,000 cost of completing the interior in either 1922 or 1923. In April 1924, Ely announced that Town Hall needed to raise another $ 600,000 to pay off its debts. Two donors had pledged $ 400,000 on the condition that the remaining funds be raised by
23192-454: The auditorium. The auditorium was equipped with 28 emergency exits at its opening, more than in most contemporary venues at the time of its opening. The floor had "mushrooms" for air intake and outflow. Ventilation and heating could both be adjusted to accommodate outside conditions, and a sprinkler system was included in the original design. While these mechanical features have since become standard building-design elements, they were not common at
23415-488: 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
23638-475: The balconies are yellow and gold moldings with Tiffany mosaic tiles. Unlike other Broadway theaters of the 1900s, the balconies are largely cantilevered rather than being supported on columns. According to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), the use of cantilevered balconies strongly suggested that Israels & Harder was responsible for the interior design, since McElfatrick & Son used support columns even after cantilevered balconies were
23861-554: The basement to the ground story, while two doors lead to the Millennium Times Square hotel's wings. The doorways from the basement to the hotel were built during the 1990s. After the Hudson reopened as a Broadway theater in 2017, the basement has contains back-of-house facilities, restrooms, and bar space. Before that, it was used as a staff space for the hotel. The spaces had dropped and exposed ceilings, concrete masonry unit blocks, gypsum board walls, and floor finishes from
24084-435: 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
24307-476: 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
24530-537: 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
24753-477: The block in the mid-1980s. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated both the facade and the interior as landmarks on November 17, 1987. This was part of the LPC's wide-ranging effort in 1987 to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters. The New York City Board of Estimate ratified the designations in March 1988. Macklowe developed the surrounding lots into the Hotel Macklowe (later
24976-421: The broadcasts. As part of the renovation, a commercial booth and an announcer's booth replaced the box seating on the first floor. The Hudson was known as CBS Radio Playhouse Number 1 during this time. The CBS studio was relatively short-lived, only operating until 1937. In January 1937, Sam H. Grisman took over the theater. The Hudson reopened as a Broadway venue the next month with a production of An Enemy of
25199-399: The building named after them; anyone who gave $ 1.5 million would get the entire auditorium named in their honor. Some $ 250,000 had been raised toward the proposed cost by April 1982. The work was to be performed over a five-year period in three phases. In 1983, the federal government allocated funds to Town Hall's renovation. Leffler also obtained grants from private foundations to fund
25422-499: The building wheelchair-accessible and relocate some of the rooms. The renovated hall officially reopened on October 14, 1984. The NYU Club continued to occupy Town Hall's upper-story clubhouse space until 1989 when it filed for bankruptcy. The clubhouse space was leased the following to the New Yorker Club, a majority-minority social club, which raised $ 800,000 to renovate the clubhouse space. The Town Hall Foundation received
25645-599: The building; the National Endowment for the Arts would provide a $ 400,000 grant if the remainder was raised privately. The federal government would provide another $ 300,000 to fund the proposed $ 1.5 million cost of the renovation. By 1981, Town Hall was finally profitable and was raising $ 2 million for operation and restoration. The foundation planned to install plaques on the auditorium's seats to honor donors who gave over $ 1,000. Larger donors would also get different parts of
25868-456: The canopy. The centers of the canopies' undersides have large spherical lamps, which are surrounded by smaller spheres. A Greek key band course runs above the mezzanine. The middle stories generally lack window openings and are faced in brick. The center of the facade has a limestone plaque that contains the words "The Town Hall / Founded by / the League for Political Education / 1894–1920 / 'Ye Shall Know
26091-426: The ceiling. The lighting was intended to be indirect, with 2,500 bulbs in total. The proscenium arch consists of a band with a Greek key molding, supported on either side by ornamented pilasters with Composite-style capitals. Above the center of the arch is a keystone with foliate decorations. The proscenium measures 25 feet (7.6 m) tall and 49.5 feet (15.1 m) wide. The stage curves slightly outward from
26314-442: The clubhouse would have been at 108–120 West 49th Street. The 49th Street clubhouse, which would likely have been designed by James E. Ware , was never built. The League's real estate committee then researched alternate sites before recommending the plots at 113–123 West 43rd Street, near Times Square. The committee recommended the site because of its proximity to transit. The plots were then purchased in 1917 for $ 425,000. At
