183-669: The New Victory Theater is a theater at 209 West 42nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City , near Times Square . Built in 1900 as the Republic Theatre (also Theatre Republic ), it was designed by Albert Westover and developed by Oscar Hammerstein I as a Broadway theater . The theater has been known by several names over the years, including the Belasco Theatre , Minsky's Burlesque , and
366-628: A cavea and an architectural scenery, representing a city street. The oldest surviving examples of this style are the Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza (1580) and the Teatro all'antica in Sabbioneta (1590). At the beginning of 17th century theaters had moved indoors and began to resemble the arrangement we see most frequently today, with a stage separated from the audience by a proscenium arch. This coincided with
549-419: A moment-resisting frame structural system on its perimeter, with closely-spaced columns and horizontal spandrel beams. The frame needed to be able to withstand a wind of up to 110 miles per hour (180 km/h) for three seconds from any direction. The engineers projected the greatest wind loads would come from the north and south elevations, so the columns on these sides are spaced 10 feet (3.0 m) apart. On
732-563: A movie theater , the Victory, operated by the Brandt family. The theater became the first adult movie theater on 42nd Street in 1972. New 42 took over the Victory and several neighboring theaters in 1990. Plans for the children's theater were announced in 1993, and Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates restored the theater, which reopened on December 11, 1995, as the New Victory. The New Victory Theater
915-471: A 1995 renovation by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates (HHPA). The design of the facade reflects its appearance in 1900, when Oscar Hammerstein I developed the theater. The interior design incorporates details that were added when David Belasco took over the theater in 1902. The theater's interior was intended to be completely fireproof, with marble stairways, artificial stone , and plaster surfaces with wire-net lathing . The brick and brownstone facade
1098-508: A 37-story headquarters for Ernst & Young on the southwest-corner lot. Ernst & Young would pay $ 1 billion to lease the building for 20 years. The foundation was constructed from November 1999 to August 2000, requiring the demolition of the Disney store. 5 Times Square and its three neighboring developments would collectively add almost 4 million square feet (370,000 m ) of office space. All four projects were being marketed with
1281-514: A FAR of 36. According to Karrie Jacobs of New York magazine, the building has a varied massing and facades that were appropriate for Times Square's "glitzy character". 5 Times Square rises largely as a slab, with setback sections to the north and east, angling away from the building's northeast corner. Douglas Hocking said that KPF had taken inspiration from Fox & Fowle 's designs for 3 and 4 Times Square, as well as Philip Johnson 's unbuilt proposals for 3, 4, 5, and 7 Times Square during
1464-621: A Moorish-style auditorium with three balconies. That December Oscar Hammerstein I filed revised plans for a theater, at the same site, to be known as the Republic. The structure would be built at a cost of $ 200,000 and would complement Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre next door. By constructing the Republic, Hammerstein could extend the roof garden atop the Victoria to the new theater. The Theatre Republic opened on September 27, 1900, with James Herne 's play Sag Harbor , starring Lionel Barrymore . It
1647-638: A New Audience, Urban Bush Women , and the Metropolitan Opera Guild , as well as film series. Newsday described the initial shows as including "football, a storytelling festival, comedy acts and hip-hop dance events". During the late 1990s, the theater hosted adaptations of shows such as Peter and Wendy , The Wind in the Willows , and It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues . The New Victory was more successful than predicted, filling 85 percent of its seats in
1830-434: A Times Square address, which until the early 1990s had not been popular in the city's real estate market. At the time, rents for commercial space around Times Square were increasing drastically. 5 Times Square was expected to cost $ 536 million in total. The steel superstructure was being erected by early 2001, with a hundred ironworkers employed on the project. Many of the project's ironworkers were Mohawk Native Americans,
2013-412: A courtyard which was open to the elements. A large portion of the audience would stand in the yard, directly in front of the stage. This layout is said to derive from the practice of holding plays in the yard of an inn. Archaeological excavations of The Rose theater at London's Bankside , built 1587, have shown that it had en external diameter of 72 feet (22 metres). The nearby Globe Theatre (1599)
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#17328519717572196-438: A day: in the morning and in the afternoon. The burlesque performances were several times cheaper than legitimate Broadway shows such as George White's Scandals . Each show consisted of a skit, the main burlesque performance, and a dance or comedy act. Performers included Gypsy Rose Lee , Ann Corio , Margie Hart , and Georgia Sothern . The nearby Eltinge and Apollo theaters were converted into burlesque houses shortly after
2379-470: A few more examples of the multitude of stages where plays can occur. A theatre used for opera performances is called an opera house . A theater is not required for performance (as in environmental theater or street theater ), this article is about structures used specifically for performance. Some theaters may have a fixed acting area (in most theaters this is known as the stage ), while some theaters, such as black box theaters have movable seating allowing
2562-486: A foyer and ticketing. The second is called the stage door, and it is accessible from backstage. This is where the cast and crew enter and exit the theater, and there is a tradition called "stage dooring" that some fans participate in, in which fans wait outside of the stage door after the show in hopes of getting an autograph from the actors. The acting or performance space is the stage. In some theaters, such as proscenium theaters , arena theaters and amphitheaters, this area
2745-502: A fully working and producing theater near its original site (largely thanks to the efforts of film director Sam Wanamaker ) to give modern audiences an idea of the environment for which Shakespeare and other playwrights of the period were writing. During the Renaissance , the first modern enclosed theaters were constructed in Italy. Their structure was similar to that of ancient theaters, with
2928-514: A greenroom backstage, as well as traps and a stage elevator. The stage elevator, measuring 15 by 30 ft (4.6 by 9.1 m) across, formed much of the surface of the stage itself and required excavation into the underlying bedrock. In addition, there were footlights in front of the stage. The current configuration of the stage dates to 1995, when dressing rooms on the auditorium's stage were demolished to make way for expanded wing space. The stage area contains 276 dimmers and 300 lights in total, and
3111-488: A group led by David Werner. RXR Realty purchased a 50 percent ownership stake in the leasehold in 2016 and began to renovate it in 2020. The owners began considering converting the building to residential use in 2024. 5 Times Square is on the west side of Seventh Avenue , between 41st Street and 42nd Street , at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . The land lot
3294-578: A group that had historically helped construct some of the city's other office buildings. By September 2001, Ernst & Young was planning to sublease some of its space at the building. Despite the September 11 attacks in Lower Manhattan shortly afterward, retail chain Champs Sports took some storefront space by the end of 2001. When Giuliani's mayoral term expired at the end of that year, he created
3477-474: A growing interest in scenic elements painted in perspective, such as those created by Inigo Jones , Nicola Sabbatini and the Galli da Bibiena family . The perspective of these elements could only be viewed properly from the center back of the auditorium, in the so-called "duke's chair." The higher one's status, the closer they would be seated to this vantage point, and the more the accurately they would be able to see
3660-448: A hanamichi stage with her entourage. The stage is used not only as a walkway or path to get to and from the main stage, but important scenes are also played on the stage. Kabuki stages and theaters have steadily become more technologically sophisticated, and innovations including revolving stages and trap doors were introduced during the 18th century. A driving force has been the desire to manifest one frequent theme of kabuki theater, that of
3843-425: A high-ceilinged interior. Within the large temple has a stage inside which is a large platform with its own pyramid roof. The stage area is separate from the audience area with the musician (a drummer on a high seat) behind the stage, and dressing rooms also at the rear with exit doors behind. The audience would be seated on a smooth, polished floor. Several Koothambalams exist within several Indian temples, and follow
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#17328519717574026-633: A lack of money. In early 1989, several dozen nonprofit theater companies submitted plans to the UDC for the takeover of six theaters. Most of the bids were for the Liberty and Victory, but the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square theaters received 13 bids between them. That year, The Durst Organization acquired the leases to eight theaters in Times Square, including the Victory. It subsequently announced plans to renovate
4209-624: A new mezzanine loan of $ 618 million. EY indicated in late 2017 that it would move to 1 Manhattan West when its 5 Times Square lease expired. and Champs Sports also relocated in 2018. Sephora planned to relocate as well. During the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City in August 2020, SL Green Realty indicated it would sell a $ 126 million mezzanine loan on the property to raise money. RXR and Werner had used $ 200 million of their own equity to renovate
4392-410: A pair of buildings: a 40-story structure on the southwest corner and a 49-story structure on the southeast corner. This plan included a facade system designed by Fernando Vasquez and Sussman/Prejza, which consisted of rectangular panels clipped onto the spandrels, allowing advertisements to be shown directly on the facade. Herbert Muschamp of The New York Times regarded the scheme as having "earned
4575-502: A palace or house. Typically, there were two or three doors in the skene that led out onto orchestra, and from which actors could enter and exit. At first, the skene was literally a tent or hut, put up for the religious festival and taken down when it was finished. Later, the skene became a permanent stone structure. These structures were sometimes painted to serve as backdrops, hence the English word scenery . A temple nearby, especially on
4758-410: A place in the history of ideas", despite being similar to a previous plan for the site. A joint venture of Klein, Blackstone, and Boston Properties ultimately won the right to acquire both sites for $ 330 million. Boston Properties, operated by Mortimer Zuckerman , would take majority ownership, while Klein's Park Tower would have a small stake. Zuckerman and Klein had been encouraged to bid for
4941-559: A portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. Four towers designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee were to be built around 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue. These towers would have been redeveloped by George Klein of Park Tower Realty , though the Prudential Insurance Company of America joined the project in 1986. Furthermore, as part of the West Midtown special zoning district created in 1982,
5124-410: A roof garden above the Times Square and Victory theaters, though it was unclear what would have happened with the Victory's interior. Meanwhile, a committee of theatrical experts recommended in 1987 that the Victory and Liberty theaters be restored for nonprofit use; they estimated that it would cost between $ 6.6 million and $ 7.7 million to renovate the Victory. City and state officials announced plans for
5307-503: A series of sex crimes in early 1937, the La Guardia administration ordered all burlesque houses to remove the word "burlesque" from their marquees that June. The Republic continued to host burlesque performances, which were billed as variety shows . Even without burlesque on its marquee, the Republic remained popular, although it was only one of three remaining burlesque theaters in the city by 1940. The Republic's manager claimed in 1940 that
5490-542: A short while, when officials' attention was diverted elsewhere. After he was elected mayor in 1934, Fiorello La Guardia began cracking down on burlesque and appointed Paul Moss as license commissioner. Even so, the Republic continued to operate as a burlesque house for several more years. Moss revoked the Republic's operating license again in September 1935, but the New York Court of Appeals overturned his revocation. After
5673-470: A store at the building's base in July 2009. AVR hired CBRE Group to market the building in 2011 in advance of a possible sale. A group led by David Werner purchased 5 Times Square in 2014 for $ 1.5 billion, the largest office transaction in the city in four years. Werner's group acquired a mezzanine loan of $ 150 million from RXR Realty . In early 2016, RXR purchased a 50 percent stake for $ 800 million. At
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5856-478: A tower for the site as part of a wide-ranging redevelopment of West 42nd Street. After the successful development of the nearby 3 and 4 Times Square , Boston Properties developed both 5 Times Square and Times Square Tower . Work started in 1999 after EY was signed as the anchor tenant, leasing the entire building for 20 years. The building opened in 2002. Boston Properties sold the long-term leasehold for 5 Times Square in 2006 to AVR Realty, which resold it in 2014 to
6039-522: A variety of genres, though Levine said none of the company's 42nd Street theaters showed hardcore porn . The Brandts' theaters had a combined annual gross of about $ 2 million and operated nearly the entire day. However, the area was in decline; the Brandts' theaters only had three million visitors by 1977, about half of the number in 1963. The 42nd Street Development Corporation had been formed in 1976 to discuss plans for redeveloping Times Square. The same year,
6222-486: A vertical dimension. The Indian Koothambalam temple is a space used to perform Sanskrit drama . Called the koothambalam or kuttampalam, it is a large high-caste rectangular, temple in Kerala which represented a “visual sacrifice” to any deities or gods of the temple. They were built for kutiyattam or “combined acting” performances, which only two dramas are performed today. The temple has a pyramidal roof, with high walls, and
6405-472: A wind-resisting lattice steel beams, as well as a mechanical core. The building contains 1.1 million square feet (100,000 m ) of floor space, much of which is devoted to offices. The lowest three stories contain retail space and an entrance to the Times Square subway station . During the 1980s and early 1990s, Park Tower Realty and the Prudential Insurance Company of America had planned to develop
6588-501: Is L-shaped and covers 27,156 sq ft (2,522.9 m ), with a frontage of 197.5 feet (60.2 m) on Seventh Avenue, 150 feet (46 m) on 42nd Street, and 125 feet (38 m) on 41st Street. 5 Times Square is at the eastern end of a city block that also contains the New Amsterdam Theatre , Candler Building , and Madame Tussauds New York . Other nearby buildings include the Times Square and Lyric theaters to
6771-459: Is across three levels. The decreased capacity reflects the fact that part of the former seating area is occupied by the lobby. In addition, the present-day children's theater did not need a high seating capacity, and modern audiences generally required wider seats. The modern auditorium is a cube measuring around 50 ft (15 m) on each side. When it opened as the Theatre Republic in 1900,
6954-469: Is associated with the performers and their actions. The stage is made entirely of unfinished hinoki , a Japanese cypress, with almost no decorative elements. The poet and novelist Toson Shimazaki writes that "on the stage of the Noh theater there are no sets that change with each piece. Neither is there a curtain. There is only a simple panel ( kagami-ita ) with a painting of a green pine tree . This creates
7137-431: Is at 209 West 42nd Street, on the northern sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue , at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . The building occupies a rectangular land lot covering 6,942 sq ft (644.9 m), with a frontage of 69 ft (21 m) on 42nd Street and a depth of 100.5 ft (30.6 m). The theater abuts 3 Times Square to
7320-404: Is considered symbolic and treated with reverence both by the performers and the audience. The stage includes a large square platform, devoid of walls or curtains on three sides, and traditionally with a painting of a pine tree at the back. The platform is elevated above the place where the audience sits, which is covered in white gravel soil. The four stage corners are marked by cedar pillars, and
7503-418: Is decorated with woodwork and plaster decorations, which resemble the original decorations in the theater. The auditorium was gilded extensively; the gilding was covered in 1902, before HHPA restored the gilding in 1995. The modern-day decorations consist of motifs such as fleurs-de-lis and laurels, which are made of glazed Dutch metal. At the rear of the second balcony level are control booths. The rear wall of
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7686-438: Is designed in a red-and-gold palette, with green and purple accents, and contains box seats and a decorative domed ceiling. The backstage areas were initially extremely small, but they were expanded into a new wing in 1995. The theater opened on September 27, 1900, with the play Sag Harbor . Two years later, Belasco leased the theater, renamed it for himself, and completely reconstructed the interior. Although Belasco restored
7869-596: Is organized to provide support areas for performers, the technical crew and the audience members, as well as the stage where the performance takes place. There are as many types of theaters as there are types of performance. Theaters may be built specifically for certain types of productions, they may serve for more general performance needs or they may be adapted or converted for use as a theater. They may range from open-air amphitheaters to ornate, cathedral -like structures to simple, undecorated rooms or black box theaters . A thrust stage as well as an arena stage are just
8052-575: Is owned by the New York City Economic Development Corporation , though David Werner and RXR Realty have a long-term leasehold on the building. KPF planned the facade as a glass curtain wall , with large billboards on lower stories as part of the 42nd Street Development Project. The foundation consists of shallow footings under most of the site, though parts of the plot abut New York City Subway tunnels and are supported by caissons. The steel superstructure includes
8235-400: Is part of the 42nd Street Development Project and, thus, could bypass many city zoning rules such as those relating to floor area ratio (FAR). The tower follows the 42nd Street Development's zoning rules, which do not require setbacks or sky exposure planes at higher stories, which allow a much higher FAR for usable space. Consequently, Times Square Tower occupies its entire site, with
8418-425: Is permanent part of the structure. In some theaters the stage area can be changed and adapted specifically to a production, often called a black box theater , due to the common practice of the walls being painted black and hung with black drapes. Usually in a building used specifically for performance there are offstage spaces used by the performers and crew. This is where props , sets , and scenery are stored, and
