The Fulton Theatre was a Broadway theatre located at 210 West 46th Street in Manhattan , New York City , that was opened in 1911. It was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1955. The theatre was demolished in 1982. After the former Little Theatre on 44th Street became the current Helen Hayes Theatre , the Fulton Theatre was sometimes referred to as the First Helen Hayes Theatre .
95-683: The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . Opened in 1986, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization . There are about 1,612 seats in the auditorium, spread across an orchestra level and a balcony. The Marquis was designed by John C. Portman Jr. , who designed
190-472: 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
285-750: A Dream had also been proposed for 2013 but was canceled. 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 Marquis. The theater hosted only one production in 2014, The Illusionists ' Witness the Impossible magic show, which made a profit on its limited run. The theater hosted Penn & Teller on Broadway and On Your Feet! in 2015; Lewis Black : Black to
380-839: 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
475-449: 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,
570-663: 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
665-434: 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
760-540: 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
855-565: 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
950-906: 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
1045-716: A group of investors that included Crown Acquisitions and the Qatar Investment Authority . Tootsie also played at the Marquis Theatre in 2019. The Marquis and all other Broadway theaters were temporarily closed on March 12, 2020 , due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The theater reopened in April 2022, when the musical Beetlejuice relocated from the Winter Garden Theatre ; the musical ran until January 2023. The Jonas Brothers performed
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#17327723266951140-519: A hotel. The theater was included as part of a deal between Portman and the New York City Board of Estimate to increase the size of the hotel, which was completed in 1985. The main entrance is at 210 West 46th Street while the stage door is hidden behind a column on 45th Street. The hotel's third through seventh stories also contain theater offices. The ground-level box office is decorated with black marble and brass railings. The box office
1235-532: 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
1330-596: A limited five-night engagement of the show Jonas Brothers On Broadway = 5 Albums 5 Nights at the Marquis Theatre from March 14 to March 18, 2023. The jukebox musical Once Upon a One More Time opened at the Marquis Theatre in June 2023 and closed that September. In April 2024, a Broadway revival of The Wiz opened at the Marquis, running for four months. A Broadway revival of Elf the Musical opened in November 2024 at
1425-526: 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
1520-539: 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
1615-1152: 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
1710-410: A production and have these ticket fees added to their regular hotel bills. As designed, the stage area did not have its own heating system, and cast members could see their own breath during particularly cold days. Additionally, the hotel's sewer system had an exterior vent that was near the auditorium's air intake, causing widespread reports of nausea. The sewer system would back up into ten drainpipes in
1805-500: 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
1900-448: A revival of the production Gypsy , which was relatively successful. Afterward, the Marquis hosted a series of flops, such as Nick & Nora in 1991. During much of the 1990s, the theater hosted several short-lived productions. These included Man of La Mancha in 1992, The Goodbye Girl in 1993, and Damn Yankees in 1994. Afterward, Victor/Victoria opened in 1995 and ran for almost two years, with 734 performances. During
1995-431: 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
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#17327723266952090-402: A series of short-lived productions from the 1990s through the 2010s. The Marquis Theatre was designed by John C. Portman Jr. and is on the third story of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel. The site occupies the west side of Broadway , between 45th and 46th Streets, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City . It is the only Broadway theater that is entirely within
2185-481: 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
2280-580: 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
2375-475: 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
2470-766: Is no freight elevator. A theater was first proposed in 1973 as part of the Portman Hotel, which subsequently became the Marriott Marquis. The hotel plans were canceled in 1975 due to a lack of funding, though the plans were revived in 1978. The plans entailed the demolition of five theaters: the original Helen Hayes , the Morosco , the Bijou , and remnants of the Astor and the Gaiety . After several years of delays,
2565-423: Is so small that, as designed, theater visitors had to exit the building to take an escalator up to the theater. The up escalator ends at a narrow hallway that leads to the auditorium. The down escalator from the auditorium leads to a narrow area at ground level. Due to the lack of space in the theater, there is no dedicated theater lobby, and restrooms are placed in the hotel's common area. There are 1,612 seats in
2660-520: 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
2755-610: 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
2850-750: 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 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,
2945-580: 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;
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3040-903: The Marriott Marquis Hotel , which now houses the Marquis Theatre . Parts of the Helen Hayes Theatre were salvaged before the theatre's demolition and were used to build the Shakespeare Center , home of the Riverside Shakespeare Company on the Upper West Side , which was dedicated by Hayes and Joseph Papp in September 1982. Since Helen Hayes was still living at the time of her namesake theater's demolition,
