128-588: The James Earl Jones Theatre , originally the Cort Theatre , is a Broadway theater at 138 West 48th Street , between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue , in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City , United States. It was built in 1912 and designed by architect Thomas W. Lamb for impresario John Cort . An annex to the west of the theater, built between 2021 and 2022,
256-411: A Wurlitzer organ that a single musician could operate. The organ was an Opus 20 model with three manuals and thirteen ranks. The proscenium arch measures 29 feet 0 inches (8.84 m) high and 37 feet 5 inches (11.40 m) wide. It consists of latticed plasterwork with art glass beneath it. The art glass was capable of illumination, but the illumination was then turned off until
384-462: A colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature , often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curved. The space enclosed may be covered or open. In St. Peter's Square in Rome, Bernini's great colonnade encloses a vast open elliptical space. When in front of a building, screening
512-578: A coved ceiling . The auditorium contains a ground-level orchestra and two overhanging balconies with boxes . The auditorium's proscenium arch is designed with "art glass" that can illuminate during performances, and its ceiling is coved. The western annex contains lounges, restrooms, and backstage areas . John Cort received the rights to operate the theater in January 1912, and the Cort Theatre opened on December 20, 1912. Despite being regarded by
640-638: A frontage of 120 feet (37 m) on 48th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (31 m). Nearby buildings include 1221 Avenue of the Americas to the northeast, 1211 Avenue of the Americas to the east, the Church of St. Mary the Virgin to the south, the Palace Theatre and TSX Broadway to the southwest, and 20 Times Square to the west. The James Earl Jones Theatre, designed by Thomas W. Lamb in
768-511: A minuet that, according to the New-York Tribune , had been made "during the period made famous in [Antoine] Watteau's drawings of French court life at Versailles". The depth of the auditorium to the proscenium is 28 feet 10 inches (8.79 m), while the depth to the front of the stage is 33 feet 5 inches (10.19 m). The ceiling is divided into three rectangular sections, which are recessed coves. The ribs of
896-457: A 49-story hotel adjoining the theater; the air rights sale was valued at $ 50 million. The Cort additionally showed two productions in 2017: Indecent and M. Butterfly . Mike Birbiglia performed his one-man comedy The New One in 2018, and the productions of King Lear and Derren Brown 's one-man show Secret were housed at the Cort in 2019. The theater closed on March 12, 2020 , due to
1024-472: 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
1152-619: A Black theatrical personality. Accordingly, in March 2022, the Shuberts announced that the Cort would be renamed after actor James Earl Jones and would be rededicated upon its reopening in mid-2022. The Jones was the second Broadway theater to be named after a Black theatrical personality. In August 2022, it was announced that the Jones would reopen that November with previews of the play Ohio State Murders . The James Earl Jones Theatre's marquee
1280-839: 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
1408-449: 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,
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#17327756888141536-663: 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
1664-434: 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
1792-540: 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
1920-565: 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
2048-906: 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
2176-428: A figure of 1,049. These are divided into 502 seats in the orchestra, 264 on the first balcony, and 263 on the second balcony, as well as 24 box seats and 19 standing-only spots. The Cort was originally a 999-seat venue when it opened in 1912. The rear (north) end of the orchestra contains a promenade, which has doorways with eared architraves on the rear wall, as well as plain doorways on the side walls. The orchestra has
2304-532: 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
2432-510: A major accomplishment for the time, when 100 performances constituted a hit. In 1913, Cort gave Oliver Morosco the exclusive rights to show plays at his namesake theater for five years. After Peg o' My Heart ended, the Mutual Film Corporation temporarily used the Cort as a cinema in mid-1914. The venue then hosted two hit productions: Under Cover , which opened in 1914, and The Princess Pat , which opened in 1915. Due to
2560-526: 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
2688-539: 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
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#17327756888142816-1152: 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
2944-422: A raked floor and wainscoted walls, with paneling above the wainscoting. Staircases with iron railings lead from the orchestra to the balconies. The orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible via the main doors, but the balcony levels could only be accessed by steps prior to the annex's construction. The rears of the balconies have promenades with standing rails. The balcony levels have doorways with eared architraves on
3072-500: 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