26537-521: The combined company operated seven Broadway theaters, including the Hudson. Comedian Alex Edelman 's one-man show Just for Us opened at the Hudson in June 2023 and ran for eight weeks, and a revival of Merrily We Roll Along opened in October 2023 and ran at the theater until July 2024. This was followed by a revival of Once Upon a Mattress , which opened in August 2024 and will run until November. A new play titled All In: Comedy About Love by Simon Rich
26760-492: The country. Leroy C. Griffith announced in 1966 that he would operate the Hudson Theatre for burlesque productions. Later that year, Seymour Durst moved to acquire several lots on the city block, including the Hudson Theatre, though he denied he bought the theater itself. Variety magazine reported in February 1967 that Durst had not only bought the Hudson Theatre but also was looking to lease it to an adult film exhibitor. Among
26983-422: 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
27206-452: The domes. The ceiling's edges have coffers with three-part stained-glass panels. The auditorium has an orchestra level, boxes , two balconies, promenades on the three seating levels, and a large stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium's width is slightly greater than its depth, and the auditorium is designed with plaster decorations in high relief . The balcony levels are connected by stairs on either side and by fire stairs outside
27429-511: The east and west walls, which contain foliate spandrels . Five arches contain mirrors, while the rightmost arch on the east wall contains a staircase to the first balcony level. The center arch on the west wall has a fireplace with a carved marble mantelpiece . The New York Times compared the mirrored walls to the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles . The north wall has a red curtain separating
27652-487: The eastern section of the site is higher than the western section. Fluted limestone pilasters flank the doors. Each double door has wooden frames and glass panes, above which are multi-pane transom windows. Each doorway has a limestone tympanum above it, as well as a lunette window with a keystone . The extreme ends of the facade, on either side of the blind arcade, contain metal double doors that lead to The Town Hall's backstage hallways. Above each of these end doors
27875-609: 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,
28098-424: The end of that June. Ultimately, more than three thousand people donated to fund Town Hall's development. The upper stories were completed by the end of December 1924. To celebrate the venue's debts being paid off, Town Hall's management ceremonially burned the mortgage documents on the fourth anniversary of the venue's opening. The Town Hall Club was established within the two top stories in January 1925, with
28321-468: 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. The Town Hall (New York City) The Town Hall (also Town Hall )
28544-559: 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. The Hudson, Lyceum, and New Amsterdam , which all opened in 1903, were among the first theaters to make this shift. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, including
28767-456: 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,
28990-452: The existing four-story building at 125 West 43rd Street. Eventually, Town Hall, alongside Carnegie Hall and the old Metropolitan Opera House at 39th Street , became one of New York City's top musical venues in its 20th-century heyday. The neighboring Aeolian Hall closed not long after Town Hall opened. Ely hired George V. Denny Jr. as an associate director of the league in 1930. Denny thought "an honest system of political education"
29213-447: The exterior and interior of the building are New York City landmarks , and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark . Town Hall was designed in the Georgian Revival style and has a brick facade with limestone trim. The base contains seven arched doorways that serve as the venue's entrance. The facade of the upper stories contains a large limestone plaque, niches, and windows. Inside
29436-415: The facade. Above each of the outer doorways are brackets supporting a cornice , which is topped by a bull's-eye window with cornucopias on either side. The three inner bays contain the theater's main entrance, which is also recessed. Within the main entrance opening are three sets of wood-and-glass double doors, above which is a wooden transom bar and glass window lights above. The central set of doors has
29659-453: The films shown there were Andy Warhol 's I, a Man and Bike Boy . The theater also hosted the Broadway production How to Be a Jewish Mother during December 1967 and January 1968. The United States Steel Corporation and Carnegie Pension Fund had acquired the site in 1968 and leased it to Durst. The theater was renamed the Avon-Hudson in 1968, becoming a pornographic theater. It was
29882-438: The firm of Israels & Harder oversaw the completion of the design. It is not known why the plans were changed. McElfatrick was a prominent theater architect, but Charles Henry Israels and Julius F. Harder are not known to have designed any other theaters. Plans indicate that McElfatrick designed the facade while Israels and Harder designed the interior. The Hudson Theatre's massing consists of two primary rectangular sections:
30105-434: The firm was in charge of the overall design, and Russell B. Smith was the supervising engineer. The interior work was completed by Louis Jallade after the building opened. Wallace Clement Sabine has been popularly cited as a consultant in the design of Town Hall's auditorium, but he died before the building was completed. Town Hall was originally built for the League for Political Education . The Georgian Revival style
30328-463: The first and second hosts of The Tonight Show , both hosted at the Hudson. Allen conducted his "Man on the Street" interviews outside the theater's stage entrances on 45th Street. In November 1958, NBC offered the Hudson for sale at $ 855,000, in part because many of the network's productions had since moved to Hollywood . After unsuccessfully trying to find a buyer for several months, NBC decided to renovate
30551-463: 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
30774-465: The first story contains an entrance, ticket lobby, and main lobby. The second story (once the Dress Circle) was partitioned into offices after the original Broadway theater closed, while the third and fourth stories were divided into apartments. On 45th Street is the stage house, comprising the three-level auditorium, the stage, and backstage facilities. The lobbies and auditorium are ornately decorated in
30997-406: The first women to be a Broadway producer. Early on, Renee Harris was named as the "estate of Henry B. Harris" in production credits, as with Lady Windermere's Fan , which premiered in 1914. Some of Renee Harris's productions had at least 300 performances, including Friendly Enemies (1918), Clarence (1919), and So This Is London (1922). George M. Cohan presented several productions at
31220-461: The flagship venue of the Avon porn-theater chain. In December 1972, the theater's license was temporarily suspended due to "disorderly conduct" and "conspiracy to show obscene films", but the theater continued to operate anyway. By 1975, U.S. Steel was attempting to remove pornographic shows from the theater. Avon was forced to shut down its pornographic productions at the Hudson that April, relocating them to
31443-861: The fourth floor contained a library decorated with American pine from floor to ceiling. The room, measuring 77 by 42 feet (23 by 13 m), was described in the New York Herald Tribune as "probably the largest pine room in the country", containing three large pine columns and alcoves with space for 9,000 books. Eleanor Butler Sanders and five other prominent suffragists established the League for Political Education in 1894 to advocate for women's suffrage . The group held popular "town meetings" about social issues and had 600 members by 1899. The initial meetings were held in Sanders's house and attracted mainly women. Subsequent meetings attracted more men and were hosted in various venues around New York City, since
31666-401: The foyer from the auditorium. Originally, this curtain was green and covered with gold trimming. Wide, ornamented plaster bands divide the ceiling into three sections, each of which has a Tiffany stained-glass dome. The domes contain gold, green, pink, and turquoise glass pieces, which date from their original installation. The center dome has a chandelier, and ten shallow crystal lamps surround
31889-461: The ground story, a rectangular lobby leads to the auditorium. The upper stories originally housed offices for the League for Political Education the Civic Forum, the Economic Club , and the Town Hall Club. Town Hall's auditorium opened on January 12, 1921, and was originally intended as a place for speeches, but Town Hall subsequently became one of New York City's top musical venues in its 20th-century heyday. The first public-affairs media programming,
32112-402: The hall hosted 52 concerts. Town Hall was still used for many solo musical performances during the 1950s. The mid-1950s coincided with a general decrease in the number of performance events. While similar venues like Carnegie Hall saw similar decreases in recitals, Town Hall was particularly affected because it was smaller than other venues such as Carnegie Hall . Furthermore, Times Square
32335-776: The highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world . While the Broadway thoroughfare 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,
32558-522: The hotel wings on either side. The main section of the vestibule has a staircase to the second story, while the eastern section has double doors leading to the third and fourth stories. The ticket lobby is north of the entrance vestibule. It is approached from the vestibule by four sets of double wood-and-glass doors, which contain thresholds of white marble. The ticket lobby has a hand-woven carpet patterned with hexagonal shapes. The walls contain antique dark green marble with gold veining; they are topped by
32781-569: The hotel's construction, models of guestrooms and conference rooms were built on the Hudson's stage. The Hudson underwent a $ 7 million renovation to convert it into a conference center for corporate meetings, fashion shows, and product launches. Among the events in the conference center was the World Chess Championship 1990 , when Soviet grandmasters Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov competed in New York City's first World Chess Championship since 1907 . The championship took place while
33004-762: The inner bays, with stylized theatrical-mask motifs at the pilasters' capitals. The second-story inner bays contain French doors , which open onto wrought-iron balustrades containing motifs of lyres. Above the center bay is a broken pediment shaped as a segmental arch ; the center of the pediment contains a male head (probably depicting the god Apollo ) and a lyre. The next-from-center bays are topped by plain lintels , as well as console brackets supporting segmental-arched pediments. The outermost bays have double-hung sash windows with limestone surrounds and lintels. The third-story windows all have limestone surrounds and double-hung sash windows. The third-story windows are smaller than
33227-539: The interior. The foundation also wanted to produce its own events, so it started raising funds for a sound system, and it also sought to create a chamber orchestra and host a festival of foreign films. In March 2012, the United States Department of the Interior designated Town Hall as a National Historic Landmark . The Rockwell Group proposed replacing the lighting on the facade and marquee in 2019. While
33450-536: The late 1920s also included Black musicals such as Hot Chocolates (1929) and Messin' Around (1929). During the late 1920s (possibly in 1929), a developer offered Renee Harris $ 1.2 million so the theater's site could be redeveloped with an office building, but she had refused. The Hudson began to lose money in the early 1930s when the theatrical industry was heavily impacted by the Great Depression . The losses continued even though Henry Harris's brother William Harris Jr. worked actively with Howard Schnebbe to manage
33673-419: The late 1940s and early 1950s. During June 1947, Town Hall hosted a Louis Armstrong concert, which led to the formation of Louis Armstrong and His All Stars . In 1949, Burl Ives gave a folk-song concert, which was popular enough that the audience requested seven encore performances. Lotte Lenya gave a concert in 1951 in memory of her late husband, composer Kurt Weill . In April 1953, Anna Russell gave
33896-484: The late 20th century. The second story on the 44th Street wing was once the Hudson Theatre Dress Circle. It was partitioned into offices after the theater originally closed. It is connected to the rest of the theater only by a single staircase from the first floor. The second story has offices for the hotel, which are furnished with gypsum board walls, dropped ceilings, and carpeted floors. The east wall has
34119-467: The middle stories. The attic contains seven double-hung sash windows, which are larger than those in the midsection. Each window has an iron grille below it, as well as a limestone lintel with a keystone above. There are recessed brick panels between each of the attic windows, each of which contains a limestone lozenge. Both of the outermost bays contain recessed panels with an ocular window inside. The attic contains an Adamesque limestone frieze above
34342-544: 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
34565-431: The moldings divide the ceiling into groined panels with neoclassical foliate decoration. The rear of the ceiling contains plasterwork with light sockets, as well as glazed light bulbs. According to one restoration architect, the pattern of the ceiling inspired a hexagonal motif for the restoration of the theater. The basement lies under the entire site and protrudes below 45th Street. Five staircases and one elevator connect
34788-450: The morning hours. Within a year of taking over Town Hall, the foundation had started restoring parts of the auditorium. Town Hall was added to the National Register of Historic Places in April 1980, which the foundation celebrated later that year with a concert and a plaque. To avoid running a deficit, the foundation planned performances only if there was funding for them. The Town Hall Foundation needed to raise $ 1.2 million to restore
35011-727: The music of John Cage . Igor Stravinsky gave the U.S. premiere of his composition Threni in 1959. Nina Simone performed in September 1959, and the concert was released as Nina Simone at Town Hall , her first live album. Shows in the 1960s included a benefit for the Morningside Mental Hygiene Clinic in 1960, Bob Dylan 's large-concert debut in 1963, and a Coretta Scott King Freedom Concert in 1964. Jazz composer and bandleader Charles Mingus held two concerts there, resulting in his live albums from October 1962 and April 1964 . Bill Evans and his trio recorded
35234-409: The nearby Henry Miller Theatre . Avon unsuccessfully sued U.S. Steel over the eviction and then allegedly ripped out seats before leaving. The theater was part of the "Bond site", owned by William J. Dwyer & Company, which itself represented U.S. Steel. In late 1975, Dwyer reopened the Hudson Theatre as a cinema following a renovation. The theater screened The Hiding Place for several weeks and
35457-407: The next month by a dance recital by Ruth St. Denis . Singer and actor Paul Robeson first performed Black spiritual songs at the Town Hall in 1927, guitarist Andrés Segovia first gave a recital in 1929, and Richard Tauber made his American premiere there in 1931. In its first decade, the Town Hall's other events included Edna St. Vincent Millay 's public poetry reading debut in 1928 and
35680-420: 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
35903-491: The norm. At the rear of the first balcony, columns with Corinthian capitals support the second balcony. The orchestra has yellow side-walls with paneled pilasters. Near the front of the auditorium are two curved boxes at the first balcony level, one on either side of the auditorium. These boxes are flanked by paired fluted columns and pilasters in the Corinthian style. These columns, in turn, are topped by an entablature containing
36126-552: 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
36349-591: The orchestra promenade to the balconies. A men's lounge existed under the western staircase; it was subsequently converted into restrooms. Similar promenades exist on either balcony level, separated from the seats in front by half-height partitions. An elevator leads to the Dress Circle level, with steps down to the first balcony, but there is no elevator access to the second balcony. The balcony levels have paneled pilasters on their walls, ornamental moldings on their fronts, and foliate bands on their undersides. In front of
36572-406: The other stories contained offices. The auditorium consists of a ground-level orchestra and two overhanging balconies, with boxes at the first balcony level. The lobbies and auditorium are ornately decorated in the Beaux-Arts Classical style, while the backstage facilities are more simply decorated. The theater is flanked by the two wings of the Millennium Times Square New York hotel, of which it
36795-469: The outer bays contain piers, while the center bay has an oval shield with consoles and swags . The cornice wrapped around to both the west and east elevations, but only the east cornice return is visible. The north elevation is plain in design and is made of tan brick in Flemish bond. The stage house, comprising most of the 45th Street elevation, is flanked by one-bay-wide, five-story-tall galleries. The base of
37018-515: The outer bays. Above the stage house is a metal cornice with a reeded frieze, modillions, and medallions. On either side of the stage house are the galleries. At the first story, there are metal emergency exit doors. The upper stories have double-hung windows with cast stone lintels. A wrought-iron fire escape runs in front of both galleries. The fifth-story windows contain cast-stone lintels, above which are arches and limestone cornices. The Hudson Theatre has multiple interior levels. On 44th Street,
37241-438: The pandemic, moved to the St. James Theatre . The Hudson reopened on February 22, 2022, with previews of Plaza Suite , which officially ran from March to July 2022. This was followed in October 2022 by a limited revival of Death of a Salesman , which ran for three months. A revival of A Doll's House opened at the Hudson in March 2023, running for three months. ATG and Jujamcyn Theaters also agreed to merge in early 2023;
37464-556: 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
37687-464: 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
37910-478: The production of Lady Frederick . The same year, Henry Harris bought the Hudson Theatre from Heye for $ 700,000. Henry Harris died on the RMS Titanic when it sank in 1912 . All of his theaters were closed for one night in his memory, and his memorial service was hosted at the Hudson. Harris's wife Renee survived the Titanic with minor injuries and took over the Hudson's operation, in doing so becoming one of
38133-423: 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
38356-640: 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
38579-624: The programming over the next three years. The Shubert Organization granted $ 125,000 for Town Hall that May, and enough money was raised by August to sustain the venue for two years. A fundraiser was held that November to raise the remaining money. Still, NYU president John C. Sawhill warned in mid-1977 that there was not enough money to keep Town Hall open past 1978. Town Hall had $ 5 in its bank account by 1978, and there were concerns that Town Hall could be demolished. With Town Hall's annual operating costs ranging from $ 50,000 to $ 100,000, NYU's board of trustees voted in February 1978 to close
38802-478: The proscenium arch. The gilded cornice just beneath the ceiling contains acanthus leaves , under which are dentil blocks. The cornice is supplemented by a band with Greek key fretwork and guilloche moldings. The plaster ceiling is split into coffers , with Greek key and guilloche moldings between each coffer. The center of the ceiling has an Adamesque ornamental medallion with a large chandelier hanging from it. Smaller chandeliers hang from various other parts of
39025-427: The proscenium, measuring 20.5 feet (6.2 m) deep at its center and 16.5 feet (5.0 m) deep at its sides. The back of the stage area was designed with a tapestry. On either side of the stage are round-arched screens, which formerly framed the auditorium's organs. Each arch has a sill that contains foliate decorations and is supported by scrolled brackets. The screens themselves are divided into three parts, with
39248-463: The renovation was still ongoing. The Hotel Macklowe's general manager said he was planning to show six to twelve theatrical productions each year in the theater. The hotel's management wished to attract fashion shows to the conference center as well, despite the relatively small size of the Hudson's stage. In addition to independent corporate events, weddings could be hosted in the theater. Starting in November 2004, Jablonski Berkowitz Conservation restored
39471-425: The renovation, but nineteen banks rejected the foundation's request for a mortgage. The mortgage ultimately came from Apple Bank chairman Jerome McDougal, who, as a child, had performed in a brass band at Town Hall. By mid-1984, the Town Hall Foundation received an Urban Development Action Grant of $ 428,000, and The Kresge Foundation had donated another $ 100,000, enough to pay for a full renovation. Town Hall
39694-531: 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
39917-416: The screen are staircases that lead up to the first mezzanine level of the auditorium. These stairs have balustrades with iron balusters and walnut wooden railings. Underneath the stairs are additional doorways that lead into the auditorium's orchestra level. Double doors with multiple glass panes lead east to the box office and west to the elevator banks. The auditorium has a parterre -level orchestra and
40140-467: 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
40363-464: The seating on the balcony had good acoustics, as the balcony's presence muffled the sounds at orchestra level. The lower sections of the side walls contain marble paneling, which is topped by a molding with a torus motif. Above that, the walls are made of artificial stone , carved in rusticated blocks. Each of the corners contains a fluted pilaster with a Composite -style capital . The side walls contain two niches, which are designed similarly to
40586-447: The second production to be hosted at the Hudson. The following year, the Hudson hosted Sunday, where Barrymore reportedly first said " That's all there is, there isn't any more ", later a popular quip. Man and Superman opened at the Hudson in 1905. This was the first time that its playwright, George Bernard Shaw , allowed one of his plays to be shown in a different manner than what he originally intended. Barrymore returned in 1908 for
40809-421: The second-story windows, though the inner windows are wider than the outer ones. Beneath each third-story window sill are corbels . Above the windows is a limestone string course , containing three splayed keys above each window. The center window is topped by a console bracket and a tablet with the word hudson . The third story is topped by a leaf-and-tongue molding (interrupted by the hudson tablet) and
41032-516: The site. After Strange Interlude played the theater in 1963, the theater was vacant for two years. The Sommer Brothers never redeveloped the Hudson Theatre's site because they could not acquire enough land on 45th Street for their office development. As a result, in 1965, they placed the theater for sale. It was then acquired by Abraham Hirschfeld . The same year, the Hudson hosted the satirical burlesque production This Was Burlesque starring Ann Corio . This show had 125 performances before touring
41255-435: The site. Theatrical groups heavily opposed the plans, and Robert Breen , a producer who had lived in the 44th Street wing since 1942, refused to move out. The theater's uncertain status meant that productions could run only a few weeks at a time, so the theater stood empty for long periods. In May 1962, NBC agreed to sell the theater for $ 1.25 million to Sommer Brothers Construction, which planned an office and garage building on
41478-461: 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
41701-470: The stage house contains three blind arches, with recessed openings in the two outer arches. The western opening has a stage door. The imposts below the tops of the arches are connected to each other, creating a belt course above the second story. The upper stories of the stage house are also divided into three bays by single and double pilasters. The capitals of these pilasters are topped by Corinthian capitals with mask decorations. Recessed brick panels flank
41924-434: 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
42147-565: The theater as the Hudson Theatre at a ceremony on March 30, 1903. The Hudson opened on October 19, 1903, with Ethel Barrymore starring in Cousin Kate . Generally, the theater was positively reviewed by both architectural and theatrical critics. At the opening, the Times wrote: "No richer and more tasteful theater is to be found short of the splendid Hofburg Theater in Vienna". Theatre magazine described
42370-519: The theater back into a Broadway venue on its own. The production Toys in the Attic was announced for the Hudson Theatre in late 1959. Toys in the Attic opened the following year, becoming one of the few successful Broadway productions during the theater's third run. NBC agreed in September 1961 to sell the theater for $ 1.1 million to Samuel Lehrer, who wished to replace it with a parking garage. NBC said it could not find any theatrical company interested in
42593-492: The theater became a television studio for NBC. Detective Story , which then was being produced at the Hudson, had to be moved to the Broadhurst because NBC wanted to move into the Hudson immediately. At that time, several Broadway theaters had been converted to TV studios due to a lack of studio space in New York City. The shows at the studio included Broadway Open House and The Tonight Show . Steve Allen and Jack Paar ,