3135-427: 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
3230-476: 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
3325-409: 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
3420-536: 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,
3515-619: 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
3610-738: 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
3705-574: 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
3800-456: 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
3895-529: The Future in 2016; and Escape to Margaritaville and The Illusionists' Magic of the Holidays in 2018. The theater was also used to tape A Very Wicked Halloween: Celebrating 15 Years on Broadway , a television special, in 2018. In September 2018, Vornado acquired full ownership of the Marquis Theatre and the hotel's retail space for $ 442 million. The following year, Vornado sold almost half of its stake to
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3990-457: 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
4085-684: The Marquis in 2009, making it the first Chinese production to play on Broadway. This was followed the same year by 9 to 5 and another limited engagement of White Christmas. During 2010, the Marquis hosted the Jimmy Awards for high school students, as well as the productions Come Fly Away and Donny & Marie: A Broadway Christmas . This was followed by Wonderland: Alice's New Musical Adventure (2011), Follies (2011), Evita (2012), Jekyll & Hyde (2013), and Il Divo – A Musical Affair: The Greatest Songs of Broadway (2013). A limited holiday engagement of The Rascals: Once Upon
4180-493: The Marriott Marquis and included the theater to increase the size of the hotel. The theater's main entrance and box office are at 210 West 46th Street. The box office is at ground level, and there are escalators leading from the ground floor to the auditorium. Due to a lack of space, the wings on each side of the proscenium arch are smaller than mandated by city building codes. The theater also has no freight elevator, no dedicated restroom facilities, and small hallways. A theater
4275-405: The Nederlanders' other theaters. The production closed at the end of 1989 to make way for the Broadway run of the musical Annie 2 , which itself was canceled in early 1990. The Marquis next hosted Shogun: The Musical in November 1990. The production starred Philip Casnoff , who was hospitalized after being hit by debris during a preview, and Shogun ultimately flopped . The Marquis also hosted
4370-604: 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
4465-535: 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
4560-431: The Shubert Organization the right to operate the theater. Shubert chairman Gerald Schoenfeld had expressed doubts, saying: "I'm not sure that theater is a plum. It depends on the economics." The Nederlander Organization won the rights to operate the hotel's theater in November 1984 and signed a lease the following year. The theater was planned to have its own entrance on Broadway, while the hotel's entrances would be to
4655-449: The architects Herts & Tallant for Henry B. Harris and Jesse Lasky , it was originally opened on April 27, 1911, under the name Folies-Bergere as a dinner theatre with vaudeville . The building featured three murals and a color scheme by leading American muralist William de Leftwich Dodge . Eighteen-year-old Mae West was discovered here by The New York Times at her Broadway debut on September 22, 1911. Closing after that,
4750-401: The auditorium proper, spread across an orchestra level and a balcony level. The auditorium was originally designed with a rose-and-burgundy color scheme, as well as light-colored wood and white plaster. There are wood-paneled areas above the balcony, which conceal a large portion of the lighting fixtures. As designed, Portman intended for all seats to be no farther than 80 ft (24 m) from
4845-492: 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
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#17327723266954940-435: 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
5035-476: 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
5130-550: 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
5225-581: The critically acclaimed Thoroughly Modern Millie from 2002 to 2004, its following two shows, La Cage aux Folles in 2004 and The Woman in White in 2005, had abbreviated runs due to poor box office returns. The Marquis's other events included a choir performance in October 2001 to celebrate the release of the Windows XP operating system, as well as events to benefit charities. The theater also hosted
5320-422: 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
5415-679: 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,
5510-426: 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. Fulton Theatre Built by
5605-456: 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,
5700-467: 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
5795-485: The middle-class, variety shows in concert saloons for men of the working class and the slumming middle-class." The plays of William Shakespeare were frequently performed on the Broadway stage during the period, most notably by American actor Edwin Booth who was internationally known for his performance as Hamlet . Booth played the role for a famous 100 consecutive performances at the Winter Garden Theatre in 1865 (with
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#17327723266955890-509: The nearby Little Theatre at 240 West 44th Street was renamed in her honor in 1983. Besides Mae West, the Fulton has also had English actor Robert Morley in the title role of the play Oscar Wilde by Leslie and Sewell Stokes in 1938. The play ran for 247 performances and its success launched Morley's career as a stage actor on both sides of the Atlantic. Audrey Hepburn starred in
5985-420: 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
6080-557: 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
6175-512: The old theaters were demolished in 1982, despite major opposition to the demolition of the theaters and to the hotel itself. In mid-1983, the Marriott chain began negotiating with potential theater operators. The Times Square Hotel Company, which was developing the Marriott Marquis, wanted any potential operator to pay $ 3.6 million a year. Marriott received bids from ten organizations, which were then reduced to four finalists before Marriott offered