8601-520: Is still standing today and, with its amazing structural acoustics and having had its seating reconstructed, can be seen to be a marvel of Roman architecture. During the Elizabethan era in England , theaters were constructed of wooden framing, infilled with wattle and daub and roofed with thatch . Mostly the theaters were entirely open air. They consisted of several floors of covered galleries surrounding
8784-668: Is the modular theater, notably the Walt Disney Modular Theater . This large theater has floors and walls divided into small movable sections, with the floor sections on adjustable pneumatric piston, so that the space may be adjusted into any configuration for each individual play. As new styles of theater performance have evolved, so has the desire to improve or recreate performance venues. This applies equally to artistic and presentation techniques, such as stage lighting . Specific designs of contemporary live theaters include proscenium , thrust , black box theater , theater in
8967-426: Is the artistic director. When the New Victory opened in 1995, it operated an education program on weekdays for students who attended public and private schools in the city. The New Victory Theater also offered apprenticeships for high school and college students who lived in the city. These apprenticeships, funded by a scholarship grant, originally ran for 10 to 12 weeks and trained students to be ushers. In addition to
9150-482: Is within the base of the building on 42nd Street. Another entrance to the same station is on 41st Street. 3, 4, and 5 Times Square and the Times Square Tower comprise a grouping of office buildings that were developed at Times Square's southern end in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The surrounding area is part of Manhattan 's Theater District and contains many Broadway theatres . The site of 5 Times Square
9333-499: The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States , although it continued to host children's and family shows online which were also broadcast on WNET's Camp TV and Let's Learn. The New Victory Theater is operated by New 42nd Street. The New Victory's shows are largely intended for children up to 17 years old. Since 2019, Russell Granet has served as the theater's president and chief executive officer. In addition, as of 2022, Mary Rose Lloyd
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#17328519717579516-611: The City University of New York 's Graduate Center hosted an exhibition with photographs of the Victory and other theaters to advocate for the area's restoration. One plan for the site, in 1978, called for restoring the Victory as a legitimate theater while razing nearby buildings to create a park. Another plan, called the City at 42nd Street, was announced in December 1979 as part of a proposal to restore West 42nd Street around Times Square. Under
9699-525: The Edinburgh Fringe has seen performances in an taxi . The traditional stage used in Noh theater is based on a Chinese pattern. It is completely open, providing a shared experience between the performers and the audience throughout the play. Without any prosceniums or curtains to obstruct the view, the audience sees each actor at moments even before entering the primary platform of the stage. The theater itself
9882-490: The Manhattan street grid . The north and south elevations, as well as the cornice atop the building, contain lighting. The design of the exterior was scrutinized by several governmental agencies, advocacy groups, and potential tenants. Underneath the site is durable Hartland bedrock, which is covered in some places by soil or weathered rock. Before the tower was constructed, the contractors made four borings. They found that
10065-505: The New Amsterdam Theatre to the south; and the Candler Building to the southwest. The surrounding area is part of Manhattan 's Theater District and contains many Broadway theaters . In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues for legitimate theatre were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The New Amsterdam, Harris , Liberty , Eltinge , and Lew Fields theaters occupied
10248-677: The Prudential Insurance Company of America . It was delayed for several years due to lawsuits and disputes concerning the towers. Meanwhile, by the mid-1980s, the adult-film industry had begun to decline, resulting in fewer films being screened at the Victory Theatre. Even so, it was the oldest theater in Manhattan to have continuously operated as such. The Victory still retained some of its early-20th-century architectural detail, such as cherubs, gold-leaf decorations, and trapdoors. The Brandts also leased all their movie theaters on 42nd Street, including
10431-508: The Victory Theatre . The theater is owned by the city and state governments of New York and leased to nonprofit New 42 , which has operated the venue as a children's theater since 1995. The New Victory presents theater shows, dance shows, puppet shows, and other types of performance art shows from all around the world. The New Victory Theater's modern design dates to a 1995 renovation; its facade reflects its appearance in 1900, while
10614-467: The fly system consists of 30 sets of counterweights . The counterweight system replaced an older system that used sandbags . Originally, the Victory Theatre was surrounded on all sides by other buildings, and it had neither backstage areas nor a stage door. During the 1995 renovation, the New Victory Theater organization acquired two low-rise tenement buildings on 43rd Street. One of the wings
10797-494: The orchestra pit ) which focused the attention of audience on the stage, completely immersing them in the imaginary world of the music drama. These concepts were revolutionary at the time, but they have since come to be taken for granted in the modern operatic environment as well as many other types of theatrical endeavors. Contemporary theaters are often non-traditional, such as very adaptable spaces, or theaters where audience and performers are not separated. A major example of this
10980-431: The proskenion , but this is not certain. Rising from the circle of the orchestra was the audience. The audience sat on tiers of benches built up on the side of a hill. Greek theaters, then, could only be built on hills that were correctly shaped. A typical theater was enormous, able to seat around 15,000 viewers. Greek theaters were not enclosed; the audience could see each other and the surrounding countryside as well as
11163-416: The 1980s and 1990s. The 42nd Street Development Project also mandated a minimum floor area and a minimum number of stories. Since mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems did not count toward these minimums, they were placed on the roof. 5 Times Square contains several electronic billboards on its facade, which obscure much of the second through fourth floors. These billboards are included as part of
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#173285197175711346-594: The 1996–1997 season and selling thousands of memberships to families. Cora Cahan, who headed New 42nd Street, said the New Victory's success proved that there was a "real need" for children's theaters in New York City. The theater continued to present family-friendly shows, including those by foreign artists, through the late 1990s and the 2000s. By the 2000s, the theater was also hosting a variety of dance productions, including classical ballet , hip-hop dance, and modern routines. Compared with theatrical productions, which were often produced or adapted specifically for children,
11529-437: The 42nd Street Development Project and were intended to evoke Times Square's historical signage. Specifically, the building was required to contain at least 18,000 square feet (1,700 m ) of advertising signage. At the northeast corner, the signs rise to the seventh story. Hocking said his team used computer models to compare different types of signage. However, the developers' signs had to be separate from those required by
11712-538: The 42nd Street Development Project. As a result, a 22-story-tall vertical sign with the Ernst & Young name was mounted on the northeast corner of the building. The main office entrance is in the middle of the Seventh Avenue elevation . The corner of Seventh Avenue and 41st Street has an entrance to a three-story Red Lobster restaurant, with a curved revolving neon lobster measuring 10 feet (3.0 m) long. Above
11895-530: The Belasco in its early years. By 1906, Belasco was unsure whether he would be able to renew his lease on his namesake theater, so he decided to develop the Stuyvesant Theatre on 44th Street, incorporating many of the innovations that he had developed at the 42nd Street theater. Belasco's lease was again scheduled for renewal in 1910, and he renamed the theater yet again that July. The 42nd Street theater became
12078-589: The Flushing Line subway tunnel was within 2 feet (0.61 m) of 5 Times Square's lot line, engineering consultant recommended that rock-socketed caissons be built to a point below the tunnel invert , using sensors to detect ground movement. Various methods of reinforcement were used for the lot perimeter. Near the Flushing Line tunnel, the south wall is supported by mini- caissons that are about 12 inches (300 mm) in diameter. The caissons each contain three metal cores and descend to about 8 feet (2.4 m) below
12261-535: The Hartland bedrock had been covered by 5 to 12 feet (1.5 to 3.7 m) of manmade fill and that there was groundwater about 30 feet (9.1 m) below street level. The southern lot line is adjacent to the IRT Flushing Line subway tunnel (used by the 7 and <7> trains) under 41st Street, which runs about 26 feet (7.9 m) beneath the lowest basement level and 55 feet (17 m) below
12444-635: The Holly Holding Company, leased the Republic in January 1931 with plans to present burlesque shows there. Joseph Weinstock would finance the conversion of the theater into a burlesque house, and Minsky installed two runways for his performers. The theater reopened as a burlesque house on February 12, 1931, becoming the first burlesque venue on 42nd Street. The venue, known as Minsky's Burlesque, presented performances with such titles as "Panties Inferno" and "Mind Over Mattress". The theater presented two shows
12627-740: The LPC hosted public hearings on whether to designate the Victory and five other theaters as landmarks. The LPC rejected the designations in February 2016 because the theaters were already subject to historic-preservation regulations set by the state government. The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. The plan centered around four towers that were to be built at 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue, developed by Park Tower Realty and
12810-406: The New Victory has also operated LabWorks Launch, in which a LabWorks artist is selected to develop their work further and present it at the theater. Theatre (building) A theater , or playhouse , is a structure where theatrical works, performing arts , and musical concerts are presented. The theater building serves to define the performance and audience spaces. The facility usually
12993-524: The New Victory. Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression . Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from Union Square and Madison Square during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. These included the New Victory Theater, which over
13176-463: The New York City government had allowed new buildings in Times Square to be developed with an increased floor area ratio. To ensure the area would not be darkened at nightfall, the city passed zoning regulations that encouraged developers to add large, bright signs on their buildings. Opposition from the Durst Organization , along with Prudential and Park Tower's inability to secure tenants for
13359-476: The Republic Theatre name in 1910, he continued to operate it until 1914. A. H. Woods then leased the theater until 1922, when Oliver D. Bailey took over, hosting the play Abie's Irish Rose at the theater for five years. Due to a lack of theatrical productions, Billy Minsky converted the Republic into a burlesque house in 1931, and his family operated it as such until 1942. Afterward, the Republic became
13542-400: The Republic as early as April 1931, arresting managers and some of the performers for public indecency, but these actions only boosted the theaters' popularity. The Republic's operating license was temporarily revoked in September 1932, although the theater reopened the next month. The Republic temporarily stopped showing burlesque every time it was raided; the managers reinstated the shows after
13725-449: The Republic reopened, and the Republic was financially successful by mid-1931. After Minsky died in 1932, his siblings continued to operate the theater as a burlesque. Local business owners opposed burlesque, claiming that the shows encouraged loitering and decreased property values. In New York, theater licenses were subject to yearly renewal, and opponents of burlesque tried to get the theaters' licenses revoked. The police conducted raids on
13908-522: The Republic to the Universal Film Company for use as a cinema. Hammerstein, who feared that people would boycott the theater, sued Belasco, claiming that the lease only permitted Belasco to use the theater for "first-class theatrical performances". Hammerstein won his lawsuit against Belasco and Universal in March 1914, prompting Belasco to give up his lease. A. H. Woods leased the Republic Theatre at
14091-449: The Republic's plays in 1917 were Jane Cowl and Jane Murfin 's Lilac Time , John N. Raphael's Peter Ibbetson , and Lou Tellegen and Willard Mack 's Blind Youth . Woods also produced Parlor, Bedroom and Bath , which ran at the theater for 232 performances from 1917 to 1918, and A Voice in the Dark , which had 134 performances in 1919. The Republic presented a long-running transfer of
14274-579: The Republic, while the 44th Street theater became the Belasco. The renamed theater's first production was Bobby Burnit , which opened in August 1910. The New York City government announced the same year that it would widen 42nd Street, requiring that the Republic Theatre's stoop be demolished. Around that time, Hammerstein also indicated his intent to sell the theater. The Republic hosted the plays Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm in 1910, The Woman in 1911, and The Governor's Lady in 1912; all of these shows lasted for several months. In January 1914, Belasco leased
14457-452: The Selwyn, Apollo, Times Square, Lyric, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, as well as the Eltinge and Liberty theaters on the south side. The Victory Theater showed horror and exploitation films. Several producers offered to stage legitimate productions in the Brandt theaters, but none of the offers were successful. William Brandt indicated in 1946 that he might replace
14640-400: The Victory for workshops and stage readings . The theater was also used as a filming location, including for the film Manhattan Murder Mystery , a video by the band The Black Crowes , and a video for Sophie B. Hawkins 's song " Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover ". As plans for the redevelopment of 42nd Street progressed, several critics lamented the fact that the Victory and other theaters on
14823-468: The Victory in 1944 and began operating it as a "grind house", showing movies from dawn to dusk. By the mid-1940s, the ten theaters along 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues were all showing movies; this led Variety to call the block the "biggest movie center of the world". The Brandt family operated seven of these theaters, while the Cinema circuit operated the other three. The Brandt theaters included
15006-559: The Victory, to the Cine 42nd Street Corporation in 1986. From 1987 to 1989, Park Tower and Prudential hired Robert A. M. Stern to conduct a study on the Apollo, Lyric, Selwyn (later American Airlines), Times Square, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street. Stern devised three alternatives for the five theaters. Stern presented a model of his plan in October 1988. The plan called for erecting
15189-503: The Victory. The theater became the first on 42nd Street to exhibit pornographic films in 1970. The city government quickly started cracking down on adult theaters, forcing the Victory's managers to change the theater's marquee and withdraw shows under threat of arrest. Martin Levine and Richard Brandt took over the 42nd Street Company in 1972. At the time, the Victory was showing porn and "a mixed bag of other films". The other six theaters showed
15372-484: The acting. An altar was located in the middle of the orchestra; in Athens, the altar was dedicated to Dionysus , the god of wine and the theater. Behind the orchestra was a large rectangular building called the skene (meaning "tent" or "hut"). [1] It was used as a "backstage" area where actors could change their costumes and masks, but also served to represent the location of the plays, which were usually set in front of
15555-522: The actors and chorus. The Romans copied the Greek style of building, but tended not to be so concerned about the location, being prepared to build walls and terraces instead of looking for a naturally occurring site. The auditorium (literally "place for hearing" in Latin) was the area in which people gathered, and was sometimes constructed on a small hill or slope in which stacked seating could be easily made in
15738-707: The apprenticeship and education programs, the theater operates the Usher Corps, training high-school students to be ushers. In 2014, the New Victory was awarded by the President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities with the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award for the usher program. The New Victory also operates LabWorks, a program in which performers and other artists can receive rehearsal space and subsidies. Since 2021,
15921-444: The audience is often separated from the performers by the proscenium arch. In proscenium theaters and amphitheaters , the proscenium arch, like the stage, is a permanent feature of the structure. This area is known as the auditorium or the house. The seating areas can include some or all of the following: Greek theater buildings were called a theatron ('seeing place'). The theaters were large, open-air structures constructed on
16104-471: The auditorium and the stage, and he took over the theater in April 1902. He hired the firm of Bigelow, Wallis & Cotton to conduct the renovations, and he hired Rudolph Allen as the interior designer. Belasco initially planned to spend only $ 15,000 to $ 20,000, but he eventually gutted the entire interior, spending $ 150,000. The stage and auditorium were entirely reconstructed, and a basement was excavated underneath
16287-592: The auditorium was decorated in green, white, and gold. Belasco repainted the auditorium red, green, and brown in 1902. The New Victory Theater was repainted in a red-and-gold palette, with green and purple accents, during the 1995 renovation. The modern color palette resembles the color scheme introduced in Belasco's 1902 renovation, with lighter tones. The seating areas were originally so steeply raked that The New York Times said "the big-hat question", in which some patrons' large hats obstructed other guests' views, "will never be raised in that house". When Belasco replaced
16470-417: The auditorium, Three doors under the original stoop led to a box office, cab office, check room, and information bureau, and two more doors led to the orchestra-level seats. Two staircases with carved balustrades led from the lobby to the first balcony level. By the 1930s, the lobby had been removed, and the main entrance doors led directly to the theater's orchestra level. When the theater was renovated in 1995,
16653-591: The base and top. Since the core is not braced, it carries only gravity loads. The floor slabs consist of composite metal decks measuring 3 inches (76 mm) deep. The slabs consist of composite steel beams between the core and exterior, measuring 35 to 50 feet (11 to 15 m) long. The steel beams can support a live load of 50 pounds per square foot (2.4 kPa), though some framing connections can support greater loads. The building has about 1.1 million square feet (100,000 m ) of interior space. A retail space at 5 Times Square's lowest stories wraps around