42816-432: The theater is on the National Register of Historic Places . The Hudson Theatre's massing consists of two primary rectangular sections, both of which are clad in tan brick with Flemish bond . The main entrance is through a four-story wing on 44th Street, while the auditorium is housed in the rear along 45th Street. The first story of the 44th Street wing contains an entrance vestibule, ticket lobby, and main lobby, while
43039-624: The theater opened. A 1903 news article compared the ticket lobby's ceiling and plaster decorations to the Roman Baths of Titus . Four pairs of bronze-and-glass doors lead from the ticket lobby northward to the inner lobby, also referred to as the foyer. The walls contain plasterwork decorations, including vertical pilasters, which support an entablature. The pilasters were placed on wooden bases and are variously described as being Corinthian or Ionic in style. The pilasters were originally colored ivory, orange, and green. They flank six arches, three each on
43262-502: The theater. In November 1931, the Emigrant Savings Bank moved to foreclose on the theater's mortgage , saying Renee Harris owed $ 569,000. A foreclosure auction, originally scheduled for that December, was delayed by one month. Emigrant acquired the Hudson for $ 100,000 in January 1932. The theater continued to host performances during this time, including The Show-off in 1932. A Brooklyn Daily Eagle article in 1933 said that
43485-460: The theater; the $ 1.2 million project lasted a year, with work occurring between events and seminars. The project included restoring the theater's Tiffany glass decorations. During March 2015, Playbill reported that Howard Panter of the British company Ambassador Theatre Group (later ATG Entertainment ) might convert the Hudson back into a Broadway theater. That December, an ATG subsidiary signed
43708-522: 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
43931-474: 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
44154-495: The time of Town Hall's opening, its interior, aside from the lobby and auditorium, remained incomplete because there was not enough money. Town Hall sought extra donations to complete the work. In late 1921, the Societies Realty Corporation obtained a $ 500,000 loan from William A. White & Sons. Ely announced the following year that he would form a 100-person Town Hall Council and seek $ 1,000 pledges for each of
44377-539: The time of the Hudson Theatre's construction. There were originally 12 restroom stalls in the theater, which were expanded to 27 when the theater reopened in 2017. The Hudson Theatre was built with a capacity of 1,076 seats. The modern auditorium has 970 seats. Each seat is 23 inches (580 mm) wide, larger than typical Broadway seats, which typically measure only 17 inches (430 mm) wide. The seats contain gold-colored cushions with wooden backs and were manufactured by Kirwin & Simpson . The foyer leads directly to
44600-473: The time, Manhattan's theater district was in the process of shifting from Union Square and Madison Square to the vicinity of Times Square, with forty-three Broadway theaters being erected there from 1901 to 1920. The Societies Realty Corporation, which had been formed to construct the building, received a $ 300,000 loan for the site in 1918. That February, the League announced it would organize "a new club for men and women interested in civic problems", with
44823-461: 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
45046-558: 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 ,
45269-560: 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
45492-685: 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
45715-415: The windows. Above this is a set of dentils and a balustrade . The Town Hall's lobby and auditorium are on the lower levels, and the offices are on the upper levels. The auditorium is semicircular in plan and is surrounded by the backstage and front of house areas. Two passageways, one each on the extreme west and east ends of the ground story, provide access from the street to backstage areas. While
45938-417: The world premiere performance of Béla Bartók 's String Quartet No. 6 at Town Hall in 1941. Especially popular at Town Hall were performances of jazz music. Guitarist Eddie Condon began holding a series of jazz concerts at Town Hall in February 1942, and he began hosting a biweekly series of jazz concerts that November. By 1944, the performances were sold out, and NBC Blue broadcast the concerts under
46161-449: 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,
46384-539: 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
46607-634: 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
46830-636: Was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network every Thursday night (the Blue Network eventually split from NBC to become the American Broadcasting Company , or ABC). The Town Hall Club on the building's upper stories stopped hosting weekly roundtable luncheons when Town Meeting aired. When Town Meeting was not being broadcast, Town Hall continued to be used as a venue for speeches, musical recitals, and other events and performances. Town Hall
