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114-721: The Gershwin Theatre (originally the Uris Theatre ) is a Broadway theater at 222 West 51st Street , on the second floor of the Paramount Plaza office building, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . Opened in 1972, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization and is named after brothers George and Ira Gershwin , who wrote several Broadway musicals. The Gershwin

228-604: A median island of Broadway several blocks north. Earl Blackwell then suggested that the Nederlanders include a theatrical hall of fame at the Uris Theatre. Plans for the hall were announced in March 1972, as the building and theater were being completed. The first names were inducted that October, just before the theater opened. The Uris Theatre was dedicated on November 19, 1972, and hosted its first show on November 28,

342-472: 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

456-839: 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

570-559: A ballet performance, and Béjart: Ballet of the Twentieth Century performed the same month. The musical The King and I , with Yul Brynner and Constance Towers , opened in May 1977 and ran for 719 performances, becoming the theater's longest-running show. Another long-lasting show was Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler 's musical Sweeney Todd with Angela Lansbury , which opened in March 1979 and ran for 557 performances over

684-449: 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,

798-663: 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

912-434: 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

1026-540: 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

1140-564: A concert hall for a year. This time, the theater hosted performances from Shirley MacLaine ; Twyla Tharp ; Rudolf Nureyev; and Gladys Knight & the Pips with Kashif . In addition, the theater hosted the 38th Tony Awards in June 1984. The Royal Shakespeare Company presented Much Ado about Nothing and Cyrano de Bergerac in repertory for ten weeks starting in October 1984. The theater

1254-565: 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

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1368-906: 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

1482-548: A figure of 1,933 seats. The Gershwin's seats are spread across two levels: an orchestra with about 1,300 seats and a smaller mezzanine with about 600 seats. This was based on Alswang's observation that most people wanted orchestra seats. The seats in the Gershwin are spaced 36 in (910 mm) apart from row to row, compared to in older theaters where each row was only 32 to 33 in (810 to 840 mm) apart. The balcony has 14 rows. Like traditional Broadway houses (and unlike

1596-532: 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

1710-613: A limited concert appearance that September, and the Houston Grand Opera Association presented the opera Treemonisha the next month . This was followed by performances from ballet dancers Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev , singer-songwriter Paul Anka , and the American Ballet Theatre . The Dance Theatre of Harlem returned to the theater in March 1976. The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company presented three Gilbert and Sullivan operettas at

1824-463: A monologue of his book Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus . Livent's revival of the operetta Candide opened that April. and ran for 103 performances. The Roundabout Theatre Company then transferred the musical 1776 , its most popular production, to the Gershwin that November, where it ran until June 1998. The New York Shakespeare Festival's production of the musical On the Town opened at

1938-526: 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

2052-539: 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

2166-1152: 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

2280-411: A performance of the musical Via Galactica starring Raul Julia . The theater was cited as having 1,840, 1,870, 1,900, or 1,940 seats when it was completed. Alswang estimated the theater's total cost at $ 12.5 million. Despite a top ticket price of $ 12.75 (lower than the typical top price of $ 15), it flopped with seven performances and was the first Broadway show to lose a million dollars. The next show

2394-500: 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

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2508-488: A revival of Show Boat for the theater. The theater once again hosted the 48th Tony Awards in 1994. The awards ceremonies subsequently relocated to Radio City Music Hall , as that theater was much larger (allowing the public to attend) and did not require shutting down Broadway productions. Show Boat opened in October 1994 and ran for 949 performances over two years. Following this, in January 1997, John Gray performed

2622-492: A ring with an elongated stone or setting, a diamond cut as a navette (late 19th century), and a style of woman's hat (1889). The oldest form of the word's root *merg- meant "boundary, border." Other words that descended from this Proto-Indo-European root include margin , margrave , and mark . Early examples of the modern use of marquee include Movie marquee designs in the United States are closely related to

2736-431: 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

2850-570: A set of concerts by Barry Manilow in mid-1989. That November, the musical comedy Meet Me in St. Louis opened, running for 253 performances. The concert special Bugs Bunny on Broadway appeared briefly in late 1990, followed by a revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof . A special appearance by the Moscow Circus then opened at the Gershwin in late 1991. The musical Grand Hotel moved to

2964-481: 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

3078-499: A single week during the last week of 1990. From October 4 to 9, 1994, Show Boat sold $ 842,636 worth of tickets. This was the highest single-week ticket sale for any Broadway production, in terms of monetary profit, as well as the second-highest in number of tickets sold. Wicked set the box office record for the Gershwin Theatre multiple times. In 2010, the musical became the first Broadway show to gross over $ 2 million in

3192-506: A single week. Wicked held the record for the highest single-week gross of any Broadway show from its opening until 2011, when the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark earned $ 58 more during a single week (both shows had earned $ 1.5 million). The theater's current record was set in 2018, when Wicked grossed $ 3,411,819 over nine performances for the week ending December 30, 2018. Broadway theatre Broadway theatre , or Broadway ,

3306-580: 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

3420-542: A white wall behind the orchestra seats and measures 220 ft (67 m) wide. The Hall of Fame's names stretch across the four-story-high wall of the lobby. The theater also has two rotundas, one of which originally contained the music and theater collections of the Museum of the City of New York . The hall's names stretch into the rotundas. Playbill cites the theater as having 1,926 seats, while The Broadway League gives

3534-518: Is Broadway's largest theater, with approximately 1,933 seats across two levels. Over the years, it has hosted musicals , dance companies, and concerts . The Gershwin was designed by Ralph Alswang . It was one of the first theaters constructed under the Special Theater District amendment of 1967. The theater's main entrances are from a midblock passageway that runs between 50th and 51st Streets. There are escalators leading from

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3648-598: 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

3762-475: 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

3876-469: Is derived from the Middle French word marquise (the final /z/ probably being mistaken as -s plural), the feminine form corresponding to marquis ('nobleman'). The word marquise was also used to refer to various objects and fashions regarded as elegant or pleasing, hence: a kind of pear (1690), a canopy placed over a tent (1718), a type of settee (1770), a canopy in front of a building (1835),

3990-562: 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,

4104-823: Is one of two theaters in Paramount Plaza; the other is the Circle in the Square Theatre in the building's basement. The Gershwin, Circle in the Square, Minskoff , and American Place theaters were all constructed under the Special Theater District amendment of 1967 as a way to give their respective developers additional floor area. The Gershwin was decorated in what Alswang described as an Art Nouveau style. The theater covers 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m) and has bronze velour decorations throughout its major public spaces. Originally decorated in white and gold,

4218-520: 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

4332-413: The 47th Tony Awards . A revival of Lerner and Loewe's Camelot opened in June 1993 and ran for two months. The musical The Red Shoes opened that December, but it was one of Broadway's biggest flops, closing after three days at a loss of $ 8 million. By the mid-1990s, there was high competition for large Broadway houses. Less than a week after The Red Shoes closed, production company Livent booked

4446-610: 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

4560-580: 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;

4674-427: 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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4788-476: 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

4902-409: 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

5016-536: 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,

5130-619: 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

5244-686: 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

5358-672: The CPC scheduled a public hearing to determine whether the Astor and Uris theater permits should be approved. Six parties testified in favor; the Shubert Organization , the largest operator of Broadway theaters, was the only dissenting speaker. The CPC approved the theaters over the Shuberts' objections, as did the Board of Estimate. That September, Uris Buildings Corporation made a tentative deal with James M. Nederlander and Gerard Oestricher to operate

5472-574: 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

5586-456: 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

5700-575: The Gershwin in February 1992, ending a run of over 1,000 performances there. The Gershwin hosted the 46th Tony Awards in June 1992, and the theater hosted a $ 1 million launch party that October for Windows for Workgroups . This was followed by concert appearances from Tommy Tune in December 1992, Raffi in April 1993, and Yanni in June 1993. The theater was renovated in mid-1993 prior to its hosting

5814-461: The Gershwin in November 1998, but it was unprofitable and closed after 65 performances. The Gershwin also hosted the 53rd Tony Awards in 1999, since Radio City Music Hall was undergoing renovation. Also in 1999, the theater hosted the musicals Peter Pan and Tango Argentino . The dance revue Riverdance on Broadway opened at the Gershwin in March 2000, running for 605 performances through

