Imperial Theatre
The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theater at 249 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1923, the Imperial Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed for the Shubert brothers. It has 1,457 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The auditorium interior is a New York City designated landmark.
This article is about the Broadway theatre. For other uses, see Imperial Theater.Address
249 West 45th Street
Manhattan, New York City
United States
1,457
December 25, 1923
1923–present
November 17, 1987[1]
1343[1]
Auditorium interior
The theater is largely situated on 46th Street. A narrow lobby extends to the main entrance on 45th Street, where there is a three-story facade of white terracotta. The 46th Street facade, which is made of buff-colored brick, was intended as the carriage entrance. The lobby, originally decorated in dark and white tiles, leads to the rear of the theater's orchestra level. The auditorium contains Adam-style detailing, a large balcony, and box seats with carved panels above them. The flat proscenium arch above the stage is topped by a curved sounding board.
The Shubert Organization's fiftieth venue in New York City, the Imperial was constructed in 1923 to replace the outdated Lyric Theatre. The Imperial opened on December 25, 1923, with the musical Mary Jane McKane. Since then, it has hosted numerous long-running musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun, Fiddler on the Roof, Dreamgirls, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Les Misérables, and Billy Elliot the Musical. The Imperial has also hosted plays, with Chapter Two being the theater's longest-running play.
Site[edit]
The Imperial Theatre is on 249 West 45th Street, on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.[2][3] The land lot covers 13,350 square feet (1,240 m2), with a frontage of 20 feet (6.1 m) on 45th Street and a depth of 200 feet (61 m).[3] The portion of the lot on 45th Street is narrower than the section on 46th Street, where the auditorium is situated.[4][5] The auditorium section, spanning the lots at 238 to 250 West 46th Street, measures 113 feet (34 m) wide by 100 feet (30 m) deep.[6]
The adjoining block of 45th Street is also known as George Abbott Way,[7] and foot traffic on the street increases box-office totals on the theaters there.[8] The Imperial shares the block with the Richard Rodgers Theatre and Music Box Theatre to the east, as well as the New York Marriott Marquis to the east. Other nearby buildings include the Paramount Hotel and Lena Horne Theatre to the north; the Hotel Edison and Lunt-Fontanne Theatre to the northeast; One Astor Plaza to the southeast; the Gerald Schoenfeld, Booth, Shubert, and Broadhurst Theatres to the south; and the Majestic, Bernard B. Jacobs, and John Golden Theatres to the southwest.[3] The site was historically part of the Astor family estate, which acquired the lots in 1803.[9]