Broadway Theatre
| Broadway Theatre 1681 Broadway New York, NY 10019 Click Here For More Info On The Theatre |
Location
The Broadway Theatre is located on Broadway, at the corner of 53rd Street. It is number 1 on The Broadway Map.
Parking
See our discount parking guide for parking near this theater
Background
It may have the most theatrical name of all the theaters in Times Square, but the Broadway Theatre was actually created to be a movie house. Built in 1924 by a movie theater chain owner, it was originally named B.S. Moss's Colony Theatre. Not long after, in 1930, Moss decided to convert the theater into a legitimate house, and the Broadway Theatre officially opened with Cole Porter and Herbert Fields' The New Yorkers. In its early years, the Broadway's stage saw such stars as Milton Berle, Alfred Drake, Zero Mostel, Mae West, Eartha Kitt, Vivien Leigh, and Jose Ferrer, and works by great songwriters like Irving Berlin, Oscar Hammerstein II, Noel Coward, and even Duke Ellington. During the Golden Age, many of the more notable shows to play at the Broadway Theatre were popular productions that transferred from other theaters, such as South Pacific, Funny Girl, The Music Man, Cabaret, Mame, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Wiz.
Design
The Broadway Theatre was designed in 1924 as a movie house
by architect Eugene DeRosa. With roughly 1,800 seats, it is one of the largest theaters on the Great White Way. It is also one of the few theaters to actually be situated literally on Broadway, and for years it marked the most northern point of the theater district (in 1998, Studio 54 took that position when it opened as a legit Broadway space on 54th Street).
Directions
By subway, take the C/E or the 1/9 to 50th Street, or take the N/R to 49th Street.
Best Seats
As with most of the larger theaters, it is usually best to try to get seats in the front mezzanine or mid to front orchestra of the Broadway Theatre.
Previous Shows
In addition to the above-mentioned productions, and revivals of such classics as Oklahoma! and The King and I, the Broadway Theatre has premiered a wide variety of works over the years, including Menotti's opera The Saint of Bleeker Street, Mr. Wonderful starring Sammy Davis, Jr., Gypsy, Harold Prince's acclaimed revival of Candide, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's Evita, long-running hits Les Miserables and Miss Saigon, and the Lloyd Webber-produced Bombay Dreams.
Seating Chart:
