152-745: The August Wilson Theatre (formerly the Guild Theatre , ANTA Theatre , and Virginia Theatre ) is a Broadway theater at 245 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . Opened in 1925, the theater was designed by C. Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim and was built for the Theatre Guild . It is named for Pulitzer Prize -winning playwright August Wilson (1945–2005). The August Wilson has approximately 1,225 seats across two levels and
304-687: A subscription business model , wherein subscribers could pay in advance for a season's worth of productions. Though it started with 150 subscribers, the Guild had grown to 6,000 subscribers by 1923. At a dinner at the Waldorf–Astoria in March 1923, the Theatre Guild launched a fundraiser for the construction of a dedicated theater, which was estimated to cost $ 500,000. The proposed theater was to have double that capacity. A New York Times writer said
456-472: 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
608-578: A Black theatrical personality. Jujamcyn was the only theatrical organization that had already named a theater for a Black artist. The theater reopened on August 4, 2021, with Antoinette Nwandu 's play Pass Over , making it the first Broadway house to resume performances during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pass Over had a limited run, closing in October 2021. A limited engagement of Slave Play was then announced, running from November 2021 to January 2022. This
760-499: A Harvest appeared in 1941, while Papa Is All , Yesterday's Magic ; Mr. Sycamore , and The Russian People all appeared in 1942. By then, the Guild Theatre was too small for the Theatre Guild, which was more commonly using the much larger Shubert and St. James theaters. In March 1943, the Theatre Guild leased the auditorium to Mutual Broadcasting System (MBS)'s radio station WOR for three years. WOR relocated from
912-839: 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
1064-449: 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,
1216-477: A button in the White House to turn on the lights. The first production was a revival of George Bernard Shaw 's Caesar and Cleopatra , with Lionel Atwill and Helen Hayes , which ran for 128 performances. There was much commentary about the design of the theater. Louis Kalonyme wrote that, "though the Guild Theatre is a refreshing structure, one is not exactly prostrate with admiration before it. One wonders
1368-663: 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
1520-434: 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
1672-424: A combination of genuine antiques and reproductions. The wainscoting on the walls, as well as the entrance and exit doors, were decorated to resemble wood. At the orchestra level, the walls were wainscoted with octagonal panels that extended to the height of the balcony. A frieze, depicting scenes from the Theatre Guild's plays and important figures in the theater's construction, ran atop the auditorium walls. The frieze
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#17327805524011824-540: 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
1976-565: 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
2128-407: A double stair ascended to the rear of the auditorium's orchestra and balcony. Similar to the stairs between the lobby and lounge, these steps were made of travertine and covered with a carpet. The stair hall was described as Italian in style, with a recessed window and seats on the orchestra-level landing. Doors from the landing led to both ends of the orchestra's rear wall. There was another landing at
2280-906: 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
2432-532: 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
2584-426: A little, and speculates." Claude Bragdon called the facade "well composed" and "truthful". Most of the Guild Theatre's productions lasted long enough that the theatre company's 15,000 subscribers had a chance to see each show. A production would typically run several weeks at the theater, relocating to a larger venue if it was favorably received. The Theatre Guild also implemented a program of "alternating repertory" at
2736-526: 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
2888-539: 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
3040-1152: 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
3192-421: A production without craning their necks. The stage opening is 38 ft (12 m) wide, and the stage itself measures 49 ft (15 m) deep and 77 ft (23 m) wide, making it New York City's fourth-largest stage when it opened. Traps were placed throughout the stage. The theater's large stage turned out to be a detriment, according to Lawrence Langner , a Guild cofounder. Langner reflected: "We made
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#17327805524013344-403: A quarter-circular auditorium, with the stage at the middle of the quarter-circle's curve. This arrangement would not have allowed a proper backstage area, so the stage would have been able to descend to the basement. This design was discarded because it did not comply with New York City fire codes. In addition, the Guild's varied membership were unable to agree on a unified design. By February 1924,
3496-500: 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