16836-443: The block were no longer showing adult movies. New 42nd Street decided to convert the Victory into a space for live performances, and it erected a sidewalk shed in front of the theater in July 1993, before renovation plans were even finalized. New 42nd Street announced in October 1993 that the Victory would become a children's theater called the New Victory. HHPA was hired to renovate the theater for $ 7.9 million. Fisher/Dachs Associates
17019-588: The block. Back Stage magazine said the New Victory's restoration was "boldly leading the way to the rebirth of 42nd Street as a cultural mecca". TCI magazine said the theater's restoration proved that "Broadway's tarnished jewel boxes-even those languishing as porno houses-can be saved to support the legitimate theatre". For its restoration of the New Victory Theater, HHPA won the American Institute of Architects 's 1997 honor award for interior spaces. The theater's initial season included acts such as Theatre for
17202-425: The building's space was occupied at the time. By 2023, Miniso had opened a variety store within the building. RXR and Werner began considering converting 5 Times Square into a residential building in mid-2024. By then, the developers were no longer leasing out the building's space to commercial tenants. The building's occupancy rate had declined to 20% by that October, when Apollo obtained an ownership stake in
17385-422: The building. RXR spent $ 50 million to renovate the interiors just before the expiry of EY's lease in 2022. The work included refurbishing the lobby, replacing the exterior signs, and adding an elevator within the subway entrance, as well as adding an amenity area with a bar, gym, and restaurant. In January 2022, Roku, Inc. leased 240,000 square feet (22,000 m ) on the building's top eight floors, as well as
17568-543: The city government for $ 65 million in subsidies in May 1999. To encourage the firm to stay in New York City rather than relocate to New Jersey, the administration of mayor Rudy Giuliani agreed to give Ernst & Young $ 20 million or $ 22 million in tax abatement. The deal included a $ 10 million sales tax exemption on materials and equipment, as well as $ 2 million for training and $ 5.5 million for electricity. In August 1999, Boston Properties announced it would develop 5 Times Square,
17751-572: The consulting firm Giuliani Partners , which was to take space at 5 Times Square when the building was completed. Meanwhile, accounting firm Arthur Andersen 's lease at the neighboring Times Square Tower had been terminated in mid-2002 amid the Enron scandal . Following this, EY hired 332 former Andersen employees to join the new 5 Times Square office. The building was completed in May 2002, and EY began moving 3,300 employees to 5 Times Square. By that September, 4,000 employees had moved in, occupying all
17934-465: The corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. The lower-story retail space includes the Red Lobster restaurant, which has a pair of fish tanks with a capacity of 420 U.S. gallons (1,600 L) each. The restaurant was designed with a 79-seat bar and lounge on the ground floor and a 280-seat main dining room on the third floor. The 42nd Street side had a storefront for cosmetics retailer Sephora , which
18117-622: The dance productions were more difficult to adapt to younger audiences. The New Victory Theater renamed its lobby after its primary donor, LuEsther Mertz , in 2003. Two years later, the New Victory Theater launched the New Vic at the Duke, a series of teenagers' plays presented at the neighboring The Duke on 42nd Street . The Arts Education Network, operated by Americans for the Arts , gave the New Victory Theatre an Arts Education Award in 2008. By then,
18300-429: The early 1980s. The LPC started to consider protecting theaters, including the Victory Theatre, as landmarks in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. While the LPC granted landmark status to many Broadway theaters starting in 1987, it deferred decisions on the exterior and interior of the Victory Theatre. Further discussion of the landmark designations was delayed for several decades. In late 2015,
18483-527: The early 1990s, although it was still dilapidated. The Victory staged its first legitimate play in six decades, the En Garde Arts company's production of the play Crowbar , in early 1990; the audience sat on the stage and the performers ran around the auditorium. Later that year, the Actors' Equity Association said that the Victory could host the off-off-Broadway show Stealing Souls (Bring Your Camera) , marking
18666-742: The east and northeast, as well as the Lyric Theatre to the west and northwest. It also shares the block with the Hotel Carter building, the Todd Haimes Theatre , and the Times Square Theater to the west. Other nearby buildings include 255 West 43rd Street , the St. James Theatre , and the Hayes Theater to the northwest; 229 West 43rd Street and 1501 Broadway to the north; 5 Times Square and
18849-570: The eastern end of the theater building. The basement contains the theater's restrooms, lockers, and concessions. During the theater's restoration in 1995, part of the underlying bedrock was excavated to make way for the basement. Prior to its restoration, the Victory Theatre had never been equipped with adequate lounges, concessions, or restrooms. The original capacity of the Victory Theatre is unclear, with numbers ranging from to 936 to 1,100 given across various sources, although this has since been reduced to an off-Broadway capacity of 499 seats. Seating
19032-453: The eight theaters in February 1990. The New York state government acquired the theater sites that April via eminent domain . The city had planned to buy out the theaters' leases but withdrew after the 42nd Street Company indicated it would lease the theaters to another developer. Although Durst protested the move, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the sites could be acquired by condemnation . A nonprofit organization, New 42nd Street ,
19215-456: The end of 1997, several developers including Durst, Burton Resnick , Steven Roth , and Jerry Speyer were reportedly bidding for the Disney site at the southwest corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue. Klein had partnered with The Blackstone Group in his bid. Prudential opened bidding for the two remaining sites in March 1998, offering over $ 200 million in tax breaks for both sites. The same month, Philip Johnson and Alan Ritchie proposed
19398-423: The end of that month. Woods's first production at the theater was The High Cost of Loving , which opened that August. Cleves Kinkead's Common Clay opened at the theater in 1915, running for over 300 performances, and Clare Kummer 's play Good Gracious, Annabelle was staged at the Republic the next year. Afterward, Woods began to lease out the theater, as he could not produce all of these shows by himself. Among
19581-433: The entrance is a curved sign measuring 60 feet (18 m) long. The curtain wall is made of reflective-glass window panes. The spandrels between stories are a mixture of reflective-glass and silver horizontal panels, which are arranged so they appear to form a diagonal "slice". The slice, as well as the massing variations, are intended to depict the diagonal route that Broadway , one block east, follows in relation to
19764-493: The existing buildings. The southwest corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue was leased in July 1995 by The Walt Disney Company ; the site was occupied by a 18,000-square-foot (1,700 m ) Disney Store , which opened in late 1996. Klein ceded decision-making power for the sites to Prudential, which decided to exit the real-estate market altogether, selling off all four sites. Prudential and Klein dissolved their partnership in 1996. The same year, Douglas Durst acquired
19947-400: The first place. Inside Rome, few theatres have survived the centuries following their construction, providing little evidence about the specific theatres. Arausio , the theatre in modern-day Orange, France , is a good example of a classic Roman theatre, with an indented scaenae frons , reminiscent of Western Roman theatre designs, however missing the more ornamental structure. The Arausio
20130-574: The first time that Actors' Equity had approved an off-off-Broadway show at a Broadway-sized theater. The Theatre for a New Audience staged Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet at the theater in January 1991. That September, André Gregory relocated his rehearsals of the play Uncle Vanya to the Victory; he relocated the rehearsals to the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1992. Organizations such as the National Music Theatre Network used
20313-481: The five theaters, along with the Liberty Theatre on the south side of 42nd Street, in September 1988. The UDC opened a request for proposals for the six theaters that October. The Liberty and Victory were to be converted into performing-arts venues for nonprofit organizations, while the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square were to be converted to commercial use. By the end of the year, the plans were threatened by
20496-426: The following month to AVR Realty for $ 1.28 billion in cash, or about $ 1,125 per square foot ($ 12,110/m ). The sale, a record for the time, was part of a trend of real estate investment trusts purchasing Midtown property in the mid-2000s. That year, NBC Universal erected a screen and two billboards above the building's Champs Sports store, totaling 3,500 square feet (330 m ). Cosmetics store Sephora opened
20679-419: The impression that anything that could provide any shading has been banished. To break such monotony and make something happen is no easy thing." Another unique feature of the stage is the hashigakari , a narrow bridge at upstage right used by actors to enter the stage. Hashigakari means "suspension bridge", signifying something aerial that connects two separate worlds on a same level. The bridge symbolizes
20862-465: The interior incorporates details that were added when David Belasco took over the theater in 1902. The theater has a brick and brownstone facade with a central stoop leading to the second floor. Inside the entrance is a lobby and reception area, as well as a basement with the theater's restrooms, lockers, and concessions. The New Victory Theater's auditorium seats 499 people on three levels, although it originally accommodated over 900 guests. The auditorium
21045-537: The left and right, which, when installed, formed horizontal spandrel beams. Because of the small floor area, the structural engineers minimized the size of the mechanical core to increase the usable space. The core measures 38 by 110 feet (12 by 34 m). The structural engineers could not stabilize the superstructure with outrigger walls, connecting the core and the exterior, because of the lack of mechanical spaces on intermediate stories. The engineers determined that it would not be efficient to build outrigger walls at
21228-531: The mythic nature of Noh plays in which otherworldly ghosts and spirits frequently appear. In contrast, hanamichi in Kabuki theaters is literally a path ( michi ) that connects two spaces in a single world, thus has a completely different significance. The Japanese kabuki stage features a projection called a hanamichi (花道; literally, flower path), a walkway which extends into the audience and via which dramatic entrances and exits are made. Okuni also performed on
21411-517: The next year. The theater's other plays included The Girl of the Golden West in 1905; The Rose of the Rancho in 1906; The Warrens of Virginia in 1907; and The Devil in 1909. Although Belasco was involved in many of these productions, the extent of his involvement varied widely. George Arliss , Cecil B. DeMille , Mary Pickford , and Tyrone Power Sr. were among the other actors who appeared at
21594-642: The northwest, the New Victory Theater and 3 Times Square to the north, One Times Square and 4 Times Square to the northeast, and the Times Square Tower to the east. An entrance to the New York City Subway 's Times Square–42nd Street station , served by the 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , <7> , N , Q , R , W , and S trains,
21777-517: The office floors. Upon the building's opening, there was 200,000 square feet (19,000 m ) of vacant space, though this was not publicly advertised. The Department of Finance valued 5 Times Square in 2003 at $ 355 million, a 65 percent increase from the previous year's valuation of $ 215 million. A three-story Red Lobster restaurant opened at the base in July 2003. The base also contained the Times Square Brewery, which had been displaced from
21960-413: The open-plan workspace. The corner spaces were used as conference rooms rather than as private offices. Senior partners had slightly more luxurious offices on the 37th floor, but even the company chairman occupied a relatively small office of 350 square feet (33 m ). The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), an agency of the New York state government, had proposed redeveloping the area around
22143-400: The orchestra and first balcony level, as well as the control booths on the second balcony level, contain sound-absorbing acoustical panels. In addition, the entrance from the lobby and the auditorium's emergency exits have soundproof doors. When Belasco owned the theater, he had installed autumn-themed tapestries on the rear and side walls of the auditorium. He also placed a rosewood partition at
22326-444: The original exterior double staircase and returning the rest of the theater to the way it looked during the Belasco era. In addition, the backstage areas were expanded into two existing buildings on 43rd Street. The project's cost increased still further to $ 11.4 million by late 1995. Following the New Victory Theater's restoration, companies such as Disney and Livent quickly leased 42nd Street's other theaters. On December 11, 1995,
22509-423: The other 42nd Street theaters operated from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with three shifts of workers. The ten theaters on the block attracted about five million visitors a year between them. The 42nd Street Company was established in 1961 to operate the Brandts' seven theaters on 42nd Street. By the early 1960s, the surrounding block had decayed, but many of the old theater buildings from the block's heyday remained, including
22692-459: The other facing east. A freight elevator is accessed from a service entrance on 41st Street. The "low-rise" offices are served by eight elevators in the northern bank, while the "mid-rise" and "high-rise" office stories are served by the southern bank. Gensler originally designed EY's offices in an open plan . EY partners had offices of about 150 square feet (14 m ) on the perimeter of each story, with glass walls to allow sunlight to illuminate
22875-412: The performers and other personnel. A booth facing the stage may be incorporated into the house where lighting and sound personnel may view the show and run their respective instruments. Other rooms in the building may be used for dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms, spaces for constructing sets, props and costumes , as well as storage. All theaters provide a space for an audience. In a fixed seating theatre
23058-400: The performers standby before their entrance. These offstage spaces are called wings on either side of a proscenium stage. A prompter's box may be found backstage. In an amphitheater, an area behind the stage may be designated for such uses while a blackbox theater may have spaces outside of the actual theater designated for such uses. Often a theater will incorporate other spaces intended for
23241-409: The perimeter. The current stoop is a replica of the theater's original stoop, which led to the auditorium's second balcony level; the original lobby was below the original stoop. The original stoop was removed in 1910 before being restored in 1995. The New York City government had to approve the installation of the current stoop because it extends onto the sidewalk of 42nd Street. When Belasco renovated
23424-559: The perspective elements. The first enclosed theaters were court theaters, open only to the sovereigns and the nobility. The first opera house open to the public was the Teatro San Cassiano (1637) in Venice. The Italian opera houses were the model for the subsequent theaters throughout Europe. Richard Wagner placed great importance on "mood setting" elements, such as a darkened theater, sound effects, and seating arrangements (lowering
23607-590: The plan, the Victory Theatre would be restored as a legitimate theater. Mayor Ed Koch wavered in his support of the plan, criticizing it as a "Disneyland on 42nd Street". Subsequently, Hugh Hardy conducted a report on 42nd Street's theaters in 1980. His report, in conjunction with a movement opposing the demolition of the nearby Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters, motivated the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to survey fifty of Midtown Manhattan's extant theaters in
23790-461: The play Enter Madame in 1921, as well as the farce Getting Gertie's Garter and the comedy The Fair Circassian later the same year. Meanwhile, after Oscar Hammerstein had died in 1921, his son Arthur Hammerstein and two of Arthur's sisters sued their stepmother Emma Smith for control of the Republic Theatre and Manhattan Opera House . A judge subsequently determined that the theater had belonged to Arthur since 1910. Oliver D. Bailey leased
23973-411: The production to create a performance area suitable for the production. A theater building or structure contains spaces for an event or performance to take place, usually called the stage , and also spaces for the audience, theater staff, performers and crew before and after the event. There are usually two main entrances of a theater building. One is at the front, used by the audience, and leads into
24156-546: The proposed buildings, led government officials to allow Prudential and Park Tower to postpone the project in 1992. By then, Prudential had spent $ 300 million on condemning the sites through eminent domain . The partners retained the right to develop the sites in the future, and the ESDC's zoning guidelines remained in effect. In exchange for being permitted to delay construction of the sites until 2002, Prudential and Park Tower were compelled to add stores and install large signage on
24339-435: The rear of the auditorium. Behind this screen was originally a men's smoking room, as well as one women's lounge on each of the three levels. These rooms were outfitted with then-modern amenities such as telephones and carriage calls. There are triple-height boxes flanking the stage, above which are golden domes. Originally, there were two boxes on either side of the stage at the orchestra and first balcony levels, while there
24522-424: The rearmost rows of seating were removed from the auditorium, creating space for the present lobby. A wall was installed between the auditorium and lobby, reducing disruption caused by noise from the street. A staircase and an elevator connect the lobby to other stories. The elevator was installed in the mid-1990s. Because there was so little space within the theater, the elevator had to be built within an alleyway at
24705-468: The refurbished theater reopened as the New Victory Theater, becoming the city's first off-Broadway theater for kids and families. The theater hosted its first public show a week later, when the French-Canadian troupe Cirque Éloize performed there. At the time of the New Victory's reopening, the surrounding block of 42nd Street was being redeveloped rapidly, although there were still seven adult stores on
24888-465: The ribs. Its glazed surface is painted amber and ocher. The dome includes an LED chandelier and uplights, as well as ventilation openings. Above the auditorium is the theater's heating, ventilation, and air conditioning equipment; to minimize vibrations, the HVAC equipment is mounted on girders spanning the auditorium's ceiling. The proscenium arch in front of the stage is ocher with gold highlights, while
25071-409: The right side of the scene, is almost always part of the Greek theater complex, which could justify, as a transposition, the recurrence of the pediment with the later solidified stone scene. In front of the skene there may have been a raised acting area called the proskenion , the ancestor of the modern proscenium stage. It is believed that the actors (as opposed to the chorus) acted entirely on
25254-400: The rights to control the vertical sign on Seventh Avenue. Shortly afterward, RXR sought to refinance the building for $ 1.5 billion. In September 2022, RXR refinanced the building with a $ 1.3 billion loan from multiple firms including Morgan Stanley and Apollo Global Management . SL Green also became a partner in the renovation, changing its mezzanine loan into an equity loan. Only 31% of
25437-459: The round , amphitheater , and arena . In the classical Indian dance , Natya Shastra defines three stage types. In Australia and New Zealand a small and simple theater, particularly one contained within a larger venue, is called a theatrette . The word originated in 1920s London, for a small-scale music venue. Theatrical performances can also take place in venues adapted from other purposes, such as train carriages. For instance, in recent years
25620-489: The same rectangular plan and structure. 5 Times Square 5 Times Square is a 38-story office skyscraper at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . Located on the western sidewalk of Seventh Avenue between 41st and 42nd Street , the building measures 575 feet (175 m) tall. The building was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF) and developed by Boston Properties for Ernst & Young (EY). The site
25803-414: The seats in 1902, he installed seat coverings with bee motifs, a reference to his last initial. The modern-day seats are flanked by wrought-iron stanchions, both with bee motifs. The modern seat coverings are similar in design to those that Belasco installed. HHPA created a custom design for the current carpets in 1995; the original carpets could not be restored due to a lack of documentation. The auditorium
25986-584: The site at the northeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street, and he developed 4 Times Square there. Prudential and Park Tower decided to market the three other sites after the successful development of 4 Times Square. In March 1997, Prudential indicated its intent to sell the sites' development rights or lease the sites to developers. The northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street was taken by Reuters , which enlisted Rudin Management as its development partner and built 3 Times Square on that corner. By
26169-509: The site in part because the ESDC had offered to allow a combined 71,442 square feet (6,637.2 m ) across both sites. Real estate experts had considered the southwest-corner site, that now occupied by 5 Times Square, to be the more valuable of the two sites due to the other lot's relatively small area. Kohn Pedersen Fox was selected as the architect for the southwestern-corner site in May 1998. Boston Properties did not immediately take possession of either site but, in January 1999, agreed to buy
26352-454: The site of Times Square Tower, as well as a Champs Sports store. A freight elevator in the building crashed in 2004, killing one person. Boston Properties attempted to sell 5 Times Square in early 2006 to Istithmar World . However, Istithmar declined to buy the building because of tax concerns, specifically the fact that EY would be the auditor for the sale. After putting the building back for sale in October 2006, Boston Properties sold it
26535-413: The sites within the following two years for $ 312.25 million. Disney and HBO were both reportedly considering offices on either site, but HBO reneged in early 1999. Disney planned to reopen its store at the base of 5 Times Square when the new building was completed. Ernst & Young expressed interest in moving from 787 Seventh Avenue to Boston Properties' southwest-corner lot, but the firm asked
26718-483: The slopes of hills. The most famous open-air greek theater was the Globe Theater where many of Shakespeare's plays were performed. They consisted of three principal elements: the orchestra , the skene , and the audience. The centerpiece of the theater was the orchestra , or "dancing place", a large circular or rectangular area. The orchestra was the site of the choral performances, the religious rites, and, possibly,
26901-466: The south side of the street. The original Lyric and Apollo theaters (combined into the current Lyric Theatre), as well as the Times Square, Victory, Selwyn (now Todd Haimes), and Victoria theaters, occupied the north side. These venues were mostly converted to movie theaters by the 1930s, and many of them had been relegated to showing pornography by the 1970s. The New Victory Theater was designed by architect Albert Westover; its current design dates to
27084-403: The stage curtain is rose-colored. As built, the proscenium arch measured 35 ft (11 m) across and was ornately decorated. The top of the arch was decorated with a golden lyre, flanked by figures representing harmony and melody. When the theater opened, the proscenium arch was topped by a balcony for musicians, since there was no orchestra pit at the orchestra level of seating. The balcony
27267-399: The stage to accommodate trap doors and the stage elevator. Belasco also built apartments for himself and for Mrs. Carter above the auditorium. As workers were excavating an area under the stage, they hit a spring by mistake, flooding the site. Belasco's assistant, Louis Hartmann, convinced him to add a laboratory directly above the dome to test out lighting and stage effects. Belasco renamed
27450-515: The street level. The eastern lot line abuts the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line ( 1 , 2 , and 3 trains), which is about 28 feet (8.5 m) under Seventh Avenue. The basement of the New Amsterdam Theatre protrudes under the southern half of the lot and is 20 feet (6.1 m) deep. The groundwater was drained using sump pumps and most of the building was constructed on shallow foundations. Because
27633-459: The sudden, dramatic revelation or transformation. A number of stage tricks, including actors' rapid appearance and disappearance, employ these innovations. The term keren (外連), often translated playing to the gallery , is sometimes used as a catch-all for these tricks. Hanamichi and several innovations including revolving stage, seri and chunori have all contributed to kabuki play. Hanamichi creates depth and both seri and chunori provide
27816-466: The theater after himself, and it reopened on September 29, 1902, with the play Du Barry featuring Mrs. Carter. One of the renovated theater's early successes was Belasco's play The Darling of the Gods , which opened in December 1902 and lasted for 182 performances. Belasco's play Sweet Kitty Bellairs opened at the theater in December 1903, running for more than 300 performances, followed by The Music Master
27999-475: The theater had lost millions of dollars after the marquee stopped advertising burlesque. Moss again refused to renew the Republic's operating license in early 1942, marking the permanent end of burlesque at the Republic. By May 1942, the Republic had become a newsreel theater . Shortly afterward, it was renamed the Victory Theatre, in honor of American soldiers fighting in World War II. The Brandt family acquired
28182-449: The theater in 1902, he installed a wrought iron and glass canopy in front of the entrance, which was also eliminated in 1910. Prior to the New Victory's restoration, there had been an Art Deco -style marquee in front of the entrance, dating from 1932. This was removed in 1995, along with a piece of the neighboring Lyric Theatre 's marquee. Above the cornice of the theater building are capital letters spelling out "New Victory". Although
28365-414: The theater in July 1922, with plans to present Theatre Guild productions there, and he relocated the play Abie's Irish Rose to the Republic from the nearby Fulton Theatre . Abie's Irish Rose ultimately ran for 2,327 performances through October 1927, becoming the longest-running Broadway show at the time, a record that it held for six years. After Abie's Irish Rose closed, several producers leased
28548-468: The theater in the hope that 42nd Street's reputation would improve. William Brandt said in 1953 that any of his 42nd Street theaters could be converted to a legitimate house within 24 hours' notice, but producers did not take up his offer. By the late 1950s, the Victory was operating as a grindhouse , displaying exploitation and horror films. Tickets cost 25 to 65 cents apiece, the cheapest admission scale for any theater on 42nd Street. The Times Square and
28731-587: The theater in the hope that they would also be able to present a long-running play. Bailey also produced several Theatre Guild shows, such as a rendition of the play Porgy that had transferred from the Guild Theatre . One of the Republic's more successful shows in the late 1920s was My Girl Friday , with 253 performances in 1929. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1930, many Broadway theaters were impacted by declining attendance. The theater's last play
28914-468: The theater was originally topped by a colonnade with arches, it was not rebuilt in the 1995 restoration. The modern-day "New Victory" sign occupies the site of the former colonnade. The roof of the theater contained the Paradise Roof Garden, an extension of a garden atop the neighboring Victoria Theatre . It operated until about 1914 or 1915. The garden originally consisted of a "Swiss farm", which
29097-617: The theater's 1901–1902 season, the venue was rented out to producers, who presented such shows as Under Southern Skies , The Happy Hypocrite , and Mistress Nell . Theatrical operator David Belasco agreed in January 1902 to lease the Republic from Hammerstein, after the latter had visited Belasco's Carnegie Hall office to lament that "the Theatrical Syndicate is trying to crush me out of business". Belasco planned to present productions starring silent-film actress Mrs. Leslie Carter . Belasco filed plans for major renovations to both
29280-545: The theater's programming director Mary Rose Lloyd was also planning to host shows for infants and toddlers. The New Victory established a new work development program called LabWorks in 2012, and the theater received a special Drama Desk Award the same year. The theater also started providing free dance performances for local students in 2014 as part of the Victory Dance program. The theater's lower lobbies were renovated in 2017. The New Victory closed temporarily in 2020 due to