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5928-595: The Gershwin indefinitely. The theater's large seating capacity also turned out to be suitable for the musical's popularity. As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2014, the Nederlanders agreed to improve disabled access at their nine Broadway theaters, including the Gershwin. Wicked was still playing when the theater closed on March 12, 2020 , due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The theater reopened on September 14, 2021, with performances of Wicked . Productions are listed by

6042-423: The Gershwin was redecorated in a blue-and-white color scheme in 1993. The theater is operated by the Nederlander Organization . At the base of Paramount Plaza is a promenade that connects 50th and 51st Streets , providing entry to the Gershwin and Circle in the Square theaters. There are marquees for the theaters' entrances on both 50th and 51st Streets. The box office is at ground level. Escalators lead from

6156-655: The Hoople (performing with Queen ); Enrico Macias and his La Fete Orientale Co.; Andy Williams with Michel Legrand ; Anthony Newley with Henry Mancini ; Johnny Mathis and the Miracles; The 5th Dimension ; and Raphael . The 17th Annual Grammy Awards were presented at the Uris in March 1975, and the Dance Theatre of Harlem performed at the theater that May. Frank Sinatra , Ella Fitzgerald , and Count Basie had

6270-457: 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

6384-633: The Minskoff and Gershwin theaters were subject to less stringent building codes. For example, the Gershwin was designed without fire curtains, since the city had allowed sprinkler systems to be installed in both theaters. The theater also used Hydra-Float, a computerized rigging system. This made it the first commercial theater in the U.S. to be completely automated. Backstage, there were eight large dressing suites for lead performers, which were equipped with air conditioning, green rooms, and private bathrooms. In September 1967, Uris Buildings Corporation leased

6498-604: The Opera at the Majestic Theatre became the longest-running Broadway musical, with 7,486 performances, overtaking Cats . The Phantom of the Opera closed on Broadway on April 16, 2023, soon after celebrating its 35th anniversary, after a total of 13,981 performances. Attending a Broadway show is a common tourist activity in New York. The TKTS booths sell same-day tickets (and in certain cases, next-day matinee tickets) for many Broadway and Off-Broadway shows at

6612-535: 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

6726-661: The Uris Building, which would be the first completely new Broadway theaters since the Mark Hellinger Theatre was completed in 1930. The CPC approved the theater amendment that November, and the New York City Board of Estimate gave final approval to the proposal the next month. A second theater, which subsequently became the Circle in the Square, was announced in February 1968. In April 1968,

6840-520: The Uris that May, followed the next month by a concert appearance from Al Green and Ashford & Simpson . That October, the Houston Grand Opera presented the musical Porgy and Bess . The theater went back to hosting concerts, with appearances by Bing Crosby and Barry Manilow in December 1976. The Dance Theatre of Harlem canceled a planned 1977 season at the Uris due to a financial deficit. Instead, Nureyev returned in March 1977 for

6954-619: The Uris would be renamed after musical-writing brothers Ira and George Gershwin . During the ceremony on June 5, 1983, the theater was rededicated. Show Boat closed shortly thereafter and was followed in July by Mame , featuring Lansbury. The Gershwin hosted a memorial for Ira Gershwin after he died in August 1983, two months after the theater's renaming. The theater continued to face issues with booking extended runs of large musicals. In January 1984, Nederlander announced he would again use it as

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7068-492: 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

7182-435: 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

7296-476: 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

7410-550: 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

7524-401: The contemporary Minskoff Theatre), the theater had aisles in the center and along the sides. The orchestra level is ADA-accessible via an elevator from the ground story. The mezzanine level has protrusions on the side walls instead of box seats. The proscenium arch is designed with light bars, which could be removed if necessary. The wall panels also contains panels that can be removed for

7638-422: 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

7752-577: 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,

7866-471: The end of the decade. The theater was renamed the Gershwin during the 37th Tony Awards in 1983, the first of six Tony Awards ceremonies to be hosted there. In the 1980s, the theater hosted concerts; its first straight plays ; and musicals such as Singin' in the Rain and Starlight Express . The theater continued to host concert appearances in the early 1990s, as well as musicals such as Show Boat , and

