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144-856: The Palace Theatre is a Broadway theater at 1564 Broadway , at the north end of Times Square , in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . Designed by Milwaukee architects Kirchhoff & Rose , the theater was funded by Martin Beck and opened in 1913. From its opening to about 1929, the Palace was considered among vaudeville performers as the flagship venue of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Franklin Albee II 's organization. The theater had 1,648 seats across three levels as of 2018. The modern Palace Theatre consists of

288-429: A DoubleTree Suites), designed by Fox & Fowle , was built on the site between 1987 and 1991, replacing the office wing on Broadway. The hotel had 460 suites and was 43 stories tall. The theater's facade was almost entirely hidden behind 10,000 square feet (930 m) of billboards for the first 120 feet (37 m) of the hotel's height, as per zoning regulations governing buildings on Times Square. The hotel leased

432-440: A cartouche with putti . There is a flat ceiling surface with a pair of curved triangular panels, as well as a dome with modillions , rosettes , and fruit-and-flower moldings. There is an old-ivory bronze chandelier measuring 14 feet (4.3 m) across, which hangs from a pendant on the ceiling. The proscenium arch measures 44 feet (13 m) across. It contains pellet, egg-and-dart , and acanthus-leaf moldings surrounding

576-609: A $ 2 billion mixed-use structure with a 669-room hotel, which was built around, above, and below the Palace's auditorium. The new structure retains the lowest 16 stories of the DoubleTree structure. The area occupied by the 1987 lobby was replaced with retail space, extending three levels below ground. This required the auditorium to be raised by about 30 feet (9.1 m). The auditorium is supported by columns that, in turn, rest on caissons extending 45 feet (14 m) deep. About 10,000 square feet (930 m) of back of house space

720-615: A $ 200,000 settlement in May 1913, after the theater had opened. The Palace's programming was still unknown to the public until February 1913, when The New York Times announced the theater would be "something along the lines of English music halls", with events such as ballets, rather than "strict vaudeville". The theater finally opened on March 24, 1913, with headliner Ed Wynn . Tickets cost $ 1.50 for matinees and $ 2.00 for nighttime performances. The screenwriter Marian Spitzer wrote of opening day: "The theatre itself, living up to advance publicity,

864-468: A 1965 renovation. Additional boxes exist on both sides of both balcony levels. The first balcony level has one additional box behind each niche. The second balcony level has five curved boxes on each side in a terraced arrangement, with higher boxes being further from the stage. The fronts of the balcony-level boxes have decorative moldings, while the undersides of these boxes contain foliate ornamentation. Originally there were 20 boxes at orchestra level, 23 at

1008-471: A 40-by-25-foot (12.2 by 7.6 m) marquee in front of the office wing in April 1939. The next month, RKO announced the Palace would be renovated. The alterations included renovating the outer lobby with black-and-white granite walls and the inner lobby with zebra wood and black marble walls. Additionally, aluminum and bronze frames were installed in the outer lobby. The work also included installing doors between

1152-472: 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

1296-544: A Broadway venue with the original production of the musical Sweet Charity . The production ran at the Palace for 608 performances. The Nederlanders wished to keep the Palace Theatre open even when there was no theatrical engagement. For some time, the Palace showed films and presented concert performances between engagements. Judy Garland's performance in July 1967 was recorded for a live album, Judy Garland at Home at

1440-839: 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

1584-451: A band of acanthus leaves. The top of the arch consists of a keystone with a molding of a child's head. A sounding board rises above the proscenium arch, with foliate bands at the perimeter. At the center of the sounding board, above the stage, is a circular panel depicting a lyre . The orchestra pit is at the front of the orchestra seating level, in front of the proscenium. It dates from a 1965 renovation and contains high walls. The stage

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1728-449: 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,

1872-506: A brick or terracotta facade on 47th Street. The interior had French decorations. The auditorium originally had a seating capacity of 1,820, with double balcony levels and 20 boxes arranged in tiers. It was characterized as having an ivory-and-bronze color scheme. Five massive girders spanned the auditorium; each measured 86 feet (26 m) long and 8 feet (2.4 m) deep, weighing 30 short tons (27 long tons; 27 t). There were also 32 or 36 dressing rooms. An Embassy Suites hotel (later

