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Bright Lights: Theaters in the City

Each month the Landmarks Conservancy highlights New York City’s extraordinarily rich architectural heritage by featuring a different building style or function. As the City we love continues to reopen we are proud to celebrate the return of Broadway and the magic of live theater and will feature many of the majestic houses that have hosted iconic music and memorable performances across the decades.

ByNew York Landmarks Conservancy logoNew York Landmarks Conservancy
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Capitol Theatre
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Capitol Theatre

Gershwin Theatre 222 West 51st Street The Gershwin Theatre opened in 1972 as the Uris Theatre. Designed in Art Nouveau style by set designer Ralph Alswang, it is situated on the lower levels of a towering office complex on the site of the historical Capitol Theatre. It has the largest seating capacity of any Broadway theatre with 1,933 seats. The theatre was rechristened to honor brothers George Gershwin, a composer, and Ira Gershwin, a lyricist in 1983.
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Palace Theatre
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Palace Theatre

Palace Theatre 1564 Broadway Designed by Milwaukee architects Kirchoff & Rose, the 1,740-seat theatre was funded by Martin Beck, a vaudeville entrepreneur based in San Francisco. From 1913 through about 1929, the Palace attained legendary status among vaudeville performers as the flagship of the Keith–Albee organization, and the most desired booking in the country. The Palace was designated a City Landmark in 1987.
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Shubert Theatre
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Shubert Theatre

Shubert Theatre 225 West 44th Street Designed by architect Henry Beaumont Herts, the Shubert Theatre is named after Sam S. Shubert, the second oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family. It shares a Venetian Renaissance facade with the adjoining Booth Theatre, which was constructed at the same time, although the two have distinctly different interiors. The two theatres are connected by a private road/sidewalk, "Shubert Alley". The Shubert opened on October 2, 1913 with “Hamlet”, starring Sir John Forbes-Robertson. The theatre's longest tenant was “A Chorus Line”, which ran for 6,137 performances from 1975 to 1990 and set the record for longest running show in Broadway history. The theatre has also been a recurring venue for the Tony Awards. The top floor of the building houses the offices of the Shubert Organization. The theatre's auditorium and murals were restored in 1996. The Shubert Theatre was designated a New York City landmark in 1987.
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Lyceum Theatre
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Lyceum Theatre

Lyceum Theatre 149 West 45th Street Built in 1903, the Lyceum is Broadway’s oldest continually operating theater. When the theater opened, it had a state-of-the-art ventilation system that kept it cool in the summers and warm in the winters. Designed by architects Herts & Tallant in the Beaux-Arts style, much of the original architecture survives including its elaborate marble staircases and undulating marquee. In 1940, the Lyceum was purchased by a consortium of producers but changed hands once again in 1950 when the Shubert’s took ownership. Along with being one of the oldest theaters still operating, the Lyceum was also the first theater to be granted landmark status in 1974. At three levels, it’s also one of the smallest theaters on Broadway in terms of capacity, able to seat only 950.
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New Amsterdam Theatre
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New Amsterdam Theatre

New Amsterdam Theatre 214 West 42nd Street The New Amsterdam Theatre was built in 1902–1903 and was designed by architects Henry Hertz and Hugh Tallant. The Roof Garden, where more risqué productions were presented, and which no longer exists, was added in 1904. The theatre’s Beaux-Arts facade is the first concrete example of architectural Art Nouveau in New York. At the time of construction, it was the largest theatre in New York, with a seating capacity of 1,702. From 1913 to 1927, the theatre was the home of the Ziegfeld Follies, whose producer, Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr., maintained an office in the building, and operated a nightclub on the roof. George White's Scandals and Eva LeGallienne's Civic Repertory Theatre were subsequent tenants. It was used as a movie theatre beginning in 1937; closed in 1985, and leased by The Walt Disney Company and renovated by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer in 1995–97 as the flagship for Disney Theatrical Productions presentations on Broadway. The New Amsterdam Theatre was designated a New York City Landmark in 1979
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240 West 44th Street
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240 West 44th Street

Hayes Theatre 240 West 44th Street The Hayes Theater, (initially known as the Little Theatre) is the smallest theatre on Broadway. Designed by the architect Harry Creighton Ingalls, Ingalls & Hoffman, and built by Winthrop Ames; its name was chosen due to both the theatre's small size and its goal to create intimate productions. The theatre opened on March 12, 1912, with John Galsworthy's play, “The Pigeon”. In the 1920s, Herbert J. Krapp redesigned the theatre to increase its seating capacity from 300 to 590 and to improve its acoustics. The “Merv Griffin Show” was broadcast there in the 1960s until the show moved to Los Angeles in 1972. The Hayes Theatre was designated a City Landmark in 1987.
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Lincoln Center
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Lincoln Center

Vivian Beaumont Theater 150 West 65th Street The Vivian Beaumont Theater, located in the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex, is New York City's only Broadway-class theater that is not located in the Theater District near Times Square. The building was one of the last structures designed by Finnish-born mid-century architect Eero Saarinen. Jo Mielziner was responsible for the design of the stage and interior. The theater is named after Vivian Beaumont Allen, a former actress and heiress to the May Department Stores fortune, who donated $3 million for a building to house a permanent dramatic repertory company at Lincoln Center in 1958. The Vivian Beaumont opened on October 21,1965, with a revival of the 1835 play “Danton's Death” by Georg Büchner. The cast included James Earl Jones and Stacy Keach.
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B.S Moss Broadway Theatre
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B.S Moss Broadway Theatre

Broadway Theatre 1681 Broadway The Broadway Theatre is one of only five playhouses that front on Broadway. It opened in 1924 as B. S. Moss’s Colony, a premiere film house. Designed by architect Eugene DeRosa, the original façade (like the interior) was built in the Italian Renaissance style and then resurfaced in polished granite when a skyscraper was constructed above the theatre in 1991. The most notable film that played there in the early years was Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie , which opened in 1928, and introduced American audiences to an adorable rodent named Mickey Mouse. The theatre went “legit” from 1930 to 1934, when it was re-christened the Broadway. From 1934 to 1940, the house was once again dedicated to motion picture exhibition, and offered the premiere of Disney’s Fantasia in 1939. In 1940, however, it returned to legitimate stage production and, except for a brief stint as a Cinerama movie theatre in the 1950s, has remained in the business of showcasing live theatre.
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235 West 44th Street
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235 West 44th Street

Broadhurst Theatre 235 West 44th Street Playwright George H. Broadhurst built his eponymous theatre in association with the Shubert brothers in 1917. Mirror images of each other, the Broadhurst and the neighboring Plymouth Theatre, were the brainchild of architect Herbert J. Krapp, and were his first independent commissions. While the two playhouses are nearly identical on the outside, the Broadhurst's interior employs Doric columns, and Greek-style cornices and friezes. Its spare exterior is decorated with brickwork, enhanced by touches of stone and terra-cotta trim. The Broadhurst Theatre was designated a City Landmark in 1987.
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