3200-679: A relatively unsuccessful adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ; this was followed in 1965 by The Zulu and the Zayda . CBS leased the theater as a television studio for The Merv Griffin Show , which started broadcasting from there in August 1969. The network spent $ 1 million on renovating the theater to convert it to a television studio. By late 1970, Merv Griffin had moved his show to California. Griffin said he had been "ashamed" of leaving
3328-431: 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
3456-481: 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
3584-535: A theater there. That March, Cort announced that he would erect two theaters in New York City: the Cort Theatre on 48th Street and the Illington Theatre on 46th Street. The design of the Cort was so important that the specifications for the theater's design were encoded in the lease agreement. Namely, the design features could not be "inferior" to those in the now-demolished Playhouse Theatre across
3712-580: 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
3840-399: Is a niche on the east wall, which contains a pedestal with a bust of Marie Antoinette . The west wall has box-office windows with marble frames. The box office's metalwork originally was made of bronze with gold and enamel reliefs. The lobby has a coved ceiling with raised-plaster motifs and a central medallion with a chandelier made of bronze and crystal. There is no accessible restroom in
3968-490: Is a rectangular space accessed from 48th Street. The lobby is laid in white Pavanozza marble with plasterwork panels. Tiffany Studios was credited with the design of the lobby. The walls of the lobby contain a dado of Pavanozza marble, which surrounds the entire room. The north doors lead to the street, while three doors on the south wall connect to the auditorium. The south doors are surrounded by plaster frames, above which are entablatures and pediments with cartouches. There
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4096-599: Is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters , each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway , in Midtown Manhattan , New York City . Broadway and London 's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world . While the Broadway thoroughfare
4224-427: Is about 30 feet above the roof of the original theater. Unlike the original facade, it has a modern design with cream-colored terracotta facade panels interspersed with polished brownstone pieces. There are glass display boxes at ground level, as well as a glazed window at the eastern corner of the annex's upper stories. There is also an LED sign on the exterior of the annex's upper stories. The Jones's interior design
4352-475: 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
4480-501: Is credited to Arthur Brunet , according to a promotional booklet from the theater's opening. While the interior was not similar to that of the Petit Trianon, the design features are from the same era, the 17th century. The interior color scheme was described in the booklet as having "a blending of old rose and gold" and plaster decoration "in complimentary [ sic ] colors of champagne and sienna". The entrance lobby
4608-562: 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,
4736-571: 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
4864-610: 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
4992-515: The COVID-19 pandemic and was renovated during that time. In 2022, the theater was renamed after actor James Earl Jones , becoming the second Broadway venue named after a Black theatrical personality. The James Earl Jones Theatre is a Broadway theater on 138 West 48th Street, on the south sidewalk between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue (near Times Square ), in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . The rectangular land lot covers 12,010 square feet (1,116 m), with
5120-586: The COVID-19 pandemic . During the shutdown, in March 2021, the Shuberts announced that the Cort would be refurbished and the annex would be built. JRM Construction was hired as the general contractor for the project. The Minutes , which had only played previews at the Cort before the shutdown, relocated as a result of the renovation. During the COVID-19 shutdown, the Shuberts, Nederlanders, and Jujamcyn had pledged to increase racial and cultural diversity in their theaters, including naming at least one theater for
5248-745: 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, including the Cort Theatre. John Cort was a theatrical operator who had become highly successful on the West Coast of the United States , with 150 theaters at his peak, and came to New York City in 1905. Cort had, in 1910, become president of
James Earl Jones Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue
5376-580: 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;
5504-639: The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. , (in style a peripteral classical temple) can be termed a colonnade. As well as the traditional use in buildings and monuments, colonnades are used in sports stadiums such as the Harvard Stadium in Boston , where the entire horseshoe-shaped stadium is topped by a colonnade. The longest colonnade in the United States, with 36 Corinthian columns ,
5632-591: The National Theatre Owners' Association , a group of circuits that tried to break away from the New York-based syndicates like the Klaw and Erlanger circuit. It was in this capacity that Cort decided to build new theaters in New York City. Edward B. Corey acquired the lots on 138–146 West 48th Street and leased them to Cort for 21 years starting in January 1912. Thomas Lamb was hired to design