29463-446: The theaters on the block were "viable", as well as to fill a gap in the theatre industry. Officials attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the renovation on May 17, 1994. The cost of the project had increased to $ 9.2 million at the time of the groundbreaking. HHPA chose to restore the early-20th-century design so it could be easily converted to present shows for adults if the children's theater failed. The restoration included rebuilding
29646-506: The theaters on the north side of 42nd Street with a skyscraper. By then, there was a shortage of new films in the theaters along 42nd Street, which led to decreased attendance. Later the same year, the Brandt family received a mortgage loan for the Victory Theatre. They also bought the theater building from the Geisha Realty Company for $ 402,000; previously, the Brandts had leased the theater from Geisha. The Brandts continued to operate
29829-447: The time, the $ 1 billion loan that had been used to finance Werner's purchase of the building was expected to come due in March 2017. EY was also looking to vacate up to 170,000 square feet (16,000 m ) at 5 Times Square, though it had five years remaining on its lease. At the expiry of the original loan, RXR and Werner secured a $ 1.4 billion refinancing with Morgan Stanley . This included restructuring an existing $ 782 million loan and
30012-488: The tradition of the Greek Theatres. The central part of the auditorium was hollowed out of a hill or slope, while the outer radian seats required structural support and solid retaining walls. This was of course not always the case as Romans tended to build their theatres regardless of the availability of hillsides. All theatres built within the city of Rome were completely man-made without the use of earthworks. The auditorium
30195-555: The tunnel invert. The New York City Department of Buildings granted the builders a waiver to use higher-strength material for the caissons. The southern lot line also has thirty rock anchors to resist wind uplift; each anchor has a working load of 890 kilonewtons (200,000 lb f ). The rest of the foundation is composed of concrete spread footings . The footing subgrade has a bearing capacity of 575 megapascals (83,400 psi). The building's steel weighs 26 pounds per square foot (1.2 kPa) on average. The building contains
30378-459: The west and east elevations, the columns at the extreme north and south ends are spaced 10 feet apart, while those at the center are spaced 30 feet (9.1 m) apart. This creates two C-shaped clusters of columns on the north and south ends of the building, which thus act as two channels and not as a single tube . The columns at the north and south ends were manufactured as two-story segments. Each column has 5-foot-long (1.5 m) beams extending to
30561-442: The whole is topped by a roof, even when the Noh stage is erected indoors. A ceramic jar system under the stage amplifies the sounds of dancing during the performance. There is a small door to permit entry of the musicians and vocalists. The independent roof is one of the most recognizable characteristic of the Noh stage. Supported by four columns, the roof symbolizes the sanctity of the stage, with its architectural design derived from
30744-447: The worship pavilion ( haiden ) or sacred dance pavilion ( kaguraden ) of Shinto shrines. The roof also unifies the theater space and defines the stage as an architectural entity. The pillars supporting the roof are named shitebashira (principal character's pillar), metsukebashira (gazing pillar), wakibashira (secondary character's pillar), and fuebashira (flute pillar), clockwise from upstage right respectively. Each pillar
30927-521: The years has been known as Theatre Republic, Belasco Theatre, and Victory Theatre. George M. Jansen filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for a music hall and cafe at 207–211 West 42nd Street, to be designed by John E. Kerby, in June 1899. It would have been three stories tall with a raised basement and would have cost $ 200,000. Had the theater been built, it would have contained
31110-614: Was Pressing Business , which premiered in November 1930 for a month-long run. Bailey gave up his lease on the theater in December 1930, and Arthur Hammerstein announced plans to present talking films at the Republic. By then, the Depression had made it extremely difficult for theater owners to continue presenting legitimate shows. The Republic Amusement Corporation operated the theater for one month, presenting short films continuously and selling tickets for 25 cents. Billy Minsky , treasurer of
31293-415: Was a narrow and tall space with an upscale boutique area on one wall. The building is alternately cited as having 20 or 21 elevators. Floor plans indicate that, at the ground floor lobby on Seventh Avenue, the elevators are grouped into two banks: a northern bank with ten elevators and a southern bank with eight elevators. The two banks of elevators are separated by two sets of stairs, one facing west and
31476-529: Was demolished to make way for a loading dock. The other building was preserved and converted into a dressing room wing. The rear wing includes 40 dressing rooms, as well as a wardrobe room, green room , security office, and offices for visiting theatre companies. During the development of the adjacent 3 Times Square in 1998, the Rudin family acquired the loading dock and demolished it. The Rudins constructed loading docks within 3 Times Square, reserving one loading dock for
31659-446: Was formed in September 1990 to restore six of the theaters and find uses for them. Government officials hoped that development of the theaters would finally allow the construction of the four towers around 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue. In 1992, New 42nd Street received $ 18.2 million for restoring the six theaters as part of an agreement with Prudential and Park Tower. The Victory began offering plays by non-profit companies in
31842-437: Was hired as the theater designer, Fisher Maranz Renfro Stone was the lighting consultant, and Jaffe Holden Scarborough Associates was the acoustic engineer. The Victory was the first theater restored by New 42nd Street; this was a deliberate choice, as the Victory had been the earliest of 42nd Street's theaters to become an adult movie theater. By converting the Victory into a children's theater, New 42nd Street wished to prove that
32025-417: Was inspired by Venetian architecture. When the theater was completed in 1900, the main facade measured 70 ft (21 m) tall and 100 ft (30 m) wide. The New-York Tribune described it as being made of "iron, brownstone, and Powhatan brick". At the front of the theater, a brownstone stoop with two staircases rises from ground level to the second story. Ten wrought-iron street lights decorate
32208-455: Was larger, at 100 feet (30 metres). Other evidence for the round shape is a line in Shakespeare's Henry V which calls the building "this wooden O ", and several rough woodcut illustrations of the city of London. Around this time, the green room , a place for actors to wait until required on stage, became common terminology in English theaters. The Globe has now been rebuilt as
32391-520: Was not roofed; rather, awnings ( vela ) could be pulled overhead to provide shelter from rain or sunlight. Some Roman theatres, constructed of wood, were torn down after the festival for which they were erected concluded. This practice was due to a moratorium on permanent theatre structures that lasted until 55 BC when the Theatre of Pompey was built with the addition of a temple to avoid the law. Some Roman theatres show signs of never having been completed in
32574-434: Was occupied by a 12-story hotel that opened in the late 1890s, while the New Amsterdam Theatre was built on the adjacent lot around the same time. 5 Times Square was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates (KPF). It was developed by Boston Properties as the New York City offices of Ernst & Young (EY). Quartararo & Associates was the construction manager. AMEC was the main contractor, Thornton Tomasetti
32757-418: Was one box on either side at the second balcony level. The boxes are topped by lighting fixtures, similar to those that had been installed when Belasco owned the theater. On the ceiling is a large dome that features lyre -playing putti perched on its rim; these putti were removed in 1902 before being restored in 1995. The dome is divided by ribs, with a central motif of a lyre and cherubs at the intersection of
32940-463: Was removed in 1902. During that renovation, an orchestra pit was placed in front of the stage, with platforms at different heights. It was expanded and deepened during the 1995 renovation. The sprung floor stage measures 31 by 65 ft (9.4 by 19.8 m). For most of the 20th century, the stage lacked sufficient wing space and was relatively small, measuring only 33 by 32 ft (10.1 by 9.8 m). In 1902, Belasco added three dressing rooms and
33123-468: Was replaced with a "Dutch farm" in 1905. According to The New York Times , the "Dutch farm" was a replica of a Dutch village "complete with water mill, a rooftop space where patrons dined and danced". The theater initially had a small reception area, described by the New-York Tribune as "tomblike", which was replaced with a lobby in 1902. The original lobby had oak panelling and wrought-iron doors to
33306-565: Was the structural engineer, and Jaros, Baum & Bolles was the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineer. Additionally, Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers was the geotechnical engineer and Vollmer Associates was the site civil engineer. Officially, the New York City Economic Development Corporation owns the structure. 5 Times Square has 38 stories above ground and two basements. It measures 575 feet (175 m) to its architectural tip. There are also two basement stories measuring up to 30 feet (9.1 m) deep. The building
33489-544: Was the third theater built on this block of West 42nd Street, as well as the seventh theater developed by Hammerstein. The New-York Tribune called the Republic a "small but prettily arranged house". The theater hosted three additional plays during its inaugural season, including In the Palace of the King , which featured Viola Allen for four months. The theater was relatively small, so it could only accommodate dramas and comedies. During
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