2016-663: 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

2160-434: 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

2304-469: A city landmark, is the only portion of the original theater that survives. It is placed in a rigid enclosure that is structurally separate from the buildings within which it has been housed. The auditorium has boxes, two balconies above an orchestra level, and a large stage behind an oversized proscenium arch. The auditorium's width is slightly greater than its depth. The foyer and lobby were designed with plaster decorations in high relief , which alluded to

2448-540: 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

2592-565: 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

2736-906: 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

2880-463: A fixture of many homes in the American South before air conditioning was common. An alternative to sliding screen doors is a version of pocket doors , retractable screen doors which 'disappear' out of sight into their own protective housing or casing. These casings can be mounted in several ways. An inside mount is where it can be flush with the door frame. A surface mount can be mounted on

3024-532: 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

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3168-526: 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

3312-539: 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

3456-1152: 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

3600-423: A performance on August 28, 1935, before 800 theatergoers. Bossalina's act was not a trapeze but rather fixed towers in which the acrobats were "cast from one to the other". Comedian Pat Henning started his act in front of a curtain that was pulled right after the accident. Bossalina died in 1963. According to television channel NY1 , sightings of Bossalina only occurred through the 1980s, though another source cited

3744-519: A private one inside. The theater entrance was 40 feet (12 m) wide and contained an outer lobby with either Pavanazzo or yellow Carrara marble and a Siena-marble inner lobby. The lobbies were accessed by two sets of stained-glass, bronze-framed screen doors . There were stairs to the upper floors in the inner lobby. Past the two lobbies was a foyer that led directly to the auditorium (see Palace Theatre (New York City) § Auditorium ). The theater wing measured 88 by 125 feet (27 by 38 m). It had

3888-500: 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

4032-543: A rectangular pattern. The front edge of the second balcony's underside contains guilloche moldings interspersed with oak branches, above which are decorative moldings with masks. The second balcony's side walls have decorative pilasters that support a frieze , as well as exit doors with curved pediments . The ceiling of the second balcony has ventilation grates, which are not part of the original design. The orchestra level has boxes on either side, divided by white-marble barriers with black-marble baseboards. On either side of

4176-431: 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

4320-455: A screen channel to hold the window screen material. Rollformed aluminum sliding screen doors are the least expensive to produce because they can be manufactured from thin aluminum sheets formed into a relatively strong rectangular shape. Rollformed screen doors have mitered corners into which a steel or aluminum alloy corner is forced using a friction fit . If a steel corner is used, the rollformed sections are often pierced or staked into

4464-481: 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

Palace Theatre (New York City) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4608-475: A sighting in the 1990s during a showing of Beauty and the Beast . Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. This list only includes Broadway shows; it does not include vaudeville shows or films. Broadway theater 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

4752-619: A term that can also apply to non-commercial, avant-garde , or productions held outside of traditional theater venues. The Theater District is an internationally prominent tourist attraction in New York City . According to The Broadway League , shows on Broadway sold approximately US$ 1.54 billion worth of tickets in both the 2022-2023 and the 2023–2024 seasons. Both seasons featured theater attendance of approximately 12.3 million each. Most Broadway shows are musicals . Historian Martin Shefter argues that "Broadway musicals, culminating in

4896-407: A three-level auditorium at 47th Street , which is a New York City designated landmark . The auditorium contains ornately designed plasterwork, boxes on the side walls, and two balcony levels that slope downward toward the stage . When it opened, the theater was accompanied by an 11- or 12-story office wing facing Broadway, also designed by Kirchhoff & Rose. The Palace was most successful as

5040-632: A truce in 1906, wherein Orpheum would control vaudeville west of Chicago and Keith–Albee would control vaudeville east of Chicago, including New York City. This truce was implemented in 1907. Beck and Herman Fehr announced in December 1911 that they had leased the site with plans to construct a venue, the Palace Theatre. Beck's representatives initially said the Palace would not be part of the Orpheum interests and, therefore, would not be used to show vaudeville. Beck subsequently recanted, saying he would use

5184-468: A vaudeville house in the 1910s and 1920s. Under RKO Theatres , it became a movie palace called the RKO Palace Theatre in the 1930s, though it continued to host intermittent vaudeville shows in the 1950s. The Nederlander Organization purchased the Palace in 1965 and reopened the venue as a Broadway theater the next year. The theater closed for an extensive renovation from 1987 to 1991, when

5328-405: A vaudeville-before-film policy on January 7, 1933, two months after it started showing films exclusively. The venue spent the next two years alternating between film-only and vaudeville-before-film formats. For fourteen years beginning in 1935, the Palace showed movies almost exclusively. The booking office in the Palace Theatre's office wing moved several blocks away to Radio City Music Hall . There