5760-503: 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
5888-476: 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
6016-449: The neoclassical style for impresario John Cort , was constructed in 1912. The venue is one of Lamb's few remaining theater buildings. Although Edward B. Corey was frequently credited as the architect, Lamb was the architect of record . and William Crawford was the general contractor for the project. An annex directly to the west was designed by Kostow Greenwood Architects and is being built between 2021 and 2022. The main elevation of
6144-409: 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
6272-536: 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,
6400-619: 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
6528-570: 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
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#17327756888146656-574: 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
6784-514: The Cort during 1916. The following year, the venue hosted Mother Carey's Chickens and Flo-Flo , the latter of which had 220 performances. The Cort then hosted several of Shakespeare's plays in early 1918. The theater's final hit of the 1910s was Abraham Lincoln , which opened in 1919. The Cort continued to host hits through the following decade. These included Jim Jam Jems (1920), with Joe E. Brown ; Captain Applejack (1921); Merton of
6912-858: The Cort during most of the next three years: Boy Meets Girl (1935) and Room Service (1937), both of which had hundreds of performances. Several major productions followed, including The White Steed (1939), The Male Animal (1940), Charley's Aunt (1940), Cafe Crown (1942), The Eve of St. Mark (1942), and A Bell for Adano (1944). During 1946, the Theatre Guild 's Shakespearean Repertory Company appeared in The Winter's Tale ; Katharine Cornell produced and starred in Antigone and Candida ; and Estelle Winwood and Cornelia Otis Skinner starred in Lady Windermere's Fan . This
7040-497: The Cort was to the east. Nonetheless, the theater was described in a contemporary media source as "one of the most exquisitely beautiful playhouses in Manhattan". Theatre magazine wrote of the Cort's "sweeping, commanding lines, comfortable seats and admirable acoustic properties. If any exception is to be taken, it is that pink is too delicate a shade for such an expanse of decoration." Peg o' My Heart had over 600 performances,
7168-518: The Cort's short performances, said: "The Cort's luck seems to have run out." The 1980s ended with the South African play Sarafina! , which played for over a year. During the 1980s, the Shuberts renovated the Cort as part of a restoration program for their Broadway theaters. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had started considering protecting the Cort as an official city landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over
7296-572: The Cort, on the merit that the designations severely limited the extent to which the theaters could be modified. The lawsuit was escalated to the New York Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States , but these designations were ultimately upheld in 1992. The Cort hosted the hit The Grapes of Wrath in 1990, as well as Lincoln Center Theater 's short-lived production of Two Shakespearean Actors in 1992. This
7424-424: The Cort, since CBS had renovated it exclusively for his show, but the ratings for The Merv Griffin Show had increased following its relocation to California. Meanwhile, CBS continued to lease the theater at a high price. Two years into CBS's lease, the construction of the neighboring 1211 Avenue of the Americas caused structural damage to the theater's interior, and two girders were placed on the eastern wall. Because
7552-456: 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
7680-506: The Jones's facade faces north on 48th Street and is made of marble, with a layer of stone underlying it. The original two-story theater facade is split into a central pavilion with a colonnade of three bays ; the central colonnade is flanked by one additional bay to either side. The facade was modeled on the Petit Trianon , an 18th-century neoclassical chateau at Versailles . A contemporary New-York Tribune article characterized
7808-551: The Kings (1999). In 2000, the Cort hosted a short production of The Green Bird . It then hosted Hollywood Arms in 2002, A Year with Frog and Toad in 2003, and Laugh Whore in 2004. As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2003, the Shuberts agreed to improve disabled access at their 16 landmarked Broadway theaters, including the Cort. The theater's other productions in
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#17327756888147936-457: 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
8064-508: The Movies (1922); and The Swan (1923), with Basil Rathbone and Eva Le Gallienne . Other events of the early 1920s included a seance performed by John Armstrong Chaloner in 1921, as well as benefit performances such as Mu Lan (1921) and Book of Job (1922). The theater had a series of short-lived productions in 1924. More successful was the play The Second Mrs. Tanqueray (1924), with Ethel Barrymore and Henry Daniell , and
8192-604: 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
8320-535: 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