47053-631: Was changed in 1933 to eight performances. Outside of the Endowment Series, the Colonial Dames of America and the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America presented a play in 1932, which depicted the inauguration of George Washington as U.S. president. Pianist Ruth Slenczynska made her debut at the Town Hall in 1933, aged eight. Antonia Brico 's all-woman orchestra debuted at
47276-415: Was chosen for its connotations of grassroots democracy . The main elevation of the facade, facing south on 43rd Street, is clad in brown brick with Flemish bond and is divided into three horizontal sections. The openings have limestone trim around them. Generally, the facade is nine bays wide and is designed to appear as a four-story structure. When it was completed, Town Hall's facade complemented
47499-411: Was closed in July 1984 for a renovation spanning two and a half months. The facade was cleaned, while the auditorium was refurbished and restored, with a new carpet and renovated seats. Because of the landmark status of the building, the seats were restored to their original condition rather than being replaced, while the rear wall was coated in wash to preserve the acoustics. Leffler also sought to make
47722-463: Was deliberately designed to be slightly shorter than its width, referencing the largely residential character of the neighborhood at the time of the theater's opening. The five-story 45th Street elevation is comparatively plain in design and has little decoration. The first-story facade consists of rusticated blocks of limestone , with a water table made of granite. The outermost bays contain wood-and-glass double doors, which are recessed deeply from
47945-409: Was denied twice. Because of this disagreement, Anderson reneged from his lease of Town Hall in January 1979. The venue saw a net loss of $ 138,000 in 1978 and $ 200,000 in 1979. In March 1979, the Town Hall Foundation took title to Town Hall, though NYU continued to collect payments from the air rights. The foundation, led by Marvin Leffler, acquired the Town Hall for a nominal fee of $ 10. Leffler,
48168-499: Was falling into decline at the time, and Town Hall was being used more often for the premieres of fledgling artists before they appeared at Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center . Town Hall Inc. evicted the Town Hall Club from the building in April 1955 after falling into debt and failing to pay $ 9,500 of rent. The Town Hall Club filed for bankruptcy on April 6, 1955. It had only 650 members at the time, far below its peak of 1,900. Town Meeting ultimately ended in 1956. In October 1955,
48391-428: Was frequently called the "busiest theater on Broadway", though it was neither a Broadway theater nor physically on Broadway. Despite Town Hall's success, the League for Political Education still did not own Town Hall outright by 1936, as it still rented the auditorium and offices. Town Hall's leadership planned another expansion of the building in 1937, but this was not carried out. The same year, Denny succeeded Ely as
48614-451: Was hired to select productions for the theatre during the following five years. The original plans had called for a ten-story office building to accompany the theater, but it was never built. By January 1903, Israels & Harder had submitted revised plans for the theater. Architectural and theatrical publications continued to refer to McElfatrick as the architect until early 1904. Actors Robert Edeson and Alice Fischer formally christened
48837-458: Was much emptier than usual by too high a rent scale". This was worsened by the opening of Lincoln Center in 1962, which drew events away from Town Hall. For over a decade after NYU's takeover, Town Hall was "abandoned by the great names in music who had once made it a mecca for the finest in recitals and chamber music", according to the Times . The organ was removed by 1960. To raise money, in 1966, NYU leased some air rights above Town Hall to
49060-483: Was never greater. May the new Town Hall aid materially in its growth." The U.S. president Woodrow Wilson and president-elect Warren G. Harding both sent congratulatory telegrams to celebrate Town Hall's opening. At the time, the League had 6,000 members in total. Some $ 1.25 million or $ 1.35 million had already been spent on its construction. Town Hall, under its first director Robert Erskine Ely , extended its programming to benefit New York City at large. As
49283-415: Was then empty again, but Dwyer wished specifically to avoid showing porn features, choosing instead to air budget productions. After failing to attract enough visitors with a $ 1 ticket price, the Hudson shifted to airing Spanish-language films, then to running features such as Jaws . Irwin Meyer and Stephen R. Friedman then considered converting the Hudson back into a Broadway venue. In April 1981, following
49506-458: 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
49729-452: Was vital to the "safety of American democracy", and he believed that Americans should be exposed to multiple viewpoints. In 1934, Denny was inspired to create America's Town Meeting of the Air , a radio show to promote the free exchange of ideas; it became the first public-affairs media program. NBC approved a limited run of the show in early 1934, and Town Meeting premiered at Town Hall on May 30, 1935, to wide praise. The show
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