5472-580: 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

5616-487: Is at 1568 Broadway , at the southeast corner of Seventh Avenue and 47th Street , in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It faces Duffy Square , the northern end of Times Square . The theater's site abuts the I. Miller Building and Embassy Theatre to the south. The Palace Theatre was designed by Milwaukee architects Kirchhoff & Rose and was completed in 1913. The theater

5760-822: Is behind the proscenium arch and orchestra pit. The stage historically had a Wurlitzer Opus 303 organ. The orchestra and stage both have stage lifts . The vaudevillian Martin Beck was the operator of the Orpheum Circuit , which in the early 20th century was the dominant vaudeville circuit on the West Coast of the United States . Its East Coast complement was the Keith–Albee circuit, composed of Benjamin Franklin Keith and Edward Albee , who operated venues both by themselves and through their United Booking Office. The Orpheum and Keith–Albee circuits had proposed

5904-485: Is scheduled to close on December 8 after 24 previews and 29 regular performances. The ghost of acrobat Louis Bossalina allegedly haunts the theater. Observers have said that the ghost is a white-clothed figure swinging in the air before emitting a "blood-curdling scream" and falling. Bossalina, who was a member of the acrobatic act the Four Casting Pearls, was injured when he fell 18 feet (5.5 m) during

Palace Theatre (New York City) - Misplaced Pages Continue

6048-571: Is usually held on a Sunday evening in June to fit this schedule. In recent years, some shows have moved their Tuesday show time an hour earlier to 7:00 pm. The rationale for this move was that since fewer tourists take in shows midweek, Tuesday attendance depends more on local patrons. The earlier curtain makes it possible for suburban patrons to get home by a reasonable hour after the show. Some shows, especially those produced by Disney , change their performance schedules fairly frequently depending on

6192-441: The 25th Tony Awards in 1971. During this time, the theater hosted the musical Applause , which had opened in 1970 and ran for 896 performances over two years. The next hit was the musical Lorelei , which opened in 1974 and lasted ten months. The musical Man of La Mancha ran at the Palace for three months in 1977; it was followed in 1979 by the musical Oklahoma! , which had 301 performances. Yet another musical, Woman of

6336-498: The American Civil War , wire cloth was coated with paint and sold for window screens. Aluminium sliding screen doors are generally constructed by two methods: rollformed or extruded. In both cases the rectangular rollformed or extruded shapes are joined together into a door frame using metal corners or screws. The first are rollformed from thin aluminium sheets into a rectangular shaped door frame which incorporates

6480-610: 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

6624-462: The COVID-19 pandemic in New York City , as the TSX Broadway project had hotel rooms and was thus classified as an "essential jobsite". Construction of TSX Broadway's superstructure began the next year. The theater also underwent a renovation, which involved restoring the plasterwork and original chandelier, adding sound insulation, and erecting a new box office and new restrooms. The auditorium

6768-580: 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;

6912-503: The Nederlander Organization , which controls nine theatres; and ATG Entertainment , which owns seven Broadway houses. Both musicals and straight plays on Broadway often rely on casting well-known performers in leading roles to draw larger audiences or bring in new audience members to the theatre. Actors from film and television are frequently cast for the revivals of Broadway shows or are used to replace actors leaving

7056-476: 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

7200-480: The TSX Broadway development. The Palace Theatre was originally composed of an office wing along Times Square, as well as the theater wing on 47th Street that contained the auditorium. The original building's site was assembled from ten land lots at 1564–1566 Broadway and 156–170 West 47th Street, which were arranged in an "L" shape. The Broadway lots collectively measured 40 by 80 feet (12 by 24 m), while

7344-615: The Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway , in Midtown Manhattan , New York City . Broadway and London 's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world . While the Broadway thoroughfare is eponymous with the district, it is closely identified with Times Square . Only three theaters are located on Broadway itself: Broadway Theatre , Palace Theatre , and Winter Garden Theatre . The rest are located on

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7488-436: The "Valhalla of Vaudeville". Performer Jack Haley wrote: Only a vaudevillian who has trod its stage can really tell you about it ... only a performer can describe the anxieties, the joys, the anticipation, and the exultation of a week's engagement at the Palace. The walk through the iron gate on 47th Street through the courtyard to the stage door, was the cum laude walk to a show business diploma. A feeling of ecstasy came with