7980-443: 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. Marquee (structure) The current usage of

8094-456: 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,

8208-467: 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

8322-475: The following August. After Riverdance closed, the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Oklahoma! was booked at the Gershwin. Additionally, Linda Eder performed at the theater at the end of 2001. Oklahoma! opened in March 2002 and ran for 388 performances for the next year. For Oklahoma! , the first five rows of seats in the orchestra level were removed to make way for a temporary thrust stage. In June 2002,

8436-662: The ground floor to the Gershwin Theater. The names of 90 celebrities who were active between 1860 and 1930 are inscribed in bronze-gold lettering along the escalators. The second floor contains the American Theater Hall of Fame , where the names of notable theatrical personalities are inscribed in gold letters. Eligible inductees have had a career in American theater for at least 25 years and at least five major Broadway production credits. The lobby contains

8550-403: The ground floor to the second-story lobby and rotundas. The American Theater Hall of Fame , which contains inscriptions of the names of over 500 notable theatrical personalities, is placed within the lobby and rotundas. The Gershwin's orchestra level, which has about 1,300 seats, is more than double the size of the mezzanine level, which has about 600 seats. The Uris Buildings Corporation built

8664-478: The installation of speakers. The stage was also designed with a flexible layout in that it could be disassembled or extended forward. When the stage was extended forward, it basically functioned as a thrust stage , covering the orchestra pit . With a 65 ft-wide (20 m) adjustable proscenium arch and an 80 ft-wide (24 m) stage, it is one of the largest Broadway stages, ideal for very large musical productions. Unlike older theaters in New York City,

8778-486: The larger of the building's two theaters. The larger venue was renamed for Percy Uris , head of the Uris Buildings Corporation, in 1971. The New York Daily News subsequently said that the Uris family's decision to name the theater for themselves "became an object of ridicule in theatrical circles". Meanwhile, civic group Broadway Association had proposed constructing a theatrical hall of fame in

8892-557: 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

9006-500: The modern English word marquee, that in US English refers specifically to a canopy projecting over the main entrance of a theater, which displays details of the entertainment or performers, was documented in the academic journal American Speech in 1926: " Marquee , the front door or main entrance of the big top." In British English "marquee" refers more generally to a large tent, usually for social uses. The English word marquee

9120-510: The most part, the Uris lost money during its first two seasons, since it was dark most of the time. The Uris also hosted annual ceremonies when people were inducted into the Theatrical Hall of Fame. Due to a lack of money, there were no new inductions between 1973 and 1979. There were no new legitimate shows in 1974. After singer Sammy Davis Jr. had a highly profitable concert that May, James M. Nederlander decided to book concerts at

9234-543: The musical Annie transferred to the Uris; it ran for over a year, concluding its run of 2,377 performances there. Next, Nureyev performed with the Boston Ballet in early 1983, and the Houston Grand Opera presented Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II 's musical Show Boat that April. At that time, Tony Awards producer Alexander H. Cohen announced that the 37th Tony Awards ceremony would be hosted there and that

9348-420: 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

9462-495: The next year. In 1980, the Uris mostly hosted performances by ballet companies. The following January, the New York Shakespeare Festival produced Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of Penzance , which relocated to the Minskoff in August 1981. This was followed immediately afterward by a revival of Lerner and Loewe's My Fair Lady , with Rex Harrison , which lasted 124 performances. That November,

9576-557: 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

9690-556: 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

9804-468: 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

9918-417: The postwar years, these building materials were mostly dedicated to building civilian housing for returning soldiers and their families. Concrete and glass, two building materials that were not restricted, became essential to movie theater architects. Light was also an unrestricted resource for architects, and combined with glass it produced striking visual effects. The mild climate of certain locations, such as

10032-423: 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

10146-645: 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

10260-531: 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

10374-473: 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

10488-433: The sign and text, combined with the flashing lights and color, made the façade easily visible to fast-passing cars. Movie marquee designs in the 1930s prompted theater historian Ben M. Hall to call them "electric tiaras." During World War II , aesthetic considerations of the marquee were dictated by the availability of labor and materials. Building materials such as steel, copper, bronze, and aluminum were limited. Even in