3648-542: A rear court behind the theater. At the rear of the auditorium, wrought-iron railings enclosed the stairways to the balcony. In the 1995 renovation, round columns near the rear of the orchestra were relocated, and the side walls were shortened. The floors of the auditorium were covered with red and brown carpets, while the seats were upholstered in a brown and gold tapestry with red highlights. The decorative elements included rough-plaster walls with tapestries, loggias, and cartouches. The theater's tapestries and furniture included
3800-431: 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
3952-623: A short run. William Saroyan 's play My Heart's in the Highlands , his first on Broadway, opened at the Guild Theatre in 1939. Another Saroyan play followed the next year, The Time of Your Life . The United Booking Office leased the Guild Theatre for one year starting in April 1940, sharing the theater's profits and losses. Numerous plays were staged at the Guild Theatre during the early 1940s, none of which were particularly successful. A revival of Ah, Wilderness! and Sophie Treadwell 's Hope for
4104-481: 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
4256-409: A sign hangs next to the westernmost window. The center of the third story contains five French windows , each with a wrought-iron balcony in front of it. Each French window is surrounded by stone blocks and topped by a stone pediment. To the east is an arcade with three arches and an iron railing, which screen a fire-escape balcony. On the fourth story are windows with shutters, extending the width of
4408-477: A slant, parallel to the sloping roof. The club room, also known as the library, was behind the five large arches on the third story. It was accessed by its own elevator from the street. The club room had either green or blue walls and a red carpet. This room also had an Italian fireplace with a painted hood. On one wall was a niche with space for a writing table. The club room also had sofas, tables, lamps, and antique cabinets. A kitchenette and serving pantry, next to
4560-771: A temporary home for the Lincoln Center Theater . The proceeds from the Washington Square Theatre were used to lower the mortgage on the ANTA Theatre on 52nd Street. The National Repertory Theatre performed at ANTA's 52nd Street theater in 1967, and the American Conservatory Theater performed in 1969. The American Shakespeare Festival 's production of Henry V and the Wilder play Our Town also appeared at
4712-404: A traditional proscenium arch; the auditorium's side walls ended at the stage rather than curving in front of it, thereby creating an unusually wide opening. In addition to the former main staircase at the rear of the auditorium, emergency exits are placed to the north and south. Three arches on the south side lead down to an enclosed staircase to 52nd Street, while a door on the north side leads to
August Wilson Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue
4864-580: 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
5016-572: A year. The Virginia Theatre's lobby and second-story restrooms were then renovated in the Art Deco style. A revival of the Lerner and Loewe musical My Fair Lady opened in December 1993, but it shuttered after 165 performances. Subsequently, Jujamcyn hired Campagna & Russo Architects to design a $ 2.2 million renovation of the theater's interior, except the lobby and restrooms. Since the interior
5168-599: 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
5320-495: Is accessed from 52nd Street and originally was a groin-vaulted space with Italian-style doors, ticket booths, and grilles. During 1993, the lobby was redecorated in the Art Deco style. From the lobby, there were either three or five steps leading down to the upper tier of a two-tiered lounge. The steps were made of travertine and were covered by a carpet. The lounge, nearly as large as the auditorium directly above it, eliminated
5472-475: 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
5624-562: 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,
5776-410: Is operated by ATG Entertainment . The facade is a New York City designated landmark . The facade is designed as a variation of a 15th-century Tuscan villa, with a stage house to the west and an auditorium to the east. The facade has a stucco surface and openings with quoins , as well as a loggia . The placement of window openings reflected the theater's original interior arrangement. The front of
5928-571: 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
6080-787: The ARO skyscraper to the northwest and Broadway Theatre to the northeast. Other nearby buildings include Studio 54 to the north, the New York Jazz Museum and the Ed Sullivan Theater to the northeast, 810 Seventh Avenue to the east, the Mark Hellinger Theatre and Gallagher's Steakhouse to the southeast, and the Neil Simon Theatre to the south. The theater replaced nine old residential buildings. The August Wilson Theatre (previously
6232-610: 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
August Wilson Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue
6384-521: The Broadway Theatre . The ANTA Theatre's later offerings tended to reflect the decrease in the number of hit productions on Broadway. Still, it hosted some successes such as The Last of Mrs. Lincoln with Julie Harris in 1972. Two years later, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened with Elizabeth Ashley , Fred Gwynne , Keir Dullea , and Kate Reid . The musical Bubbling Brown Sugar opened at
6536-580: 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;
