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135-659: The John Golden Theatre , formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater , is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street ( George Abbott Way ) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was built for real-estate developer Irwin S. Chanin . It has 800 seats across two levels and

270-737: A frontage of 62.33 feet (19.00 m) on 44th Street and a depth of 109.67 feet (33 m). The Golden Theatre shares the city block with the Row NYC Hotel to the west. It adjoins six other theaters: the Bernard B. Jacobs , Gerald Schoenfeld , and Booth to the east; the Broadhurst and Shubert to the southeast; and the Majestic to the south. Other nearby structures include the Music Box Theatre and Imperial Theatre to

405-446: A 2013 renovation. The balcony level is divided into front and rear sections by an aisle halfway across its depth, where ornate metal railings surround the staircases. The front section curves forward toward the walls and contains decorative metal balustrades. As at the orchestra level, the walls contain lighting sconces. The walls consist of paneled stucco blocks with low relief Moorish designs. There are arched doorways with exit doors at

540-472: 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

675-621: A Spanish motif. Following a 2013 renovation, the theater has had an orange/red and blue/green color scheme, resembling the original. The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony, and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium's width is greater than its depth, and the space is designed with plaster decorations in high relief . According to the Shubert Organization, the auditorium has 802 seats; meanwhile, Playbill cites 787 seats and The Broadway League cites 805 seats. The physical seats are divided into 465 seats in

810-839: 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

945-449: 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,

1080-663: 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

1215-434: 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

1350-783: A comedy by Edward Clark , was the only production in 1928 to run more than 100 performances, though Scarlet Fox and Young Love both came close. In July 1929, the Shubert brothers bought the Chanin brothers' half-ownership stakes in the Majestic, Masque, and Royale theaters for a combined $ 1.8 million. In exchange, the Shuberts sold a parcel of land on the Upper West Side to the Chanins, who bought several adjacent lots and developed

1485-540: 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

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1620-565: 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

1755-906: 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

1890-452: A flute making company. In 1783, John Jacob left for Baltimore, Maryland , leaving his brother in charge of the London business, and was active first as a dealer in woodwind instruments , then in New York as a merchant in opium , furs , pianos , and real estate . After moving to New York, John met and married Sarah Cox Todd (1762–1842). She worked alongside her husband as a consultant, and

2025-542: A hotel on Eighth Avenue and three theaters on the side streets. In March 1926, Krapp filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for the hotel and theaters, which were projected to cost $ 4.5 million. Local news media reported that there would be a large theater on 44th Street and a medium-sized theater and a small theater on 45th Street. The brownstones on the site were razed starting in May, and

2160-532: 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

2295-526: 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

2430-539: 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

2565-1152: 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

2700-842: A pair of plays by Tom Stoppard , and The Gin Game , a Pulitzer Prize -winning tragicomedy by Donald L. Coburn with 517 performances. By contrast, Murder at the Howard Johnson's was a notable failure with only four performances in 1979. In 1980, the Golden hosted a short revival of Watch on the Rhine , followed by the premiere of the double bill A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine . Hollywood/Ukraine relocated in June 1980 and

2835-466: A promenade behind a modern wall. There are decorative exit signs above the doorways, which are at the center of the rear wall. The orchestra floor is raked , and the eastern wall is curved inward due to the presence of the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre next door. The orchestra and its promenade contain walls with rough stucco blocks. Lighting sconces are mounted onto the wall. Two staircases lead between

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2970-500: 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

3105-575: A record for the number of Pulitzer-winning productions on Broadway, with four such productions in seven years. A revival of Athol Fugard 's Blood Knot opened at the Golden in 1985, which was followed in 1987 by Stepping Out and All My Sons . The New York International Festival of the Arts premiered Juno and the Paycock on Broadway in 1988, and Eastern Standard premiered the next year, featuring Richard Greenberg in his Broadway debut. During

3240-448: A revival of The Gin Game in 2015; and Eclipsed and The Encounter in 2016. Subsequently, the Golden hosted A Doll's House, Part 2 in 2017; Three Tall Women and The Waverly Gallery in 2018; and Hillary and Clinton and Slave Play in 2019. The theater closed on March 12, 2020 , due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The production Hangmen , which was supposed to open in mid-2020, did not officially open at that time due to