10602-822: The site of the Capitol Theatre on Broadway, between 50th and 51st Streets, for 100 years. Uris announced it would build an office tower and a Broadway theater on the site. The Broadway theater would have 1,500 to 2,000 seats. In October 1967, the New York City Planning Commission (CPC) proposed the Special Theater District Zoning Amendment, which gave zoning bonuses to office-building developers who included theaters. The proposed legislation would directly allow theaters in One Astor Plaza and

10716-483: The social, political, and economic forces of the 20th century. The invention of the automobile influenced many elements of theater architecture. The marquee in particular became larger, and stood out from the street to serve as a physical and aesthetic landmark from other businesses along the sidewalk. The shape also evolved from a small rectangle to a trapezoid, making it more readable to automobile traffic. The text also became less detailed but larger. The larger size of

10830-470: 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

10944-434: 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

11058-399: The theater for the remainder of the year, citing its acoustic qualities. Nederlander said the theater could also be used for musicals if there was demand in the future. A New York Times critic said the Uris Building, which had just gone into foreclosure, might be a "monument to its mortality" instead of "a leader in the revitalization of Broadway". Musicians who appeared in 1974 included Mott

11172-521: The theater hosted a party celebrating what would have been the 100th birthday of Richard Rodgers , one of the composers of Oklahoma! . The next production at the Gershwin Theatre was Stephen Schwartz 's musical Wicked , which opened in October 2003. David Stone , one of Wicked 's producers, was initially reluctant to book the Gershwin because of the theater's reputation for short-lived productions, as well as its size. Despite initial negative reviews, Wicked became so popular that it continued at

11286-466: The theater in mid-1986, the theater was renovated to accommodate the technologically complex set. Starlight opened in March 1987 and ran for two years, closing at a loss despite critical acclaim. Afterward, the Nederlanders announced plans to use the Gershwin as a concert hall for the 1989–1990 season. At the time, six of the Nederlanders' nine Broadway theaters were dark, and there was a shortage of new musicals. Only one live performance happened this time:

11400-550: The theater within the Uris Building, now Paramount Plaza, in the 1960s in exchange for several additional floors of office space. The Uris opened on November 28, 1972, with a performance of the musical Via Galactica . Following several flops , the theater was rented out for concerts and dance specials in the 1970s. The musicals The King and I and Sweeney Todd (now revived at the Lunt Fontanne Theatre , and currently on tour in 2025) had relatively long runs at

11514-534: 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

11628-481: 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

11742-461: 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

11856-568: 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 ,

11970-568: 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

12084-692: 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

12198-419: The year of their first performance. When Starlight Express opened in 1987, it had the highest single-week gross of any show in both the Gershwin Theatre's history and Broadway history. Starlight Express broke this record several times, ultimately grossing $ 617,022 during the last week of 1987. Fiddler on the Roof set the record for the highest number of tickets sold for a Broadway production in

12312-657: Was Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields 's musical Seesaw , which opened in March 1973 and transferred to the Hellinger that August, ultimately running for 296 performances. A revival of the Sigmund Romberg operetta The Desert Song premiered at the Uris in September 1973 but closed after only 15 performances. This was followed that November by the Lerner and Loewe musical Gigi , which lasted 103 performances. For

12426-519: 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,

12540-539: 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

12654-644: 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

12768-404: Was acoustically modified for these plays, as it was the first time the theater had hosted straight plays . This was followed in early 1985 by concert appearances from Patti LaBelle and Smokey Robinson . Next, the musical Singin' in the Rain opened in July 1985 and ran for 367 performances over the next ten months. After Andrew Lloyd Webber 's musical Starlight Express was announced for

12882-407: Was renovated in 1993. The Gershwin has been home to the musical Wicked since 2003. The Gershwin Theatre is on the second floor of Paramount Plaza , also known as 1633 Broadway , north of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . Ralph Alswang designed the theater, which opened in 1972 as the Uris Theatre, while Emery Roth and Sons designed Paramount Plaza. It

12996-602: 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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