6688-503: 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
6840-595: The New Amsterdam Roof , and the Guild Theatre's auditorium was converted into a studio called the WOR Mutual Theatre. The Theatre Guild continued to occupy the offices, dressing rooms, and rehearsal rooms next to the auditorium. Over the next month, MBS added loudspeakers and made acoustic modifications to the theater's interior, which The New York Times said had long suffered from "tonal defects". The Theatre Guild finally relocated its offices from
6992-476: 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
7144-657: The 1920s included Right You Are if You Think You Are with Edward G. Robinson in 1927, as well as Faust with Helen Chandler , Dudley Digges , and George Gaul in 1928. Alice Brady , Otto Kruger , and Claude Rains performed in Karl and Anna and The Game of Love and Death in 1929, and Gale Sondergaard also appeared in Karl and Anna . During the Great Depression, the Theatre Guild scaled back its alternating-repertory program. The Guild Theatre's productions during 1930 included Ivan Turgenev 's play A Month in
7296-409: 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
7448-593: The ANTA Playhouse in April 1951, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts leased space in the building the same year. Revivals continued for a short time, with productions of Mary Rose and The School for Wives in 1951, as well as Desire Under the Elms and Golden Boy in 1952. The ANTA Playhouse also briefly hosted Mary Chase 's play Mrs. McThing in 1952. The ANTA Playhouse was closed for
7600-467: The ANTA Playhouse. The theater reopened as the ANTA Theatre in 1954 after a renovation that eliminated most of the interior detail. Jujamcyn purchased the ANTA Theatre in 1981 and renamed it for Virginia McKnight Binger, a co-owner. The Virginia was renovated again in the 1990s, and it was renamed for Wilson in 2005. Under Jujamcyn's ownership, productions such as City of Angels , Smokey Joe's Cafe , and Jersey Boys have had hundreds of performances at
7752-654: The ANTA Theatre in 1969. ANTA and the Phoenix Theatre collaborated for the play Harvey with Helen Hayes, James Stewart , and Jesse White , which opened in 1970. Several dance companies performed in 1971, including those of Alvin Ailey , the Dance Theatre of Harlem , Louis Falco , Pearl Lang , Alwin Nikolais , and Paul Taylor . The same year, the hit musical Purlie relocated to the ANTA Theatre from
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#17327805524017904-613: The ANTA Theatre in 1976, running for 766 performances. In 1979, the theater hosted the Goodspeed Opera Company's production of Whoopee! with Charles Repole , as well as Tom Stoppard 's play Night and Day with Maggie Smith . ANTA Theatre hosted the Russian comedy The Suicide with Derek Jacobi in the following year, which had a moderate run of 60 performances. ANTA's last three productions in 1981 were short-lived. Copperfield lasted for 13 performances, and
8056-626: The August Wilson in April 2018. Mean Girls played its final performance on March 11, 2020; the next day, all Broadway theaters temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic . During the August Wilson's closure, its marquee was typically dimmed to memorialize pandemic victims. The marquee was re-lit in November 2020 to commemorate a longtime Jujamcyn stagehand killed in an accident at the Winter Garden Theatre . Mean Girls
8208-536: 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,
8360-619: 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
8512-630: 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
8664-574: 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
8816-569: The Country with Digges, Alla Nazimova , Henry Travers , and Katharine Hepburn ; the revue The Garrick Gaieties ; and Maxwell Anderson 's play Elizabeth the Queen with Lunt and Fontanne. The next year, the theater hosted Lynn Riggs 's play Green Grow the Lilacs (subsequently the inspiration for the musical Oklahoma! ) and Eugene O'Neill 's play Mourning Becomes Electra . In 1932,
8968-456: 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
9120-552: The Great Depression . The Theatre Guild became a major producer on Broadway during the latter half of this era. The Guild had been founded in 1919 by Lawrence Langner , Philip Moeller , Helen Westley , and Theresa Helburn as an outgrowth of the Washington Square Players . The Guild's first home was the Garrick Theatre on 35th Street, which had 537 seats. The theatre company supported itself through
9272-452: The Guild Theatre and its other theaters in the 1920s. Actors appeared in multiple plays at the Theatre Guild's venues, switching at regular intervals (often a week). The Guild Theatre largely featured non-Americans' works during the 1920s. In addition to the plays, the Guild Theatre sometimes hosted musical recitals. Shaw's play Arms and the Man with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne opened at
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#17327805524019424-592: The Guild Theatre as part of a reorganization of the West 52nd Street Theatre Company. The proposed sale faced resistance, in part because the Shuberts already operated 98 percent of all legitimate theaters in the United States, but there were no other bidders and federal judge Henry W. Goddard approved the plan that March. The plan was placed on hold pending the outcome of two judicial appeals. Goddard placed