8448-492: 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
8576-435: 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
8704-476: 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
8832-550: 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
8960-502: The box office record for the theater, grossing $ 1,175,626 over eight performances for the week ending July 11, 2010. The Cort hosted Breakfast at Tiffany's in 2013, and No Man's Land and Waiting for Godot played in repertory the same year. Subsequently, The Cripple of Inishmaan and This is Our Youth played at the Cort in 2014, while Fish in the Dark and Sylvia played in 2015. The Shuberts acquired an adjacent garage to
9088-549: The case of the western porch of St Paul's Cathedral and the east front of the Louvre . Colonnades (formerly as colonade) have been built since ancient times and interpretations of the classical model have continued through to modern times, and Neoclassical styles remained popular for centuries. At the British Museum , for example, porticos are continued along the front as a colonnade. The porch of columns that surrounds
9216-536: The ceiling, which separate the coves, are decorated with swags and wreaths. The center section contains a circular dome, which has a frieze extending outward, as well as an overhanging bronze and crystal chandelier at the center. Three additional panels, similar in design, hang over the second balcony. The Jones's annex contains a superstructure of concrete and covers 20,000 square feet (1,900 m). The annex has accessible bathrooms, concession areas, lounge, dressing rooms, and rehearsal space. A grand staircase connects
9344-743: The comedy White Collars (1925). These were followed by another set of productions with short runs. A dispute arose in October 1925 when three producers sued each other, alleging that Cort had granted each of them the right to use the theater during the same time period. Judge Thomas D. Thacher , of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York , issued two injunctions: one granting production rights to Jane, Our Stranger , and another that canceled that production after four performances. Other hits of
9472-422: 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
9600-493: The decade included On Golden Pond (2005), Barefoot in the Park and The Little Dog Laughed (2006), Radio Golf and The Homecoming (2007), The 39 Steps (2008), and You're Welcome America : A Final Night with George W. Bush (2009). Early in the 2010s, the theater hosted Fences and Time Stands Still in 2010; Born Yesterday and Stick Fly in 2011; and The Lyons and Grace in 2012. Fences set
9728-460: The door (Latin porta ), it is called a portico . When enclosing an open court, a peristyle . A portico may be more than one rank of columns deep, as at the Pantheon in Rome or the stoae of Ancient Greece . When the intercolumniation is alternately wide and narrow, a colonnade may be termed "araeosystyle" (Gr. αραιος, "widely spaced", and συστυλος, "with columns set close together"), as in
9856-406: The doors. The doorways contain eared architraves and are topped by cornices . Above the cornices are round-arched panels, with keystones flanked by laurel leaves. The outer bays contain carved panels, rather than windows, on the upper story. The northwest and northeast corners of the theater's facade are curved. Each end of the north elevation contains a Corinthian pilaster, and the northern ends of
9984-488: The early 1960s, including The Hostage and Advise and Consent in 1960, as well as Purlie Victorious and Sunday in New York in 1961 . For the rest of the decade, the Cort had many productions, few of which were hits. In May 1962, the Royal Dramatic Theatre of Sweden had a brief engagement with The Father, Long Day's Journey into Night , and Miss Julie in repertory . The next year saw
10112-679: 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,
10240-407: The entablature is a parapet with modillions and a blind balustrade. The western annex, measuring 35 feet (11 m) wide, was built between 2021 and 2022. The annex is about 74 feet (23 m) tall, with five stories; the elevator shaft in the annex rises to 80 feet (24 m). A recessed brown-granite bay at the end of the alley connects the annex and original theater. The annex's elevator shaft
10368-441: 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. Colonnade In classical architecture ,
10496-456: 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,
10624-467: 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
10752-399: The front railings. Under each box is a molding and a medallion holding a chandelier. Above each pair of second-balcony boxes, there is an eared architrave, as well as a latticework panel that depicts female figures flanking swags and a cartouche. Originally, the auditorium had twelve boxes (four on each level), but the boxes at orchestra level were removed. Instead of an orchestra pit, there was
10880-472: The interior was no longer suitable for television productions, CBS decided to let the lease lapse. The CBS lease from 1969 to 1972 was the only period in which the Cort was used as a television studio rather than as a theater. The theater hosted the short-lived All the Girls Came Out to Play in 1972 and Jockey Club Stakes in 1973. The Magic Show opened in 1974 and played 1,920 performances over
