- Belasco Theatre
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Coordinates: 40°45′23.1″N 73°59′0.5″W / 40.756417°N 73.983472°W
Belasco Theatre
The Belasco Theatre c. 2002.Address 111 West 44th Street City New York City Country USA Designation Broadway Architect George Keister Owned by The Shubert Organization Capacity 1,016 Opened October 16, 1907 Previous names Stuyvesant Theatre shubertorganization.com/theatres/belasco.asp The Belasco Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 111 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan.
Contents
History
Designed by architect George Keister for impresario David Belasco, the interior featured Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and expansive murals by American artist Everett Shinn, and a ten-room duplex penthouse apartment that Belasco utilized as combination living quarters/office space. Technically it was outfitted with the most advanced stagecraft tools available, including extensive lighting rigs, a hydraulics system, and vast wing and fly space. Meyer R. Bimberg was the actual owner of the Stuyvesant/Belasco. He made his fortune selling political campaign buttons.[1]
It opened as the Stuyvesant Theatre on October 16, 1907 with the musical A Grand Army Man with Antoinette Perry. Three years later Belasco attached his own name to the venue. After his death in 1931, it was leased first by actress Katharine Cornell and then playwright Elmer Rice. Marlon Brando had his first widely noticed success in this theater, in a production of Maxwell Anderson's "Truckline Cafe", which opened on Feb. 27th, 1946. He played the small but crucial role of Sage MacRae. The play flopped, but the press celebrated Brando as a new genius actor; occurring before his noted film performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire".[2] The Shuberts bought it in 1949 and leased it to NBC for three years before returning it to legitimate use.
This theater is the subject of an urban legend that David Belasco's ghost haunts the theater every night. Some performers in the shows that played there have even claimed to have spotted him or other ghosts during performances.[3] It was also reported that after Oh! Calcutta! (a musical revue with extensive full frontal male & female nudity) played the theater the ghost of David Belasco stopped appearing.
Notable productions
- 1908: The Warrens of Virginia
- 1916: Seven Chances
- 1921: Kiki
- 1927: Hit the Deck
- 1928: The Bachelor Father
- 1935: Awake and Sing!; Dead End; Waiting for Lefty
- 1937: Golden Boy
- 1938: Rocket to the Moon
- 1940: Johnny Belinda
- 1941: Clash by Night
- 1945: Kiss Them for Me
- 1946: The Song of Bernadette; Flamingo Road; Truckline Cafe
- 1948: The Madwoman of Chaillot
- 1953: The Solid Gold Cadillac
- 1955: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
- 1956: Fanny
- 1958: Jane Eyre
- 1959: A Raisin in the Sun; Tall Story
- 1964: The Crucible
- 1966: The Subject Was Roses; The Killing of Sister George
- 1968: Don't Drink the Water
- 1971: Oh! Calcutta!
- 1975: The Rocky Horror Show
- 1977: American Buffalo
- 1979: The Goodbye People
- 1980: Your Arms Too Short to Box with God
- 1981: Ain't Misbehavin'
- 1983: Marcel Marceau On Broadway
- 1986: As You Like It/'Macbeth/Romeo and Juliet
- 1991: The Crucible
- 1992: The Master Builder
- 1995: Hamlet
- 1997: A Doll's House
- 2000: James Joyce's The Dead
- 2001: Follies
- 2002: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
- 2003: Enchanted April
- 2004: Dracula, the Musical
- 2005: Julius Caesar
- 2006: Awake and Sing!
- 2007: Journey's End
- 2008: Passing Strange; American Buffalo
- 2009: Joe Turner's Come and Gone
- 2010: Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
- 2011: Fat Pig; Kathy Griffin
References
- Notes
- ^ www.Broadway.tv article "Passing Strange Broadway Ghost"
- ^ Peter Manso, Brando. The Biography (New York: Hyperion, 1994. ISBN 0-7868-6063-4), p. 167-173.
- ^ "The Ghosts of Broadway" by Robert Viagas. Playbill.com, June 10 2005
External links
- Official website
- Belasco Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database
- Belasco Theatre history
- Broadway Theatre Guide
Broadway theatres Active, by owner Ambassador Theatre · Belasco Theatre · Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre · Booth Theatre · Broadhurst Theatre · Broadway Theatre · Cort Theatre · Ethel Barrymore Theatre · Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre · Imperial Theatre · John Golden Theatre · Longacre Theatre · Lyceum Theatre · Majestic Theatre · Music Box Theatre · Shubert Theatre · Winter Garden TheatreBrooks Atkinson Theatre · Gershwin Theatre · Lunt-Fontanne Theatre · Marquis Theatre · Minskoff Theatre · Nederlander Theatre · Neil Simon Theatre · Palace Theatre · Richard Rodgers TheatreJujamcyn (5)Other (6)Circle in the Square Theatre (independent) · Foxwoods Theatre (Live Nation) · Helen Hayes Theatre (independent) · New Amsterdam Theatre (Disney) · Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (MTC) · Vivian Beaumont Theatre (Lincoln Center)Extant former
Broadway theatresDefunct and/or demolished 39th Street Theatre · 44th Street Theatre · 48th Street Theatre · 49th Street Theatre · 52nd Street Theatre · Adelphi Theatre · Apollo Theatre (42nd St.) · American Theatre · Astor Theatre · Bandbox Theatre · Belmont Theatre · Berkeley Lyceum Theatre · Bijou Theatre · Booth's Theatre · Broadway Theatre (41st St.) · Casino Theatre · Center Theatre · Central Theatre · Century Theatre (46th St.) · Century Theatre (62nd St.) · Circle Theatre · Cosmopolitan Theatre · Criterion Theatre · Daly's Theatre (30th St.) · Daly's 63rd Street Theatre · Earl Carroll Theatre · Edison Theatre · Eltinge Theatre · Empire Theatre · Fifth Avenue Theatre · Fulton Theatre · Gaiety Theatre · Garrick Theatre · George M. Cohan's Theatre · Herald Square Theatre · Hippodrome Theatre · Jardin de Paris · Knickerbocker Theatre · Liberty Theatre · Lincoln Square Theatre · Majestic Theatre (Columbus Circle) · Manhattan Theatre (33rd St.) · Maxine Elliott's Theatre · Mayfair Theatre (44th St.) · Mayfair Theatre (46th St.) · Mercury Theatre · Morosco Theatre · New Century Theatre · New York Theatre (44th St.) · Nora Bayes Theatre · Olympia Theatre · Playhouse Theatre · Playhouse Theatre (6th Ave.) · President Theatre · Princess Theatre · Proctor's Theatre · Rialto Theatre · Sam H. Harris Theatre · Savoy Theatre · Star Theatre · Vanderbilt Theatre · Victoria Theatre · Waldorf Theatre · Wallack's Lyceum Theatre · Waverley Theatre · Winter Garden Theatre (Jenny Lind Hall) · Ziegfeld Theatre
Categories:- Broadway theatres
- Landmarks in New York City
- Shubert Organization
- Buildings and structures completed in 1907
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