9576-594: The Guild Theatre hosted Shaw's play Too True to Be Good with Beatrice Lillie and Hope Williams ; a theatrical version of Pearl S. Buck 's novel The Good Earth with Nazimova, Rains, Travers, Sydney Greenstreet , and Jessie Ralph ; and S. N. Behrman 's comedy Biography with Ina Claire . W. Somerset Maugham 's translation of the Italian play The Mask and the Face opened in 1933 with Judith Anderson , Humphrey Bogart , Shirley Booth , and Leo G. Carroll . It
9728-726: The Guild Theatre in September 1925, followed by Ferenc Molnár 's play The Glass Slipper . Lunt and Fontanne starred in many of the Guild Theatre's early plays, mostly performing together. The couple's appearances included Goat Song , At Mrs. Beam's , and Juarez and Maximilian in 1926; The Brothers Karamazov , The Second Man , and The Doctor's Dilemma in 1927; Caprice in 1928; and Meteor in 1929. Sometimes, only one spouse appeared, such as Fontanne in Pygmalion (1926) and Lunt in Marco Millions (1928). Other plays during
9880-420: The Guild Theatre opened on April 13, 1925. The theater's initial productions generally lasted only for several weeks, and the Theatre Guild started leasing the venue to other producers in 1938. Radio station WOR (AM) took over the auditorium as a broadcast studio in 1943, with the Theatre Guild moving out the next year. The American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) purchased the theater in 1950 and renamed it
10032-414: The Guild Theatre opened, it was variously cited as containing 914 or 934 seats. The orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible via a stair lift ; the balcony can only be reached by steps. The main restrooms are placed on the orchestra level. The original decorative scheme continued the exterior's Tuscan design. The decorations were completely removed when the seating capacity was expanded in the 1950s, although
10184-404: The Guild Theatre, ANTA Theatre, and Virginia Theatre) was designed by C. Howard Crane , Kenneth Franzheim , and Charles H. Bettis. It was constructed in 1924 for the Theatre Guild , a theatrical society. Set designer Norman Bel Geddes was also involved in the August Wilson's interior design. The theater was erected by the O'Day Construction Company, and numerous other contractors participated in
10336-457: 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
10488-768: The National Endowments of the Arts. Jujamcyn replaced the theater's seats in January 2012. Jersey Boys occupied the August Wilson for over a decade, running for 4,642 performances before closing in January 2017. The musical Groundhog Day opened at the theater in April 2017 and stayed until that September. It was followed at the end of the year by a concert, Home for the Holidays with Candice Glover , Josh Kaufman , Bianca Ryan , Peter and Evynne Hollens , and Danny Aiello . The musical Mean Girls opened at
10640-486: 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
10792-484: 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
10944-439: The Theatre Guild "must be given room for healthy expansion or risk being permanently crippled". The next month, the Guild started selling bonds to pay for the construction cost. The bonds were sold exclusively to Guild subscribers for one week, during which subscribers bought $ 273,000 worth of bonds. Afterward, the Theatre Guild made the bond issue available to the general public. Early in the theater's planning, Geddes had proposed
11096-412: The adjacent women's bathroom. The upper lounge's north wall similarly had a large doorway leading to a men's smoking room. This space had red, green, and blue wall decorations with ornate carpets and furnishings. Next to the upper lounge was a coat room with blue walls and a Spanish doorway. A bookstore was also placed in one corner of the upper lounge. To the east of the upper lounge was an archway, where
11248-431: The arts, music, and tragedy. Within the archway are two steps leading up to a wood-and-glass double door, topped by a lunette window. To the east are wide metal doors that serve as emergency exits followed by narrow wood-and-glass doors that connect with the lobby. The lobby doors are flanked by sign boards, surrounded by large molded frames with console brackets below and cornices above. A single, modern marquee spans
11400-522: The auditorium and contained offices, rehearsal rooms for the Guild School of Acting, and a make-up room. These rooms were used for rehearsals, scenery painting, costume designing, sewing and repair work, and wardrobe storage. There is also an attic story underneath the tiled roof, which covers 1,800 ft (550 m). The attic's ceiling ranges from 4 to 14 ft (1.2 to 4.3 m) high, requiring some bookcases and other furniture to be installed at
11552-401: The auditorium's layout was not changed during these renovations. Barbara Campagna and Francesca Russo restored much of the interior detail in a 1995 renovation. The auditorium floor is raked , sloping downward toward the stage to the west. Unlike typical theaters of the time, the Guild Theatre lacked box seats, a design feature intended to give the appearance of coziness. It also did not have
11704-492: 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
11856-472: The balcony level. Both of these had intersecting vaulted ceilings with lanterns hanging from them. The stairs were infilled in the 1950s to create extra space for seats, and new stairs were added in the corners. The auditorium has an orchestra level, a balcony, and a stage . Playbill cites the August Wilson Theatre as having 1,225 seats, while The Broadway League cites 1,228 seats. When
12008-609: The bare color scheme was retained after the musical's closure. Two revivals of hit productions had short runs at the Virginia in 1989: the play Run for Your Wife and the musical Shenandoah . Afterward, Jujamcyn spent another $ 500,000 to restore the doors, marquee, and other parts of the theater. The Virginia finally had a hit when the musical City of Angels opened in December 1989, running 878 performances over two years. The musical Jelly's Last Jam , with Gregory Hines and Tonya Pinkins , opened in April 1992 and ran for over
12160-415: The beams were decorated in red, gold, green, and blue. Two metal chandeliers were hung from the ceiling; one critic described the chandeliers as containing "tulip shaped lights". The ceiling over the balcony had a different design, partially overhanging the orchestra. The balcony ceiling was made of milky green plaster with gilded stars and was lit indirectly by golden glazed discs. After the 1950s renovations,
12312-435: 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
12464-476: 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
12616-550: 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
12768-426: The box office record for the August Wilson Theatre, grossing $ 1,994,386 for the week ending December 30, 2018. This was surpassed by Funny Girl , which grossed $ 2,005,696 over nine performances for the week ending December 18, 2022. Funny Girl broke its own record two weeks later, grossing $ 2,405,901 over nine performances running through January 1, 2023. Broadway theatre Broadway theatre , or Broadway ,
12920-413: The ceiling decorations were totally removed and plain chandeliers were suspended there. After 1995, the balcony ceiling was painted blue, and gilded stars and white glass globes were added. The stage is lower than in typical theaters of its time, extending over where the orchestra pit would normally be. This not only gave the impression of coziness but also allowed audience members in their first row to see
13072-451: The club room, were used when the members hosted events. The classrooms, dressing rooms, and studios were in the western side of the theater, with the dressing rooms at the front of the building. The dressing rooms were arranged in several tiers because of limited space and because New York City building regulations forbade the construction of dressing facilities below the stage. The main performers typically were assigned dressing rooms nearest
13224-422: 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
13376-679: 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,
13528-452: The emergency exits and the lobby doors. Originally, there were two marquees, one each above the emergency exits and the lobby doors. Most of the second-story windows are casement windows flanked by shutters , originally painted blue-green. The exceptions are the westernmost two openings, which are slightly above the rest of the second story and do not contain shutters. On the third story, the westernmost windows are also simple in design, and
13680-508: 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. Facade Too Many Requests If you report this error to
13832-456: 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,
13984-467: 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
14136-476: The frames of antique Italian altar cards . The upper lounge had a barrel-vaulted ceiling covered in rough plaster. The lower lounge had Italian-style furniture arranged around a fireplace. The south wall of the lower tier had three arches leading to a small refreshment booth. The lower lounge's north wall had an Italian-style doorway to a women's retiring room. This room had blue walls, frescos, and furniture in an Italian style, with paneled walnut doors leading to
14288-432: The ghastly mistake of providing a theater with all the stage space necessary for a repertory of plays without enough seating capacity to provide the income necessary to support the repertory". The modern stage can be extended by up to 8 ft (2.4 m) using a curved stage apron. The Guild Theatre's cyclorama , the concave curtain at the back of the stage, measured 65 ft (20 m) high and could be retracted into
14440-399: The gridiron being 74 ft (23 m) above the stage. The height of the stage house and the gridiron allowed scenery for several productions to be stored at the same time. On the upper stories, the front section of the theater building contained other rooms for the Guild. The executive offices were on the second story, while other offices were in the fourth story. The fifth story was above
14592-400: The gridiron when not in use. A switchboard to the left of the stage controlled the lighting. A master switch controlled 156 dimmer plates and 200 switches, and the switchboard also controlled twelve spotlights in the ceiling. Scenery was controlled by a counterweight system on the stage itself, rather than from a fly gallery. The area above the stage's ceiling is 94 ft (29 m) tall, with
14744-561: The hit musical Annie stayed at the ANTA Theatre for one month, but Oh, Brother! closed after its third performance. Afterward, ANTA relocated to Washington, D.C. James H. Binger and his wife Virginia McKnight Binger of Jujamcyn Theaters acquired the ANTA Theatre in August 1981. At the end of the year, Jujamcyn announced that the theater would be renamed the Virginia Theatre, after Mrs. Binger. The Pilobolus Dance Company
