Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, formerly the Plymouth Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 236 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Schoenfeld Theatre is named for Gerald Schoenfeld, longtime president of the Shubert Organization, which operates the theater. It has 1,079 seats across two levels. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
For other theaters currently or formerly known as the Plymouth Theatre, see Plymouth Theatre (disambiguation).
The neoclassical facade is simple in design and is similar to that of the Broadhurst Theatre, which was developed concurrently. The Schoenfeld's facade is made of buff-colored brick and terracotta and is divided into two sections: a stage house to the west and the theater's entrance to the east. The entrance facade is topped by fire-escape galleries and contains a curved corner facing east toward Broadway. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, a large balcony, a small technical gallery, a mostly flat ceiling, and a sounding board. The space is decorated in the Adam style with plasterwork designs. Near the front of the auditorium, flanking the elliptical proscenium arch, are box seats at balcony level.
The Shubert brothers developed the Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters following the success of the Booth and Shubert theaters directly to the east. The Plymouth Theatre was leased to Arthur Hopkins and opened on October 10, 1917, with the comedy A Successful Calamity. The Shuberts retained ownership of the theater and took over after Hopkins's death in 1950. The theater has hosted not only musicals but also revues, comedies, and dramas throughout its history. It was renamed for Gerald Schoenfeld in 2005.
Site[edit]
The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is on 236 West 45th Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.[3][4] The rectangular land lot covers 9,695 square feet (900.7 m2), with a frontage of 96.5 feet (29.4 m) on 44th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (31 m).[4] The Schoenfeld Theatre shares the city block with the Row NYC Hotel to the west. It adjoins six other theaters: the Majestic to the southwest, the John Golden and Bernard B. Jacobs to the west, the Booth to the east, the Shubert to the southeast, and the Broadhurst directly to the south. Other nearby structures include the Music Box Theatre, Imperial Theatre, and Richard Rodgers Theatre to the north; the New York Marriott Marquis to the northeast; One Astor Plaza to the east; and Sardi's restaurant, the Hayes Theater, and the St. James Theatre one block south.[4]
The Schoenfeld is part of the largest concentration of Broadway theaters on a single block.[5] The adjoining block of 45th Street is also known as George Abbott Way,[6] and foot traffic on the street increases box-office totals for the theaters there.[7] The Broadhurst, Schoenfeld, Booth, and Shubert theaters were all developed by the Shubert brothers between 44th and 45th Streets, occupying land previously owned by the Astor family.[8][9] The Broadhurst and Schoenfeld were built as a pair, occupying land left over from the development of the Shubert and Booth, which were also paired.[10][11] The Broadhurst/Schoenfeld theatrical pair share an alley to the east, parallel to the larger Shubert Alley east of the Shubert/Booth pair.[8][12] The Broadhurst/Schoenfeld alley was required under New York City construction codes of the time but, unlike Shubert Alley, it was closed to the public shortly after its completion.[13] The Shuberts bought the land under all four theaters from the Astors in 1948.[9][14]
Box-office records[edit]
The limited engagement drama A Steady Rain achieved the box office record for the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. The production grossed $1,292,210 over eight performances for the week ending December 6, 2009.[404] This record was surpassed by the 2014 production It's Only a Play, which grossed $1,455,818 over eight performances for the week ending January 4, 2015.[405][406] The current record for the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre was set by the 2017 musical Come From Away. The production grossed $1,834,218 over nine performances for the week ending December 31, 2017.[407][408]