New York Theater Art Culture Scene in New York City
New York City Theater
Art & Culture Scene in NYC, New York, USA
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New York City Theater
August Wilson Theatre
245 West 52nd Street in New York City
The August Wilson Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre. Designed by architects C. Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim and constructed by the Theatre Guild, it opened as the Guild Theatre in 1925 with a revival of George Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra. In 1943, the building was leased as a radio station. The American National Theatre and Academy purchased it in 1950 and renamed it the ANTA Theatre. In 1981, the theatre was purchased by Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation and named the Virginia Theatre for owner and Jujamcyn Board member Virginia McKnight Binger. After her husband James H. Binger’s death in 2004, producer and president of Jujamcyn Rocco Landesman announced that he planned to buy Jujamcyn. He told the New York Times he had a long-standing understanding with Binger that he would buy the corporation’s five playhouses. The theatres had an estimated net asset value of $30 million. On October 16, 2005, fourteen days after American playwright August Wilson’s untimely death, the theatre was renamed in his honor.
Shubert Theatre
Shubert Theater, 225 W. 44th Street, New York
The Shubert Theatre, named after Sam S. Shubert, is a Broadway theatre built by Henry B. Herts in 1913 on West 44th Street in New York City between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. The first show to play at the Shubert was Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Barbra Streisand starred in I Can Get It for You Wholesale here, Bernadette Peters starred in Gypsy (musical) and Katharine Hepburn starred in The Philadelphia Story here; however, the Shubert is probably best-known as the home of A Chorus Line. With 6,137 performances under the Shubert’s roof, A Chorus Line was the longest-running of all Broadway musicals, until it was surpassed by Cats, having staged its final performance on 28 April 1990. The Shubert Theatre is currently the home for the Broadway production of Spamalot. Other musicals which have premiered at The Shubert include Cole Porter’s The Gay Divorcee, Rodgers and Hart’s Pal Joey and the Sherman Brothers’ Over Here!. There is also a Shubert Theatre in Boston, which is part of the Wang Center for the Performing Arts. The Shubert Theatre is featured in the Broadway musical and film adaption of The Producers.
John Golden Theatre
John Golden Theatre, 252 W. 45th St, New York
The John Golden Theatre is a Broadway theatre. On the small side, it seats only 805 people. It was once called the Theatre Masque. Because of its size, it housed more intimate plays, but most big shows opted for a larger theatre for a larger profit. In 1937, John Golden bought it and named it for himself, before selling it to the Shuberts in 1946. Its interior has a Spanish flavor with its rough plaster walls and wrought iron fixtures. Currently, the theatre is the home of Tony-winning musical Avenue Q.
Ambassador Theatre
Ambassador Theater , 219 W. 49th St., New York
The Ambassador Theatre is a Broadway theatre. It is located at 219 West 49th Street. It currently houses the long-running revival of Chicago. The Ambassador is unusual because the architect situated it diagonally on its site to fit the maximum number of seats possible; its external appearance, indistinguishable from many other Broadway houses, does not hint at the strange layout within.