14896-652: The late 1930s. Many successful plays left after 50 performances, with flops having even shorter runs. Other issues concerned the theater's small capacity and the Guild's focus on experimental productions that could not be staged elsewhere. In 1938, the Theatre Guild started leasing the theater to outside producers. First among them was Gilbert Miller , who opened a production of the J. B. Priestley play I Have Been Here Before in October 1938, which had only 20 performances. The Thornton Wilder play The Merchant of Yonkers opened that December with Jane Cowl , June Walker , and Percy Waram , though this play also closed after
15048-503: The latter of which ran 637 performances over the next year. In 1963, the ANTA Theatre hosted The Advocate , the first Broadway production whose run was simultaneously broadcast on Westinghouse Broadcasting . The ANTA Theatre staged two hits in 1964: James Baldwin 's play Blues for Mister Charlie and the two-person comedy The Owl and the Pussycat with Diana Sands and Alan Alda . That year, Harris Masterson and Norman Twain leased
15200-485: 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
15352-495: The musical Cabaret opened at the August Wilson in April 2024, and the theater was converted into a theatre in the round in advance of Cabaret 's opening. New seats were installed around a turntable stage, a new mezzanine seating area was installed, and the theater was rethemed as the Kit Kat Club, with an entrance in an alleyway. Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. Mean Girls achieved
15504-470: The musical Little Women ran at the Virginia in early 2005. After James Binger died in 2004, Rocco Landesman bought the Virginia and Jujamcyn's four other theaters in 2005, along with the air rights above them. Landesman announced in September 2005 that he would rename the Virginia for August Wilson, the Pulitzer Prize -winning playwright, who had terminal cancer. Wilson died the next month, and
15656-490: The need for patrons to go outside during intermissions. Its tiers differed only slightly in height due to the sloped floor of the auditorium. The lounge's lower tier was to the west of its upper tier. The two sections of the lounge were connected by a flight of three steps, spanned by three arches. There were two arched openings between the lounge's tiers, blocked off by iron railings. Both tiers originally had an ornate multicolored carpet, as well as wall fixtures that are made from
15808-499: The next several years. The LPC designated the facades of the Virginia, Ambassador , and Simon theaters as landmarks in August 1985, along with the Ambassador's and Simon's interiors, over the objections of the three theaters' owners. The New York City Board of Estimate ratified the landmark designations in December 1985. When more Broadway theaters were being protected as landmarks in the late 1980s, deputy mayor Robert Esnard cited
15960-420: 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
16112-500: The next two years for a major renovation. The theater's capacity was increased to 1,215 seats, but all of the interior decorations were removed. One publication described the new decorative scheme as "an almost fascist Americana style", enhanced only by blue and gray paint and eagle motifs. The renovations were funded by Robert W. Dowling of the City Investing Company, as well as ANTA treasurer Roger L. Stevens, who held
16264-467: The next year, along with the play The Taming of the Shrew with Lunt, Fontanne, Greenstreet, and Richard Whorf . Other 1930s plays at the Guild Theatre included Behrman's play End of Summer in 1936 and Ben Hecht 's play To Quito and Back in 1937. The interior was renovated and repainted prior to the opening of To Quito and Back . The Theatre Guild was having trouble booking long-lasting productions by
16416-557: 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
16568-475: The operetta The Mikado was performed at the Virginia in 1987, and the attic was renovated the same year. The musical Carrie then opened the following May. Carrie lost about $ 7 million during its five performances (including $ 500,000 just on a renovation of the Virginia), and The New York Times called it "the most expensive quick flop in Broadway history". The interior was painted black for Carrie , but
16720-556: 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
16872-413: The play J.B. with Pat Hingle , Raymond Massey , and Christopher Plummer lasted 364 performances. By contrast, Jean Anouilh 's The Fighting Cock only had 87 performances in 1959. James Thurber 's revue A Thurber Carnival opened at the ANTA Theatre in 1960. This was followed in 1961 by Hugh Wheeler 's play Big Fish, Little Fish , as well as Robert Bolt 's play A Man for All Seasons ,
17024-468: 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
17176-423: 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
17328-645: 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
17480-446: The removal of the Virginia's interior ornamentation as an "extreme example of what happens" when theater interiors were not preserved. The New York Times later said that "there was literally nothing left inside to preserve". The theater did not open at all between May 1984 and March 1986. The Virginia then hosted Emily Mann 's play Execution of Justice in March 1986 and Michael Frayn 's play Wild Honey in December. A revival of
