Lunt Fontanne Theatre

The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre originally opened as the Globe Theatre in 1910. It was built by producer Charles Dillingham and designed by famed architects John Merven Carrère and Thomas Hastings. It was named for Shakespeare’s legendary theater in London, though it has been used mainly for modern musicals. When Dillingham lost his money in the 1929 stock market crash, the Globe was sold and, in 1932, turned into a movie theater by the Brandt chain.

City Playhouse Inc. bought the house in 1957 and dubbed it the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, named for America’s most famous husband/wife acting couple, Alfred Lunt & Lynn Fontanne. Until their retirement from the stage in the 1960, the Lunts appeared in over 40 plays, becoming a theatrical institution unto themselves. The Nederlander Organization purchased "their" theater in 1973 and still owns it today.

When the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre opened, it was the called one of Broadway's most beautiful and elegant theaters. The original Globe Theatre’s entrance on Broadway was built into an old brownstone house. When the firm of Roche & Roche remodeled in 1957, they closed the Broadway entrance. The 46th Street entrance has five bay windows topped by cornices. The Globe's original auditorium was done in Italian Renaissance décor. The most dramatic feature was a coved ceiling, painted to resemble the sky which could be opened when the weather permitted. Upon remodeling the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, very little was left of the Globe. An elegant lounge was added and its walls were decorated with mirrors and murals of European opera houses.