7632-409: 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

7776-470: The 2020s using plaster molds and historical photographs. As of 2024, the theater has 1,648 seats; prior to its closure in 2018, the auditorium had 1,743 seats. The orchestra level has a raked floor that slopes downward toward the stage. Both balcony levels have curved fronts and cantilever above the orchestra, sloping downward toward the stage. All three levels contain promenades, which have cornices on their ceilings. Staircases behind each promenade connect

7920-536: The 47th Street lots measured 137 by 100 feet (42 by 30 m). This structure was designed by Kirchhoff & Rose, with James J. F. Gavigan as an associate architect. The steelwork was constructed by the George A. Just Company. The office wing was an 11-story or 12-story structure, which served as the theater's main entrance. In the original building's later years, the entrance had a marquee . The office wing had an ornate marble facade, as well as two public elevators and

8064-617: The Beast from 1994 to 1999, before it transferred to the Lunt-Fontanne . Aida , which ran from 2000 through 2004, had 1,852 performances. The theater also staged Legally Blonde: The Musical from 2007 to 2008; West Side Story from 2009 to 2011; Priscilla, Queen of the Desert from 2011 to 2012; and Annie from 2012 to 2014. As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2014,

8208-536: The Broadway national tour, which travels to theatres in major cities across the country. Sometimes when a show closes on Broadway, the entire production, with most if not all of the original cast intact, is relaunched as a touring company, hence the name "Broadway national tour". Some shows may even have several touring companies out at a time, whether the show is still running in New York or not, with many companies "sitting down" in other major cities for their own extended runs. For Broadway national tours of top-tier cities,

8352-619: 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

8496-738: 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

8640-574: 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

8784-595: The Century ran a limited engagement from November 2016 to January 2017, and Sunset Boulevard also had a limited engagement from February to June 2017. In 2015, the Nederlander Organization and Maefield Development announced another renovation in conjunction with the TSX Broadway development. The project would include a new lobby and entrance on 47th Street as well as dressing rooms and other patron amenities. The landmark interior would be raised 30 feet (9.1 m) to accommodate ground-floor retail spaces. The LPC approved

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8928-456: 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

9072-538: The Keith–Albee circuit, to which Beck acquiesced. Albee moved the B. F. Keith office to the fifth floor, and the UBO office moved to the office wing as well. Furthermore, Willie Hammerstein held the exclusive franchise to vaudeville performances around Times Square. Because of the vaudeville restriction, Werba & Luescher obtained an option on the new theater in mid-1912. Hammerstein initially refused to sell his exclusive vaudeville franchise to Albee, but Hammerstein agreed to

9216-598: The LPC in June 1988 to overturn the landmark designations of 22 theaters, including the Palace, on the merit that the designations severely limited the extent to which the theaters could be modified. The lawsuit was escalated to the New York Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States , but these designations were ultimately upheld in 1992. Meanwhile, the office wing was demolished (except for

9360-457: 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

9504-464: The Monday matinee was generally considered among vaudevillians to be the most important of any given week, with the harshest audience. A failed act would generally be eliminated from the evening shows. Because of the constant rotations of acts, Variety observed in 1914 that the theater was "using up headliners at an alarming rate". At its peak, the Palace's annual profit was $ 500,000, and the average bill

9648-554: The Nederlanders agreed to improve disabled access at their nine Broadway theaters, including the Palace. Also in early 2014, the orchestra seating was rearranged as part of a $ 200,000 renovation prior to the opening of Holler If Ya Hear Me ; that musical opened in June 2014 and ran for six weeks. An American in Paris , a stage adaptation of the 1951 MGM film , opened in April 2015 for an 18-month run. The Illusionists : Turn of

9792-500: The Nederlanders formally acquired the theater the same month. The Nederlanders incorporated the All State Amusement Corporation to operate the theater. For the Palace to break even , each production would have to gross $ 65,000 a week. The Nederlanders spent $ 500,000 to renovate the venue into a legitimate theater . Many of the decorations that were added after the theater's opening were removed, revealing

9936-604: 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

10080-536: The Palace for several consecutive weeks due to their popularity, which turned away subscription holders who wished for more variety; furthermore, many acts demanded increased salaries. After Keith–Albee–Orpheum merged with RCA and the Film Booking Office to form RKO Pictures in 1928, the circuit's vaudeville houses became movie houses. In 1929, the Keith's booking office relocated from the fifth floor of

10224-514: The Palace for vaudeville. In February 1912, Kirchhoff & Rose and Gavigan filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for a theater building at Broadway and 47th Street. Due to the truce between Orpheum and Keith–Albee, Edward Albee initially said any vaudeville act that played the Palace would not be allowed on the Keith–Albee circuit. Albee demanded that Beck turn over three-quarters ownership to use acts from

10368-413: The Palace in nearly 18 years. The Palace also attracted acts including Lauritz Melchior , José Greco , Betty Hutton , Danny Kaye , Dick Shawn , and Phil Spitalny . Garland returned for a successful run in 1956, this time with Alan King . While the shows were successful, they did not lead to a revival of the vaudeville format. According to theatrical historian Ken Bloom , the Palace "limped along into

10512-553: The Palace: Opening Night ; it was followed the same year by a double bill with Eddie Fisher and Buddy Hackett . Later in 1967, the musical Henry, Sweet Henry had a relatively short run of 80 performances. More successful was George M! , which opened in 1968 and ran over 400 performances. During the 1970s, the Palace hosted live performances from Josephine Baker , Bette Midler , Vikki Carr , Shirley MacLaine , and Diana Ross . The Palace additionally hosted

10656-535: 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

10800-553: The RKO Palace tried to revive vaudeville with a slate of eight acts before a feature film. Within two months of vaudeville being reintroduced, Schwartz said patronage was "very encouraging". The Palace was closed for a two-week renovation in October 1951. After the Palace reopened, Judy Garland staged a 19-week comeback at the venue , supported by acts such as Max Bygraves . This was the first occurrence of two-a-day vaudeville at

10944-525: The Year , opened in 1981 and stayed for two years. The Palace's most successful production in its first two decades was La Cage aux Folles , which opened in 1983 and ran for more than four years. Developer Larry Silverstein had planned to build a skyscraper on the Palace Theater's site since the mid-1980s. Such a development was contingent on his ability to acquire a Bowery Savings Bank branch at

11088-492: 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

11232-488: The backstage facilities were enlarged. The Palace Theatre's original facade on 47th Street, consisting of rusticated limestone blocks at the first floor and brick on the upper stories, still remained but was not protected as a New York City landmark. The theater's lobby was also not protected as a landmark. During the late 2010s and early 2020s, the DoubleTree/Palace site was redeveloped as part of TSX Broadway,

11376-435: 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

11520-476: 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

11664-550: 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

11808-497: The closing act) included: Other performers appearing at the Palace included: The circuit became Keith–Albee–Orpheum in 1925 and it acquired film companies the following year. With the Great Depression came a rise in the popularity of film and radio, and vaudeville saw a steep decline. The Paramount Theatre of 1926 and Roxy Theatre of 1927, in particular, were major competitors to the Palace. Many bills were held at

11952-420: The columns were two concrete-encased steel trusses, measuring 130 feet (40 m) long by 57 feet (17 m) tall and connected by 17 crossbeams. The theater's lobby, as well as the hotel's entrance and some retail shops, were on the ground story. The entrance to the theater was at approximately the same location as in the original building, and the lobby from the old office wing was preserved. The theater lobby

12096-586: The corner of 47th Street and Seventh Avenue, surrounded by the original Palace Theatre building. Even after acquiring that site, he had to wait until after the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) reviewed the theater for city-landmark status in 1987. If the landmark status was approved, Silverstein would have to build around the theater. This was part of the LPC's wide-ranging effort in 1987 to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters. Ultimately, only

12240-816: The corners, to help secure the corners together. If aluminum alloy corners are used, the corner relies on its friction fit alone to hold the door frame together. The weakest point of a rollformed sliding screen door is the corner. After repeated opening and closing, stresses will cause the rollformed shape to loosen in the area of the corner. The door will then stick and jam and typically will require replacement rather than repair. The second are extruded aluminum shapes, with aluminum frames made from thicker aluminum than rollformed doors. This makes an extruded aluminum door much stronger but also more expensive. Extruded aluminum screen door frames can be mitered and joined with aluminum alloy corners or can be notched out and joined together with screws that fit in screw holes made as part of

12384-422: 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

12528-628: 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,

12672-475: 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. Screen door The first screen doors were made using cheesecloth . After

12816-456: 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,

12960-495: The extrusion process. Extruded aluminum screen doors are generally longer lasting than rollformed screen doors. They are also more easily repaired since, if the corners break, new corners can be inserted without losing the friction fit necessary to hold the door together. Wood-framed screen doors, hinging and sliding, are also available from limited production and custom carpentry sources, used for aesthetic style and sustainable building applications. Wood-framed screen doors were