17632-531: 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
17784-473: 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
17936-470: 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
18088-412: The stage, while supporting performers had to ascend several flights of stairs to reach their rooms. One architectural publication wrote that "the number of such flights the actor has to climb to reach his room accurately [indicates] his position in the company, for the higher he ascends the farther he is from stardom." Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and
18240-434: 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
18392-487: The theater for auction in January 1950, and the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) submitted the highest bid. ANTA had beat out the only other bidder, developer Irving Maidman. The WOR studios moved out that month. The former Guild Theatre was ANTA's first permanent home since the company was founded fifteen years prior. ANTA took title to the theater building that April. Under ANTA ownership,
18544-637: The theater from ANTA for five years. The ANTA Theatre hosted Peter Shaffer 's play The Royal Hunt of the Sun in 1965, which was the last successful production of the decade. Also in 1965, the ANTA Theatre installed an alcoholic bar, being the third Broadway theater to do so after New York state approved liquor sales at theaters. During the mid-1960s, ANTA operated the ANTA Washington Square Theatre in Greenwich Village as
18696-457: The theater had facilities for the Theatre Guild, including classrooms, studios, a club room, a library, and a book store. The rear of the theater contains the auditorium, which was placed one story above ground to make room for a lounge below. The auditorium originally had elaborate decorations, including loggias and a frieze with depictions of scenes from the Theatre Guild's plays. The Theatre Guild announced plans for its own theater in 1923, and
18848-409: The theater had facilities for the Theatre Guild, including classrooms, studios, a club room, a library, and a book store. The rear of the theater contains the auditorium. The auditorium was built one story above ground, as contrasted with comparable theaters, where the auditorium was at ground level. This enabled the installation of a large entrance lounge directly beneath the auditorium. The main lobby
19000-579: The theater hosted revivals of the Arthur Miller play The Crucible and the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song . Comedian Bill Maher performed a limited run of his solo show Victory Begins at Home in May 2003. The musical Little Shop of Horrors opened that October after almost canceling its Broadway appearance altogether; it lasted for 372 performances through 2004. Subsequently,
19152-682: The theater in 1944. The Bowery Savings Bank sold the $ 557,500 mortgage on the theater in 1946 to the Dorsar Enterprises Inc., which was owned by the Shubert family . The West 52nd Street Theatre Company retained ownership of the theater. Malin Studios subsequently also occupied space in the building, and WOR continued to lease the auditorium on a monthly basis. By early 1949, the Shubert brothers had expressed interest in taking over
19304-473: The theater was renamed in his honor on October 16, two weeks after his death. Wilson was the first Black theatrical personality to have a Broadway theater named after him. Jordan Roth joined Jujamcyn as a resident producer the same year, and the musical Jersey Boys opened in November 2005. In 2009, Roth acquired a 50 percent stake in Jujamcyn and assumed full operation of the firm when Landesman joined
19456-417: The theater was renamed the ANTA Playhouse and hosted a memorial to actress Jane Cowl in July 1950, before its reopening. ANTA's first play at the theater was Robinson Jeffers 's The Tower Beyond Tragedy with Judith Anderson in November 1950. This was followed the next month by a revival of the comedy Twentieth Century with Gloria Swanson and José Ferrer . U.S. president Harry S. Truman dedicated
19608-451: The theater's construction. The facade of the August Wilson Theatre was designed to resemble a 15th-century Tuscan villa, with a stucco surface and a heavy use of quoins around openings. On 52nd Street, the theater's height is shorter than its width. The extreme west and east ends of the facade contain vertical bands of quoins, while the rest of the facade includes stone-trimmed windows and doors. The placement of window openings reflected
19760-413: The theater's original interior arrangement. Architectural Forum described the openings as "picturesquely grouped in an informal manner to give quaintness and charm to the exterior design". The western part of the ground story contains three doorways for the stage house. The rightmost doorway is an arch with rusticated limestone voussoirs ; the arch's keystone is a cartouche with motifs signifying
19912-564: The theater's second mortgage. The ANTA Theatre was rededicated on December 18, 1954, hosting the William Archibald play Portrait of a Lady . The next year, the theater hosted the play The Dark Is Light Enough , a musical rendition of the play Seventh Heaven , and a revival of The Skin of Our Teeth . Lunt and Fontanne starred in the Russel Crouse and Howard Lindsay comedy The Great Sebastians in early 1956. This
