Music Box Theatre

239 West 45th Street, New York, NY 10019

Music Box Theatre Information, Shows and Tickets

Directions & Box Office

  • Directions: By Subway, take the A/C/E to 42nd Street, walk north on Eight Avenue and then turn right onto 45th Street. Or take the 1/2/3 to 42nd Street, walk north on Seventh Avenue and then make a left onto 45th Street.
  • Entrance: 45th Street, between 8th and Broadway The Music Box is located on the north side of 45th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue.
  • Box Office Hours:
    Monday - Saturday:
    10am - 8pm
    Sunday:
    Noon - 6pm

Best Seats In The House

  • Seats: 1025

Audiences are happy with nearly any seat in this cozy house, but as with most theaters, center orchestra and the front mezzanine are tops.

Music Box Theatre Seating Chart

Music Box Theatre Seating Chart

Parking for Music Box Theatre

The closest parking garages for Music Box Theatre are located at:

Champion Parking On West 45
251 West 45th Street
New York, NY 10036
212-819-1866
Quik Park Garage
303 West 46th Street
New York, NY 10036
212-586-8634

The closest parking is not always the best as it often takes longer to park and retrieve your vehicle as fellow theatre goers have the same idea. A better choice of parking may be the second choice or further away by a couple of Avenues.

Additional Notes

Landlord: Shubert Organization

Official Ticketer: Telecharge

Notes:

Composer Irving Berlin was once co-owner of this theater, and many of his revues appeared here.

Elevator: No

Escalator: No

Now Playing Suffs

  • Previews Began: March 26, 2024
  • Opens: April 18, 2024
  • Show Closes: Open ended
Brings to life a complicated chapter in the ongoing battle for Women's right to vote and documents the struggle of the American women’s suffrage movement. …more
Get Tickets

Previous Shows

Purlie Victorious

  • Opened: September 27, 2023
  • Show Closed: February 4, 2024
Hamilton alum Leslie Odom Jr. stars in this satire set in the Old South, with the title-character, a preacher, hoping to run an integrated church and facing a bigoted plantation …more

Bob Fosse’s Dancin

  • Opened: March 19, 2023
  • Show Closed: May 14, 2023
Originally devised by Bob Fosse in 1978, this show is much like a dancing version of a vinyl musical album. The show is an anthology of dance vignettes that use …more

Walking With Ghosts

  • Opened: October 27, 2022
  • Show Closed: November 20, 2022
Gabriel Byrne appears for just 75 performances in his acclaimed soul-searching solo show that depicts a now almost vanished Ireland, and provides a subversive commentary on stardom and a lyrical …more

Dear Evan Hansen

  • Opened: December 4, 2016
  • Show Closed: September 18, 2022
17-year-old anxiety-stricken boy who gets caught in a web of his own lies after the death of his bully. …more

Shuffle Along

  • Opened: April 28, 2016
  • Show Closed: July 24, 2016
Shuffle Along is a new revamping of a classic African American musical revue. The musical deals with the making of the original show Shuffle Along, which was created by vaudeville …more

King Charles III

  • Opened: November 1, 2015
  • Show Closed: January 31, 2016
King Charles III is a fictional portrayal of the events taking place following the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, who is still very much alive at age 89. Her son, …more

The Heidi Chronicles

  • Opened: March 19, 2015
  • Show Closed: May 3, 2015
The Heidi Chronicles follows a woman named Heidi Holland from high school in the 1960s until her career in the 1980s as a successful art historian. Throughout this period, she …more

Music Box Theatre History

The Music Box Theatre opened in 1921 with the Music Box Revue, featuring songs by then popular (and now legendary) composer/lyricist Irving Berlin.

Theatre Built By Irving Berlin

The theatre was built by Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to house their revues, and the theater hosted a new one every year until 1925 when it presented its first play, Cradle Snatchers, starring Humphrey Bogart.

At 1,010 seats, the space was perfect for these sorts of lavish revues, as well as the large cast plays that were also popular during the Great Depression Era.

Kaufman and Hart Productions

The celebrated playwriting team of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart had a string of hits here, from their first collaboration Once in a Lifetime to their smash The Man Who Came to Dinner. Berlin wasn't the only great composer of the time to have his music play in the Music Box -- Cole Porter and the Gershwins also had shows here.

William Inge Plays

In the 1950s, playwright William Inge found a theatrical home at the Music Box Theatre, where he had success with Picnic, Bus Stop, and The Dark at the Top of the Stairs.

Since then, offerings have been as varied as the musical revue Side By Side By Sondheim, the long-running murder mystery Deathtrap, and the 1996 stage version of the Rodgers & Hammerstein movie musical State Fair. But no matter what plays at the Music Box, it remains one of the most prized jewels of the Great White Way.

Notable Past Productions

Though it exclusively hosted musical revues for its first few years, the Music Box Theatre has since had numerous notable plays

These included as Dinner at Eight, I Remember Mama, Rashomon, The Homecoming, There's a Girl in My Soup, Sleuth, Absurd Person Singular, Agnes of God, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, A Few Good Men, Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, Closer, Aaron Sorkin's The Farnsworth Invention, August: Osage County, Superior Donuts, and Jerusalem starring Mark Rylance.

There were two plays here that went on to become successful musicals: Maurine Watkins' Chicago and Sidney Howard's They Knew What They Wanted (later musicalized by Frank Loesser as The Most Happy Fella). Musicals have been sporadic at this theatre, but among them are the classics Of Thee I Sing, As Thousands Cheer, and Lost in the Stars.

Music Box Theatre Design

The most aptly named theater on Broadway, the lovely and intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane. The interior is charming and tastefully decorated, and the theater's box seats are notable for being unusually large and round (recent Music Box Theatre resident Dame Edna referred to them lovingly as "ashtrays").

There is a handsome downstairs lounge with some nice wall paintings, and the bathrooms are roomy. In the lobby is a plaque and wall exhibit commemorating the rich history of Irving Berlin and the Music Box Theatre.