3375-431: 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

3510-568: A separate door whenever he bought cheap seats in an upper balcony level. By October 1926, the Chanins had decided to construct and operate a theatrical franchise "in New York and half a dozen other large cities in the United States". Herbert Krapp had already designed the 46th Street , Biltmore , and Mansfield theaters for the Chanins in 1925 and 1926. The Chanin brothers had acquired the Klaman site in May 1925. The Chanins planned to build

3645-481: 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

3780-619: A term that can also apply to non-commercial, avant-garde , or productions held outside of traditional theater venues. The Theater District 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

3915-508: A theater/hotel complex. The Masque opened on February 24, 1927, and was the second of the three theaters to open. The Shubert family took over the Masque in 1930 but subsequently went into receivership , and producer John Golden leased the theater in 1936. Golden renamed the theater after himself in 1937, and the Shuberts regained full control in 1945. The Golden has mostly remained in legitimate use since then, except from 1946 to 1948, when it

4050-581: A transfer of Sunday in New York with Robert Redford in 1962. Beyond the Fringe premiered later that year, ultimately running over 600 performances. Victor Borge again played the Golden in 1964 with 192 performances of his solo Comedy in Music, Opus 2 . This was followed in 1966 by the South African revue Wait a Minim! , which ran more than twice as long, with 457 performances. For the most part,

4185-580: 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

John Golden Theatre - Misplaced Pages Continue

4320-426: Is laid out in a similar Spanish style to the exterior. The layout was part of an effort by Irwin Chanin , one of the developers, to "democratize" the seating arrangement of the theater. The Golden was designed with a single balcony rather than the typical two, since Chanin had perceived the second balcony to be distant. The Chanin brothers wanted the three theaters' interior designs to be distinct while still adhering to

4455-539: Is named after John Jacob Astor. There are towns of Astor in the states of Florida , Georgia , Iowa , and Kansas and there are Astorias in Illinois , Missouri , and Oregon . In Astoria, Oregon, the primary elementary school, a filming location for the 1990 film Kindergarten Cop , is called John Jacob Astor Elementary . The city is also home to the Astoria Column . In Maidstone, Kent, United Kingdom, there

4590-405: Is operated by the Shubert Organization . The facade is symmetrically arranged. The ground floor is clad in rusticated blocks of terracotta above a granite water table . At ground level, the auditorium entrance includes four pairs of glass and aluminum doors. There is a modern bronze-framed sign board to the left, or east, of the doors. In addition, there are two display boxes on either side of

4725-435: Is operated by the Shubert Organization . Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks . The facade is designed in a Spanish style with golden brick, terracotta , and stone. The ground floor, which contains the theater's entrance, is clad in rusticated blocks of terracotta above a granite water table . Above are a set of three double-height arches, as well as two terracotta plaques. The facade

4860-417: Is placed on a balustrade and console brackets . The loggia has six single columns with decorative capitals, which support a cornice with modillions , as well as a Spanish-tile hip roof . The Golden's loggia complements a similar one on the stage-house wing of the Bernard B. Jacobs. The original color scheme was red and blue, accented with gray, while the seat coverings were colored burnt orange. The interior

4995-508: Is topped by a loggia . The auditorium contains Spanish-style detailing, a large balcony, and a rib-arched ceiling. Due to the theater's small size, it lacks box seats. The balcony, proscenium arch, and exit arches are ornately decorated, with geometric panels and twisting colonettes . The Golden, Majestic , and Bernard B. Jacobs theaters, along with the Lincoln Hotel , were all developed by Chanin and designed by Krapp as part of

5130-520: Is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit this schedule. In recent years, some shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7:00 pm. The rationale for this move was that since fewer tourists take in shows midweek, Tuesday attendance depends more on local patrons. The earlier curtain makes it possible for suburban patrons to get home by a reasonable hour after the show. Some shows, especially those produced by Disney , change their performance schedules fairly frequently depending on

5265-610: 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

5400-580: 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;

5535-503: 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

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5670-662: The New York Public Library . English descendants of the Astors hold two hereditary peerages : Viscount Astor and Baron Astor of Hever . While many Astor family members joined the Episcopal Church , John Jacob Astor remained a member of a Reformed congregation to his death. For many years, the members of the Astor family were known as "the landlords of New York". Their New York City namesakes are

5805-476: 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

5940-682: 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 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

6075-413: The imposts of the arch. There is a band with geometric patterns along the arch itself. The coved ceiling is composed of arched ribs, which separate the auditorium into sections. The arches are supported on corbels on each wall, with twisting colonettes beside each corbel, while the ribs themselves have low-relief cameos , shields, and geometric patterns. A frieze with geometric patterns runs just below

6210-661: The 1900s and 1910s, many theaters in Midtown Manhattan were developed by the Shubert brothers , one of the major theatrical syndicates of the time. The Chanin brothers developed another grouping of theaters in the mid-1920s. Though the Chanins largely specialized in real estate rather than theaters, Irwin Chanin had become interested in theater when he was an impoverished student at the Cooper Union . He subsequently recalled that he had been "humiliated" by having to use

6345-409: 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

6480-531: The 1956 play Waiting for Godot , it had only 59 performances. The same year, Menasha Skulnik starred in Uncle Willie during its 141-performance run. Look Back in Anger was also a minor hit when it was staged at the Golden for six months in 1958. Starting in the late 1950s, the Golden hosted numerous revues with two performers. First among them was A Party with Betty Comden and Adolph Green , featuring

6615-485: The 1980s, the Shuberts renovated the Golden as part of a restoration program for their Broadway theaters. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had started considering protecting the John Golden Theatre as an official city landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. The LPC designated both the facade and the interior as landmarks on November 17, 1987. This

6750-634: The 2000s was Stones in His Pockets in 2001, which ran for 198 performances. This was followed by The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? in 2002, as well as Vincent in Brixton in 2003. 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 Golden. The musical Avenue Q , transferred from off-Broadway, opened at

6885-583: The Bankers Securities Corporation in 1945, giving the family full ownership of these theaters. During the mid-1940s, the Golden presented numerous mediocre plays, including The Rich Full Life and Dunnigan's Daughter in 1945, as well as January Thaw and I Like It Here in 1946. In July 1946, the Golden was leased for five years to the Super Cinema Corporation. The lessee planned to show Italian films there, but

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7020-536: 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,

7155-619: 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

7290-666: 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

7425-574: 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

7560-638: The Century apartment building there. The Masque's first major hit was Rope's End in 1929, subsequently adapted into the Alfred Hitchcock film Rope . John Drinkwater 's Bird in Hand premiered at the Masque that December, and it relocated within a month, eventually playing 500 performances. The Shuberts obtained the exclusive rights to operate the Masque in 1930, though the productions of that decade largely flopped. The first production of that year

7695-570: The County of Kent (1916), and [REDACTED] Baron Astor of Hever , of Hever Castle in the County of Kent (1956), were granted with the standard remainder to the legitimate male heirs of the bodies of the original grantees. Both of the current titleholders continue to sit in the House of Lords following the expulsion of the majority of the hereditary peers by the House of Lords Act 1999 . The following

7830-456: 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

7965-547: The Golden from April 2024 to January 2025. This is planned to be followed by the musical Operation Mincemeat in February 2025. 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. Broadway theatre Broadway theatre , or Broadway , is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters , each with 500 or more seats, in

8100-532: The Golden in Politically Incorrect , which opened in 1994 and ran for over 340 performances. It was followed the next year by Master Class , which ran for about 600 performances through 1997. Also successful was a limited engagement of The Chairs in 1998, as well as a transfer of the off-Broadway production Side Man later that year, which then ran until 1999. Mason returned at the end of 1999 for Much Ado About Everything . The first hit of

8235-465: The Golden instead showed the British film Henry V for nearly a year. The theater was used as a cinema until February 1948, when Maurice Chevalier opened a solo show there. The Golden then hosted several short-run shows with live performers. The cinema's lease did not expire until 1950. That year, the Golden hosted a moderate hit, The Velvet Glove with Grace George and Walter Hampden , as well as

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8370-464: The Golden on July 31, 2003, and became a major hit, recovering its production cost within a year. By the time Avenue Q transferred back off-Broadway in 2009, it had become the Golden's longest-running production with over 2,500 performances. Subsequently, the Golden hosted Oleanna in late 2009; Red and Driving Miss Daisy in 2010; The Normal Heart and Seminar in 2011; and Anarchist in 2012. The Shuberts hired Francesca Russo to renovate

8505-601: The Golden underwent a renovation. The theater reopened that October with Tintypes , a revue that transferred from off-Broadway. The following year, the Golden hosted another off-Broadway transfer, the Pulitzer-winning Crimes of the Heart , which ran for 535 performances. Two other Pulitzer-winning productions were then staged at the Golden: ' night, Mother in 1983 and Glengarry Glen Ross . This set

8640-420: The Golden's other productions during the 1960s were short-lived. Seven productions followed Wait a Minim! in the late 1960s, including After the Rain and Brief Lives in 1967. The first success in the 1970s was Bob and Ray—The Two and Only , a comedy that starred Bob Elliott and Ray Goulding for 158 performances. The following year, the off-Broadway hit You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown ran at

8775-450: The Golden, though its 32-performance Broadway run was far shorter than its off-Broadway run. In 1972, The Public Theater presented David Rabe 's Sticks and Bones , starring Elizabeth Wilson and Tom Aldredge for 245 performances. Sammy Cahn featured in the revue Words and Music in 1974, while Shirley Knight appeared the next year in Kennedy's Children . Two major productions opened in 1977: Dirty Linen & New-Found-Land ,

8910-464: The John Golden Theatre in 2013. Russo's company removed many later modifications, and they also restored the original appearance using historical pictures, as well as details inspired by structures such as the Taj Mahal . The John Golden Theatre continued to host small productions in the mid-2010s. These included Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and A Time to Kill in 2013; Mothers and Sons and A Delicate Balance in 2014, Skylight and

9045-410: The League confirmed that performances would begin to resume in the fall season. Springsteen on Broadway became the first full-length show to resume performances, opening on June 26, 2021, to 1,721 vaccinated patrons at the St. James Theatre . Pass Over then had its first preview on August 4, and opened on August 22, 2021, becoming the first new play to open. Hadestown and Waitress were

9180-405: The Lord and Lady Astor Suites; the hotel salon is called Astor's. There is even a Hostel in York , England called The Astor. In addition, a dormitory at St. George's School in Newport, Rhode Island, bears Astor's name. The Danubius Hotel Astoria in the center of Pest, Budapest, Hungary, opened in 1914, was given its name by the original hotel owners and Mihály Gellér, the first General Manager of

9315-569: The Maidstone campus of Mid-Kent College. At one time the Oakwood Park Estate also contained an educational farm attached to the Astor of Hever School. There is a neighborhood called Astor Park just south of downtown Green Bay, Wisconsin . At the heart of this neighborhood is a park (also called "Astor Park"); the Astor family donated this land for the building of a trade school. The Astors were also prominent on Mackinac Island , Michigan , and Newport, Rhode Island , with their summer house, Beechwood . At Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, there are

9450-401: The Masque in 1933 and relocated the next month. The Masque's other successes of the mid-1930s included Post Road in 1934, Laburnum Grove in 1935, and Russet Mantle in 1936, all of which had over 100 performances. The Broadway theater industry declined during the Great Depression , and the Majestic, Masque, and Royale were auctioned in November 1936 to satisfy a $ 2 million mortgage against

9585-486: 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

9720-535: 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

9855-774: The Theatre Masque, was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Spanish style and was constructed from 1926 to 1927 for the Chanin brothers. The theater is named after producer John Golden (1874–1955). It was part of an entertainment complex along with the Lincoln Hotel and the Majestic and Royale theaters, which were also designed by Krapp in a Spanish style. The Masque was designed to be the smallest theater in that complex, with about 800 seats. The Chanin Realty and Construction Company constructed all four structures. The Golden

9990-492: 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

10125-435: 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

10260-476: 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

10395-550: 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

10530-485: The ceiling. At the rear of the auditorium, the ceiling has a flat surface with a technical booth surrounded by grilles. The depth of the auditorium to the proscenium is 24 feet 9 inches (7.54 m), while the depth to the front of the stage is 27 feet 5 inches (8.36 m). Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression . During

10665-422: 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

10800-486: The doors, with volutes on one of the boxes and stylized lions on the other box on either side. A plaque memorializing the theater's namesake is placed beside the doors. The entrance is topped by a marquee . A terracotta cornice and a band course run above the ground floor. The stage door is to the right, or east, of the main facade and is shared with the Majestic and Bernard B. Jacobs theaters. The upper stories contain gold-colored, bonded Roman brick. The brick facade

10935-454: The duo of Betty Comden and Adolph Green , who premiered in 1958 and returned in 1959. Also presented in 1959 were The Billy Barnes Revue , as well as At the Drop of a Hat with Michael Flanders and Donald Swann . An Evening With Mike Nichols and Elaine May premiered in 1960 and ran for 306 performances, followed the next year by An Evening with Yves Montand . The Golden hosted

11070-679: 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,

11205-512: 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. Astor family John Jacob Astor (born Johann Jakob Astor)

11340-456: 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,

11475-523: The famous Waldorf-Astoria Hotel , an Astor Row , Astor Court , Astor Place , and Astor Avenue in the Bronx , where the Astors stabled horses. The neighborhood of Astoria, Queens , was renamed to incite John Jacob Astor to invest there. Beyond New York City, the Astor family name is imprinted in a great deal of United States history and geography. Astor Street , in Chicago's landmark Gold Coast district,

11610-467: 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

11745-410: The flop Let's Make an Opera , which had five performances. Other works during the early 1950s included The Green Bay Tree ; To Dorothy, A Son ; and The Fourposter . Victor Borge 's one-man show Comedy in Music , which opened in 1953 and ran 849 performances during the next three years. By sharp contrast, even though Bert Lahr and E. G. Marshall were acclaimed for their performances in

11880-595: The founding sire of all Standardbred horses in the United States today. The third brother Melchior remained in Germany. During the 19th century, the Astors became one of the wealthiest families in the United States . Toward the end of that century, some of the family moved from America to England and achieved high prominence there. During the 20th century, the number of American Astors began to decline, but their legacy lives on in their many public works including

12015-410: The front of the balcony. Above the wall is a geometric frieze , which forms the wall's cornice . Geometric-patterned panels are placed along the front and underside of the balcony. Lights have been installed in front of the balcony. Next to the arched exits at orchestra level is an elliptical proscenium arch. The archway is flanked by a pair of twisted columns, above which are colonettes that rise to

12150-818: The hotel, who formerly worked for the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York. In Shanghai, China there is the Astor House Hotel in the Bund. Mount Astor in Antarctica was named after Vincent Astor by the explorer Richard E. Byrd . Both in the Peerage of the United Kingdom , the titles [REDACTED] Viscount Astor , of Hever Castle in the County of Kent (1917), with subsidiary title [REDACTED] Baron Astor , of Hever Castle in

12285-557: 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

12420-487: The new Eighth Avenue subway line . Brooks Atkinson of The New York Times said the "Theatre Masque is pleasing and comfortable", while Burns Mantle of the New York Daily News said that he "liked particularly the curtain and the carpet". However, both men disliked Puppets of Passion , which flopped after twelve performances. The Masque mostly hosted flops in its first two years. Puppets of Passion

12555-420: 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

12690-403: The next three years. Angel Street became the Golden's longest-running production, despite initial expectations of failure: only three days' worth of playbills were ordered for the initial run. It was followed in 1944 by Rose Franken 's comedy Soldier's Wife , which had a successful run of 255 performances. The Shubert brothers bought the Majestic, John Golden (Masque), and Royale theaters from

12825-596: The north; the New York Marriott Marquis to the northeast; One Astor Plaza to the east; and Sardi's restaurant, the Hayes Theater , and the St. James Theatre one block south. The Golden is part of the largest concentration of Broadway theaters on a single block. The adjoining block of 45th Street is also known as George Abbott Way , and foot traffic on the street increases box-office totals for

12960-557: 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

13095-632: 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, 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 ,

13230-453: The orchestra and the balcony. The orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible, but there are no elevators to the balcony. On either side of the front section of the orchestra, there are pointed arches with two pairs of doors. The doors are flanked by twisting columns and contain decorative exit-sign frames above them. There are also shields on the walls, high above the arches. The doorways originally had red velour curtains, which were restored during

13365-400: The orchestra, 110 at the front of the balcony, and 227 at the rear of the balcony. The Golden does not have boxes . There are restrooms and drinking fountains below the orchestra. An article from 1927 noted that the theater had 800 seats, which were slightly wider than seats in typical Broadway theaters of the time. The rear of the orchestra contains doors from the ticket lobby, which leads to

13500-519: The overland Astor Expedition in 1810–1812 to reach the outpost, which was in the then-disputed Oregon Country . Control of Fort Astoria played a key role in English and American territorial claims on the region. John and George's brother Henry (born Heinrich) (1754–1833) also emigrated to America. Henry was a horse racing enthusiast, and purchased a thoroughbred named Messenger , who had been brought from England to America in 1788. The horse became

13635-493: The pandemic. The Golden Theatre reopened October 13, 2021, with performances of Thoughts of a Colored Man , which closed at the end of the year. This allowed Hangmen to be booked for a limited run from April to June 2022, followed by Topdog/Underdog for a limited run from October 2022 to January 2023. The play Prima Facie was staged at the Golden from April to July 2023; it was followed by The Shark Is Broken from August to November 2023. The play Stereophonic ran at

13770-556: 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

13905-468: 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

14040-423: 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

14175-645: 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

14310-531: 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

14445-473: 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

14580-516: The site was cleared by the next month. That July, the Chanin brothers received a $ 7.5 million loan for the four developments from S. W. Straus & Co. Irwin Chanin launched a competition the same month, asking the public to suggest names for the three theaters. The names of the three theaters were announced in December 1926. The large theater became the Majestic; the mid-sized theater, the Royale; and

14715-413: The small theater, the Masque. The following month, the Chanins gave A. L. Erlanger exclusive control over bookings at the three new theaters and their five existing houses. The Theatre Masque opened on February 24, 1927, with the play Puppets of Passion. The Masque was the second of the three new Chanin theaters to open. The opening of the Majestic, Masque, and Royale signified the westward extension of

14850-470: 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

14985-463: The theater and rename it after himself. The name "John Golden Theatre" had previously been applied to the neighboring Royale in 1934, but Golden had lost the right to operate the Royale in the 1936 auction. The Theatre Masque became the John Golden Theatre on January 26, 1937, and the flop And Now Goodbye became the first production in the newly renamed theater the next week. The Golden continued to host flops after its renaming. One especially short run

15120-639: 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. In 1990, Michael Feinstein performed at the Golden with his show Concert: Piano and Voice . This was followed by Falsettos (1992), which had 487 performances, and by the drama Mixed Emotions (1993) with Katherine Helmond , which had 55 performances. The comedian Jackie Mason subsequently starred at

15255-605: The theaters there. The Majestic, Masque (Golden), and Royale (Bernard B. Jacobs) theaters and the Lincoln Hotel (Row NYC Hotel) had all been developed concurrently. The site of all four buildings had previously occupied by twenty brownstone residences. The site was part of the Astor family estate from 1803 to 1922, when it was sold to Henry Claman. The plots collectively measured 200 feet (61 m) wide along Eighth Avenue, 240 feet (73 m) along 44th Street, and 250 feet (76 m) along 45th Street. The John Golden Theatre, originally

15390-494: The theaters. A representative of the Shubert family bought the rights to operate the theaters for $ 700,000, but the Bankers Securities Corporation retained a half interest. The Holmeses of Baker Street , which opened in December 1936, was the last show to be produced at the Masque before the theater changed names. At the end of the month, producer John Golden leased the Masque, with plans to renovate