11008-510: The large number of early hits at the Cort, it was quickly perceived among the theatrical community as a "lucky" venue. The theater presented John Cort's productions, as well as those of other producers such as Morosco, the Shubert family , the Selwyn family, and Arthur Hammerstein , in its early years. Molly O ' and Upstairs and Down , as well as the hit The Yellow Jacket , performed at
11136-421: The lounges on three stories of the annex, with views of 48th Street. An elevator is being placed in the annex to allow wheelchair access into the auditorium's balconies. The annex is connected to the existing theater via new door openings. With the construction of the annex, the stage-left wing was also expanded into the annex. Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and
11264-533: The main facade elevation as being designed in the Louis XVI style . The central pavilion contains four fluted engaged columns with Corinthian -style capitals . At ground level, each of the three center bays contains a set of double doors made of glass and aluminum, above which is a marquee . The original marquee had three Art Nouveau arches, but it was replaced in the 20th century with a boxy structure with signs on either side. A new marquee, similar in design to
11392-416: The mid-1920s included The Jazz Singer , which was transferred to the Cort in late 1925, as well as The Little Spitfire , which opened in 1926. The 1926 play Beyond Evil , which discussed interracial marriage, nearly prompted a riot when it was performed at the Cort. In May 1927, the Shubert Organization purchased the theater from Edward B. Corey, subject to a mortgage of $ 210,000. The Shuberts took over
11520-557: 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
11648-555: The next five years. The last production of that decade was King Richard III , which opened in 1979 and ran only 33 performances. In 1980, the Cort hosted the flop Clothes for a Summer Hotel , as well as the more successful Home the same year, with over 200 performances. The Cort then hosted Rose in 1981; Medea and Twice Around the Park in 1982; and A Moon for the Misbegotten and Ma Rainey's Black Bottom in 1984. Theatrical historian Ken Bloom , observing several of
11776-552: The next several years. The 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. The Shuberts, the Nederlanders , and Jujamcyn collectively sued the LPC in June 1988 to overturn the landmark designations of 22 theaters, including
11904-420: 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
12032-557: 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
12160-461: The operation from Cort, who retired afterward. Joseph Leblang and his representatives then operated the venue from August 1928 to December 1932. The 1928 drama These Days , which had eight performances at the Cort, was Katharine Hepburn 's first Broadway appearance . Subsequently, the theater hosted A Most Immoral Lady in 1928 with Alice Brady , as well as Your Uncle Dudley in 1929 with Walter Connolly . The Cort hosted Jed Harris 's revival of
12288-400: The original lobby. The auditorium has an orchestra level, two balconies, boxes , and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium is square in layout and is designed with plaster decorations in high relief . The Jones's operator The Shubert Organization cites the auditorium as having 1,092 seats; meanwhile, The Broadway League cites a figure of 1,084 seats and Playbill gives
12416-448: The original, was installed in 2021; it contains three arches framed by metal shield decorations, as well as four spherical lamps hanging from the marquee. Above the marquee are arches topped by bracket -shaped keystones . A transom bar runs horizontally above the keystones, above which are slightly recessed pairs of windows, flanked by bellflowers. The outer bays contain aluminum double doors, with display boxes on either side of and above
12544-556: 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
12672-447: The play Uncle Vanya in 1930, along with the hit production Five Star Final the same year. In addition to theatrical performances, the Cort hosted events like an opera in 1927 and a folk-song recital in 1930. Richard Aldrich and Alfred De Liagre made their production debut in 1933 with Three-Cornered Moon. Two hits followed: The Green Bay Tree in 1933 and The Bishop Misbehaves in 1935. Two plays by George Abbott took up
12800-468: 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
12928-423: 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
13056-645: 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
13184-531: 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
13312-473: 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
13440-505: The side walls. The second balcony's walls are topped by friezes with swags and cameo panels. The balconies have floral moldings on the fronts of their undersides, with crystal light fixtures underneath. Air conditioning grilles are placed below the balconies. On either side of the stage is a wall section with two boxes each at the first and second balcony level. Each wall section is flanked by Adam-style panels. The boxes themselves are curved and contain latticework and cameo decorations on
13568-470: 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
13696-418: The street. By that June, the production Peg o' My Heart featuring Laurette Taylor had been scheduled for the Cort. The opening of the theater was originally scheduled for November 1912. The Cort opened on December 20, 1912, with Peg o' My Heart . Theatrical critics of the time considered the Cort to be physically on the "wrong side" of Broadway ; whereas most contemporary theaters were west of that street,
13824-434: 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
13952-573: The theater that April; it was followed by a limited run of Gutenberg! The Musical! in October 2023 and the original run of the musical The Heart of Rock and Roll in April 2024. The play Left on Tenth open at the Jones in October 2024. Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. This list only includes Broadway shows; it does not include films screened at the theater, nor does it include shows that were taped there. Broadway theater Broadway theatre , or Broadway ,
14080-400: The theater was renovated in 2021. The sides of the arch have swags and medallions. Above the center of the arch, and within the spandrels , there are depictions of putti and muses entangled in vines. There is a cornice with modillions and dentils above the arch. The sounding board curves onto the ceiling above the proscenium arch and is divided into three sections. The sounding board depicts
14208-534: 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
14336-423: The theatrical community as being on the "wrong side" of Broadway , the Cort hosted numerous hit productions during its early years. The Shubert Organization purchased the theater in 1927, two years before Cort's death. Though the theater was used as a television studio for The Merv Griffin Show from 1969 to 1972, it has mostly remained in theatrical use through the years. The Cort closed temporarily in 2020 during
14464-481: 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
14592-461: 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
14720-568: 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 ,
14848-568: 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
14976-692: 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
15104-450: The west and demolished it in 2016. The Cort then hosted the production of Bright Star that year. In 2017, the Shuberts received permission from the LPC to construct a 35-foot-wide annex west of the existing theater, designed by Kostow Greenwood Architects. Francesca Russo would also design a renovation of the existing theater. The Shuberts also received permission to transfer 119,268 square feet (11,080.4 m) of air development rights to
15232-412: The west and east elevations also contain a pilaster. An entablature runs above the upper story of the facade, wrapping around the curved corners to the northwest and northeast. Atop the central columns, the entablature has an inscription with the original "Cort Theatre" name. A neon sign with the "Cort" name had been installed in front of the frieze in 1937; it was removed during the 2021 renovation. Above
15360-419: Was The Diary of Anne Frank , which opened in 1955 and played the Cort for over a year before relocating. Another major productions of the late 1950s was The Rope Dancers in 1957. The play Sunrise at Campobello opened in 1958 with Henry Jones , Mary Fickett , and Anne Seymour , as well as James Earl Jones in his Broadway debut; it had well over 500 performances. The Cort hosted several productions in
15488-453: 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,
15616-539: 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
15744-644: 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
15872-462: Was designed by Kostow Greenwood Architects . The Jones has 1,092 seats across three levels and is operated by the Shubert Organization . Both the facade and interior of the theater are New York City designated landmarks . The theater maintains much of its original neoclassical design. Its 48th Street facade has a glass-and-metal marquee shielding the entrances, as well as a colonnade with an additional story above. The lobby has marble paneling and
16000-479: Was followed in 1948 by the hits The Respectful Prostitute and Two Blind Mice . The 1949 production of The Father featured Grace Kelly 's Broadway debut. Even in the 1950s, the Cort continued to present long-running productions. The Theatre Guild returned in 1950, presenting As You Like It . This was followed by several hits such as Saint Joan (1951), The Shrike (1952), The Fifth Season (1953), and The Rainmaker (1954). Another major production
16128-426: Was followed in 1994 by Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 . Lincoln Center Theater returned to the Cort in 1995 with its revival of The Heiress , which ran for over 300 performances. Lincoln Center Theater then booked two additional productions: Sex and Longing in 1996 and An American Daughter in 1997. At the end of the decade, productions at the Cort included Freak (1998), The Blue Room (1998), and Kat and
16256-527: Was revealed on September 12, 2022, celebrating the completion of the theater's $ 47 million renovation and expansion. Ohio State Murders officially opened in December 2022 as the renamed theater's first show, running for one month. This was scheduled to be followed in April 2023 by Room , which was postponed indefinitely during rehearsals. Instead, The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window opened at
16384-720: Was under renovation at the time, would be renamed after actor James Earl Jones . In June 2022, the Nederlanders announced that the Brooks Atkinson Theatre would be renamed after Lena Horne , The James Earl Jones Theatre was rededicated in September 2022, while the Lena Horne Theatre was rededicated that November. Although there are some exceptions, shows with open-ended runs generally have evening performances Tuesday through Saturday, with
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