20064-413: The theater. The August Wilson Theatre is on 245 West 52nd Street , on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway , in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . The rectangular land lot covers 13,125 sq ft (1,219.4 m), with a frontage of 130.75 ft (39.85 m) on 52nd Street and a depth of 100 ft (30 m). The August Wilson shares the block with
20216-436: The theater. Above the fourth story, brackets support a pitched tile roof that slightly overhangs the facade. The stage house rises above the western part of the roof, with a facade of plain brick. This was in keeping with many theaters of the time, which contained plain stage houses above their ornate primary facades, but Architectural Record characterized the stage house as a missed opportunity for decoration. The front of
20368-610: The theatre company held an option to buy a site on 243–259 West 52nd Street. Plans for the theater were filed with the New York City Department of Buildings two months later at a projected cost of $ 350,000. Helburn hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the Guild Theatre on December 2, 1924, with New York governor Al Smith and four hundred theatrical personalities in attendance. The Guild Theatre opened on April 13, 1925, when U.S. president Calvin Coolidge pressed
20520-534: 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
20672-481: 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
20824-461: 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
20976-568: 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 ,
21128-568: 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
21280-692: 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
21432-519: 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,
21584-539: 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
21736-644: 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
21888-531: Was designed by Victor White, Margaret White, and Stanley Rowland. The frieze ran above a band of modillions and was separated at regular intervals by massive plaster corbels , painted to imitate walnut. Since 1995, the modern auditorium's design has contained false balconies, exit doors, and a restored frieze. There is also green-and-gold carpeting and seats with orange upholstery. The main ceiling had large beams and smaller transverse beams made of metal, decorated to resemble heavy wooden beams. The coffers between
22040-539: Was followed by ANTA's first long-running show at its theater, Paddy Chayefsky 's play Middle of the Night with Edward G. Robinson , which ran for 477 performances. The ANTA Theatre then hosted two dance engagements in 1957: the Dancers of India and the Dancers of Bali. Two long-running shows followed in 1958. The comedy Say, Darling with Robert Morse , Vivian Blaine , and Johnny Desmond ran for 332 performances, and
22192-433: Was followed in April 2022 by a revival of the musical Funny Girl , which ran until September 2023. Jujamcyn and Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) agreed to merge in early 2023; the combined company would operate seven Broadway theaters, including the August Wilson. In July 2023, Jordan Roth sold a 93 percent stake in Jujamcyn's five theaters, including the August Wilson Theatre, to ATG and Providence Equity . The revival of
22344-408: Was followed that year by O'Neill's comedy Ah, Wilderness! with George M. Cohan and Gene Lockhart . By the mid-1930s, the Guild Theatre and the neighboring Alvin (now Neil Simon) Theatre were the northernmost venues in the Theater District that still hosted legitimate shows. The Guild Theatre hosted A Sleeping Clergyman and Anderson's play Valley Forge in 1934. The revue Parade opened
22496-472: Was not protected as a landmark, restoration architect Francesca Russo had greater latitude to redesign the interior. Russo took inspiration not only from the Palazzo Davanzati , which had influenced the original design, but also from other Italian buildings and Atlanta's Fox Theatre . The auditorium's color scheme was changed to a "palette of autumnal colors", as Russo felt the original color scheme
22648-528: Was officially canceled in January 2021, while the theater was still closed. As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2021, Jujamcyn agreed to improve disabled access at its five Broadway theaters, including the August Wilson. Also 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
22800-554: Was suboptimal with modern lighting. The Virginia reopened in March 1995 with a production of Smokey Joe's Cafe , which had 2,036 performances through 2000. In early 2000, the Public Theater produced Michael John LaChiusa 's musical The Wild Party , one of two musicals performed that season to be inspired by the poem " The Wild Party ". It was followed by Gore Vidal 's The Best Man during late 2000 and by August Wilson 's King Hedley II during mid-2001. Next, in 2002,
22952-507: Was the first act at the renamed theater, performing in December 1981. At the end of the next year, a revival of the play Alice in Wonderland opened, running for less than a month. The Rodgers and Hart musical On Your Toes opened in March 1983, staying for 505 performances. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had started to consider protecting the Virginia as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over
23104-663: 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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