15525-534: 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

15660-481: 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

15795-412: The third story. A similar, wider arcade exists on the neighboring Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. A sign with the theater's name is placed in front of the center arch. Toward the top of the facade, there are terracotta medallions depicting fictional beasts and foliate decorations. The parapet of the facade contains a terracotta balustrade . Above the center portion of the facade is a loggia , which in turn

15930-461: 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

16065-428: The traditional Broadway theater district, as well as an expansion of the Chanins' theatrical developments. Each of the Chanin theaters was intended for a different purpose: the 1,800-seat Majestic for "revues and light operas", the 1,200-seat Royale for "musical comedies", and the 800-seat Masque for "intimate" plays. The Chanin brothers were especially optimistic about the Masque, which was the closest of their theaters to

16200-568: 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 ,

16335-568: 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

16470-692: 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

16605-469: Was Curtain Call in 1937, which had four performances before closing. The Golden's next hit was Paul Vincent Carroll 's Shadow and Substance , which opened in 1938 and ran for 206 performances. Another play by Carroll, The White Steed , was moderately successful after relocating to the Golden in 1939. A major hit opened in 1941 with the premiere of Angel Street , which ran nearly 1,300 performances over

16740-519: 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,

16875-539: 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

17010-591: 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

17145-588: Was a secondary state school named Astor of Hever School. It was located within Oakwood Park, a former residence of the Astor family, which the family gifted to the Borough of Maidstone to be used for educational purposes. Whilst the Astor of Hever School changed its name in the early 2010s, it is still located on the Oakwood Park Estate, along with a Grammar School, a Catholic Secondary school and

17280-774: Was a transfer of Martin Flavin 's hit Broken Dishes , which had transferred from the Ritz Theatre . Also in 1930, the Masque presented Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett 's play Up Pops the Devil , with 146 performances. It was succeeded the next year by the DuBose Heyward drama Brass Ankle ; a short run of The Venetian ; and Norman Krasna 's comedy Louder, Please . The original romance Goodbye Again , with Osgood Perkins , opened in 1932 and ran for 212 performances. Tobacco Road , another eventual hit, premiered at

17415-481: Was accused of witchcraft after her success with the company in 1817. The accusations never led to legal action. They had eight children, including John Jacob Astor Jr. (1791–1869) and real estate businessman William Backhouse Astor Sr. (1792–1875). John Jacob's fur trading company established a Columbia River trading post at Fort Astoria in 1811, the first United States community on the Pacific coast. He financed

17550-497: Was designed to relate to the adjacent theaters and hotel. The center of the facade has a set of three arches spanning the second and third stories. The arches have molded Della Robbia foliate decoration, placed on terracotta piers that contain Corinthian -style capitals . On the second story, there are metal-framed casement windows with multiple panes, above which is a horizontal rope molding. The arches do not have windows on

17685-507: Was followed by The Comic , which lasted just 15 performances, then by a revival of the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta Patience , which ran a similarly short 16 performances. In August 1927, Robert Milton leased the Masque for several years. The rest of 1927 was taken up by three short-running productions: Revelry , The King Can Do No Wrong , and Venus . The Masque fared not much better in 1928, when it hosted eight productions. Relations ,

17820-520: 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 the Golden, on the merit that the designations severely limited the extent to which

17955-776: Was the youngest of four sons born to Johann Jacob Astor (1724–1816) and Maria Magdalena vom Berg (1730–1764). The Astor family can trace their ancestry back to Giovan Asdour (1595–1668) and Gretta Ursula Asdour (1589–?). Giovan was born in Chiavenna , Italy, and died in Zürich , Switzerland. Their son, Hans Pieter Asdor, was born in Switzerland and died in Nußloch . John Jacob and his brother George, born in Walldorf left Germany and moved to London in 1778. There, they established

18090-720: 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

18225-407: Was used as a cinema. Over the years, the Golden has largely been used for productions with small casts, as well as revues . The John Golden Theatre is on 252 West 45th Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue , near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . The rectangular land lot covers 6,400 square feet (590 m), with

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