13104-577: The fifties with an occasional good week", but the popularity of television had restricted the profitability of the Palace's vaudeville. Performances by Jerry Lewis and Liberace , in 1957, failed to attract enough audience members. As a result, the Palace dropped its vaudeville policy in July 1957. Its film screenings began with James Cagney 's Man of a Thousand Faces on August 13, 1957. The films included The Diary of Anne Frank , which premiered in 1959. The Palace hosted one more vaudeville performance by Harry Belafonte in December 1959. The RKO Palace

13248-404: The first balcony, and 12 at the second balcony. There was also a projection booth behind the balcony for film screenings, which was built in the 1930s and removed in the 2020s. Pendentives at each corner of the auditorium support a wide coved ceiling . The cove is divided into a set of panels with different types of scrolls and floral moldings. The front of the cove, near the sounding board, has

13392-467: 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

13536-511: The inner and outer lobbies. The renovations were finished in August 1939. Further renovations followed in the early 1940s, when some of the boxes were removed since they did not have a good view of the cinema screen. The RKO Palace was closed for a $ 60,000 renovation in early 1949. It received new seats and carpets; upgraded acoustic features and stage; and a new ticket booth in the lobby. Beginning in May 1949, under RKO vice president Sol Schwartz,

13680-493: The interior was designated as a landmark; a similar status for the exterior was denied. The LPC wrote that the Palace Theatre would be "virtually uncontested" as the most famous Broadway theaters. In late 1987, the theater closed after the last performance of La Cage aux Folles . The New York City Board of Estimate ratified the landmark designation in March 1988. The Nederlanders, the Shuberts , and Jujamcyn collectively sued

13824-511: The knowledge that this was the Palace , the epitome of the more than 15,000 vaudeville theaters in America, and the realization that you have been selected to play it. Of all the thousands upon thousands of vaudeville performers in the business, you are there. This was a dream fulfilled; this was the pinnacle of Variety success. A typical bill would have nine acts, who would perform twice a day. The bills were rotated every Monday. Consequently,

13968-418: The lobby and one in the basement. The renovations made the Palace the only Broadway theater that was actually on Broadway, and, with 1,732 seats, the largest Broadway house. Ralph Alswang oversaw the restoration of the Palace. The Stage magazine printed the Palace Theatre's programs, competing with Playbill magazine, the traditional publisher of stage programs. On January 29, 1966, the Palace opened as

14112-476: The lobby), as were two stories above the auditorium and two ancillary structures. Silverstein developed a 43-story Embassy Suites hotel on the site. The theater received a $ 1.5 million renovation as part of the $ 150 million hotel project. The hotel was completed in September 1990. The Will Rogers Follies opened in the renovated theater on May 1, 1991, running until 1993. The Palace then presented Beauty and

14256-557: 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

14400-420: 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

14544-403: The number of attendees. The last week of straight vaudeville at the Palace premiered July 9, 1932, featuring Louis Sobol . Afterward, the Palace instituted a mixed policy of vaudeville before a feature film, which continued for several months. The last vaudeville accompaniment took place on November 12, 1932, with Nick Lucas and Hal Le Roy appearing on the closing bill. Thereafter, the Palace

14688-557: 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

14832-632: The numbered cross streets, extending from the Nederlander Theatre one block south of Times Square on West 41st Street, north along either side of Broadway to 53rd Street , and Vivian Beaumont Theater , at Lincoln Center on West 65th Street. While exceptions exist, the term "Broadway theatre" is used predominantly to describe venues with seating capacities of at least 500 people. Smaller theaters in New York City are referred to as off-Broadway , regardless of location, while very small venues with fewer than 100 seats are called off-off-Broadway ,

14976-447: The office wing to the sixth. To attract vaudeville-goers, the Palace added an electric piano in the lobby and colored lights in the auditorium during the late 1920s. Vaudeville was still popular as late as 1931, when Kate Smith had a ten-week-long run. After considering a three-a-day production, the Palace moved to four shows a day in May 1932 and lowered its admission prices. A fifth show was subsequently added, but this failed to increase