6270-406: The overall design "is not a theater environment but that of a hotel, of homogenized 'hospitality', better suited to a convention than a chorus line." Some Broadway performers also boycotted the Marquis because of the controversy over the construction of the Marriott Marquis hotel. The theater advertised its productions through the hotel's in-house television channel. Hotel guests could buy tickets to
6365-537: The panels. Under New York City building guidelines, the wings are typically supposed to be as wide as the proscenium arch; however, there was not enough space in the hotel to accommodate 40-foot-wide wings. Instead, the wings are 20 feet (6.1 m) in width, a modification approved by the New York City Planning Commission . In addition, the fly space is about 58 feet (18 m) above the stage, shorter than in comparable theaters. There
6460-556: 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
6555-468: 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
6650-589: The production of The Drowsy Chaperone in 2006. Chaperone was slightly modified for its run at the Marquis, wherein the Man In Chair remarks that the production within the show originally played the Morosco Theatre, but "it was torn down in 1982, and replaced with an enormous hotel. Unforgivable." The Marquis then hosted Cry-Baby and a limited run of Irving Berlin's White Christmas during 2008. The martial arts show Soul of Shaolin played at
6745-423: 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
6840-645: 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
6935-531: 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
7030-467: The run of Victor/Victoria , producer John Scher had tried to provide a "hospitality suite" in the adjacent hotel, but it was unsuccessful. Other flops followed, including The Capeman in 1998, which closed after only two months and was replaced by Forever Tango . The theater also hosted a revival of Peter Pan in 1998 and Annie Get Your Gun in 1999. Through the early 2000s, the Marquis had mixed success with its productions. While it played host to
7125-473: 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
7220-586: The sides, on 45th and 46th Streets. The plans for the theater were released in January 1985, the design features were highly criticized, especially by the Shuberts, who had supported the hotel. Among the complaints were that the theater was hard to access, being on the third floor; the gridiron on the theater's ceiling was too low; and the theater restrooms were in the hotel lobby, which was on the eighth floor. The Times Square Hotel Company proposed in April 1985 that
7315-470: 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
7410-542: The stage. To make the auditorium seem cozier than similarly new theaters, such as the Minskoff Theatre and Uris Theatre , the Marquis's designers placed boxes on either side of the stage. The proscenium arch is 40 feet (12 m) wide. Speakers are hidden behind cloth coverings on either side of the proscenium. The stage, which is underneath the proscenium, consists of oak panels measuring 3 by 6 feet (0.91 by 1.83 m); trap doors can be placed under any of
7505-434: 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
7600-431: The theater wings beside the proscenium be enlarged, since the wings would only be 20 feet 10 inches (6.35 m) wide. The theater ultimately cost $ 30 million and took a year to construct. The Marquis opened July 9, 1986, with a series of concerts by Shirley Bassey . The first musical to play the Marquis was Me and My Girl , which opened the following month. Architectural critic Herbert Muschamp wrote that
7695-407: The theater's floor. The Actors' Equity Association threatened to withdraw its actors from the theater, and the Nederlanders agreed the plumbing and ventilation systems were problematic. This prompted Marriott to spend $ 500,000 on a dedicated heating, ventilation, and plumbing system for the Marquis Theatre in January 1988. Me and My Girl was particularly popular, despite a dearth of productions in
7790-450: The theatre for a run lasting until January 2025. Stranger Things: The First Shadow is scheduled to open at the theater in April 2025. Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. Evita achieved the box office record for the Marquis Theatre seven times; it grossed $ 1,586,902 over eight performances for the week ending May 10, 2012. This was surpassed by Beetlejuice , which grossed $ 2,462,831 over nine performances for
7885-514: The theatre reopened on October 20, 1911, as the Fulton Theatre, a conventional playhouse. The theatre was managed by Abraham L. Erlanger from 1921, until his death in 1930. In 1955, the theatre was renamed the Helen Hayes Theatre in honor of the renowned actress Helen Hayes and re-opened under that name on November 21. In 1982, the theatre was demolished, along with the Morosco , Bijou , Gaiety and Astor Theatres , to make way for
7980-534: 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
8075-481: 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
8170-461: 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
8265-568: 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 ,
8360-568: 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
8455-692: 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
8550-510: The week ending January 1, 2023. 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 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
8645-519: 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,
8740-539: 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
8835-644: 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
8930-509: Was proposed on the site in 1973 as part of a hotel (later the Marriott Marquis), the completion of which was delayed until 1985. The hotel had controversially replaced several existing theaters, and the design features of the new Marquis Theatre were highly criticized, even by the hotel's supporters. The theater opened in July 1986 with concerts by Shirley Bassey , followed by the long-running Me and My Girl . The Marquis then hosted
9025-602: 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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