15120-522: The original building was partly demolished and replaced with the DoubleTree Suites Times Square Hotel; the theater was reopened within the DoubleTree in 1991. The DoubleTree Hotel was mostly demolished in 2019 to make way for the TSX Broadway development. As part of this project, the Palace closed again in 2018 and was lifted 30 feet (9.1 m) in early 2022. The renovation was completed in May 2024. The Palace Theatre

15264-428: The original design. Among the decorations uncovered were ironwork, marble balustrades, and the molded ceiling of the lobby. In the basement, workers found a gold vault that was filled with paint cans, as well as crystal chandeliers. The auditorium was outfitted with red decorations and gold-and-cream walls, while the basement was renovated to include a dressing room for the primary performer. Two bars were installed: one in

15408-556: 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

15552-478: The plan in November 2015, even as many preservationists expressed concern over the idea. The New York City Council approved the plan in June 2018, allowing the redevelopment to progress. The musical SpongeBob SquarePants was the last show to play at the theater prior to the renovation, running from December 2017 to September 2018. Demolition of the existing structure began in late 2019. Platt Byard Dovell White

15696-468: 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

15840-423: 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

15984-645: 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

16128-430: The proscenium are arched niches with a doorway at orchestra level and a box at the first balcony level. Each niche's box contains a doorway with pilasters on either side, which are topped by console brackets that support a curved pediment with a tympanum . The niches are topped by a recessed lunette that resembles a shell or sunburst. The niches originally contained three boxes each, but these were extensively altered in

16272-531: 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

16416-464: The same year, and the subsequent closure of the Victoria, contributed to the Palace's popularity. Keith also died in 1914, giving Albee even more control of the Palace. Albee sometimes traded on the performers' desire for this goal by forcing acts to accept smaller profits. To "play the Palace" meant that entertainers had reached the pinnacles of their vaudeville careers. The theater itself was nicknamed

16560-473: 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

16704-470: 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

16848-410: The surface of your door frame. Thirdly, you can build your casing inside the wall and your screen and casing will recess completely out of the way. These screen doors are custom made to fit the measurements of your doors. Most retractable doors use a spring-loaded roller very similar to a window blind, except the roller is mounted vertically when used in a door application. Screen material is attached to

16992-419: The theater had been raised 16 or 17 feet (4.9 or 5.2 m), in March 2022, the lifting process was temporarily paused while the new structural frame was installed. The lifting process was completed on April 5, 2022, though the formal celebration was held the next month. Afterward, the permanent supports under the auditorium were installed. At the time, TSX Broadway was planned to be completed in 2023, though this

17136-403: The theater opened. It was only after an appearance by French actress Sarah Bernhardt on May 5, 1913, that the Palace became popular. Except for a period from May to December 1913, the Palace had performances every day for the next two decades. By December 1914, Variety was characterizing the Palace as "the greatest vaudeville theater in America, if not the world". The death of Willie Hammerstein

17280-534: 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

17424-481: 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

17568-540: The three levels of seating. One of the staircases was nicknamed the "Judy Garland staircase" because the actress Judy Garland would use it for surprise entrances. In addition, an elevator connects all three seating levels. The first balcony level extends half the depth of the orchestra and contains two staircases about halfway through. The front of the balcony has decorative moldings with classical masks, while its underside contains plaster moldings of ropes. The second balcony contains rope moldings on its underside, which form

17712-461: 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

17856-568: 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 ,

18000-410: The unused air rights above the Palace Theatre to achieve a greater height than would normally be allowed under zoning regulations. The hotel was placed above and around the theater's original auditorium and stage house. The hotel rooms were supported by four steel-and-concrete "super columns", which each measured 145 feet (44 m) tall and were placed to the west and east of the auditorium. Resting on

18144-404: The vaudeville presented at the Palace, while the stage itself was originally sloped . Though the auditorium's orchestra level was originally at the ground story, it was raised to the third story when TSX Broadway was built. The New York Times described the auditorium as " Baroque with Beaux-Arts influences". Many of the original design features were removed over the years and were restored in

18288-568: 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

18432-692: 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

18576-453: Was Lillian Hellman 's Watch on the Rhine , which opened in April 1941. After the lean years of the Great Depression , Broadway theatre had entered a golden age with the blockbuster hit Oklahoma! , in 1943, which ran for 2,212 performances. According to John Kenrick 's writings on Broadway musicals, "Every season saw new stage musicals send songs to the top of the charts. Public demand,

18720-539: 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

18864-644: 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

19008-461: Was a brief return to a live revue format in 1936, when Broadway producer Nils Granlund staged a series of variety shows, beginning with "Broadway Heat Wave" featuring female orchestra leader Rita Rio . Among the films shown at the RKO Palace was the RKO picture Citizen Kane , which had its world premiere at the theater in 1941. In preparation for the 1939 New York World's Fair , RKO began to erect

19152-509: Was converted to a movie palace , showing films exclusively under RKO Pictures . The film-only policy was not initially successful because many major studios already operated their own theaters in Times Square. Theatrical historian Louis Botto said that "from the 1930s on, it was a constant struggle for survival" for the Palace, which frequently flipped between film-only, vaudeville/film, and live performance formats. The Palace reverted to

19296-462: Was created as part of the project. The main entrance was also relocated to 47th Street, where the facade was raised and a marquee sign was installed. Escalators along 47th Street connect the new entrance to a new orchestra-level lobby next to the raised auditorium. In total, the theater was expanded from 40,000 to 80,000 square feet (3,700 to 7,400 m). The auditorium, which the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has protected as

19440-425: Was divided into two sections leading into a foyer. Above that was a five-story atrium with some of the hotel's public spaces, which were placed between the beams, and 36 guestroom stories. A 12-foot-wide (3.7 m) emergency exit was preserved on the eastern side of the theater. Within the theater itself, mezzanine restrooms, an air-conditioning system, and an elevator to the second balcony were installed. Furthermore,

19584-440: Was funded by Martin Beck , a vaudeville entrepreneur. The theater has been housed in three buildings over the years. While the interior space dates to the 1913 design by Kirchhoff & Rose, the original theater building was partly demolished in 1988 and the theater space was renovated inside the DoubleTree Suites Times Square Hotel, completed between 1990 and 1991. The DoubleTree Hotel was itself demolished in 2019 to make way for

19728-442: Was hired to redesign the Palace Theatre's interior. The reconstruction was originally estimated to keep the Palace closed until 2021. The renovation was delayed during 2019 because the contractors needed to inspect an adjacent building, but the property's owners did not grant permission for the inspection for over a year. The old 1568 Broadway building was being demolished by early 2020. Work was only interrupted for three weeks during

19872-433: Was no longer profitable as a cinema by March 1965, and RKO considered selling it to Sherman S. Krellberg for conversion into a Broadway theater . That July, the Nederlander Organization agreed to purchase the Palace from RKO for about $ 1.4 million or $ 1.6 million. The Nederlanders also acquired the ground lease, which had 52 years remaining in its term. The last film to play the RKO Palace was Harlow in August 1965, and

20016-410: Was paid $ 12,000. About three-quarters of revenue was from subscriptions, and many patrons who regularly visited the Monday afternoon shows were subscription holders. Performing comedians would select "stooges" from the Palace's box seats. The audience members in the right-side first-balcony boxes would generally assist the performers. Throughout vaudeville's heyday, the headliners (usually billed next to

20160-482: Was raised starting in January 2022. During the lift, the bottom of the auditorium was cushioned by a 5-foot-thick (1.5 m) layer of concrete, installed by foundation engineer Urban Foundation Engineering. The lift was conducted using 34 hydraulic posts, which were sunk 30 feet (9.1 m) into the ground. The posts consisted of telescoping beams, which moved the auditorium by 0.25 inches (6.4 mm) an hour. After

20304-434: Was spacious, handsome and lavishly decorated in crimson and gold. But nothing happened that afternoon to suggest the birth of a great theatrical tradition." Rather, the public mostly considered its $ 2 admission fees to be expensive. The media widely mocked the opening bill; four days after the Palace opened, Variety magazine printed an article entitled "Palace $ 2 Vaudeville a Joke: Double-Crossing Boomerang". Also problematic

20448-427: Was the presence of Hammerstein's Victoria Theatre , a much more successful and established vaudeville venue. The Variety article noted that, while the Victoria had played to capacity two days in a row, the Palace had to give out free coupons to half the guests and still struggled to fill the balcony seats. The Palace's first success was the one-act play Miss Civilization, featuring Ethel Barrymore , six weeks after

20592-430: Was then delayed to the first quarter of 2024. Although the cost of the renovation was estimated in 2022 at $ 50 million, the project ultimately cost $ 80 million. In March 2024, the Nederlander Organization announced that the theater would reopen on May 28, 2024, with a concert residency by Ben Platt . The residency lasted for 18 performances. This was followed by the musical Tammy Faye , which opened in November 2024 and

20736-602: 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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