Snapple Theater Center

The Snapple Theatre Center is a two-theatre Off Broadway complex at the corner of 50th Street and Broadway in the Times Square neighborhood.

The complex opened on May 22, 2006 in a space formerly occupied by a vocational school that is now above a Duane Reade drugstore and is sponsored by the beverage company Snapple. Its space is 20,000-square-foot space entertainment center.

Its two theatres consist of the Jerry Orbach Theatre (named for actor Jerry Orbach) and unnamed space.

The two theatres have a total of 398 seats. It is "inside the box" where off-Broadway theatres were earlier prohibited because earlier rules required that only Broadway shows were permitted in the Times Square neighborhood.

The Jerry Orbach Theatre name evolved after a poster of him as the originating role of El Gallo in The Fantasticks was on display in the lobby during a revival of the play and this prompted the owners to name the whole theatre for him.

The unnamed theatre is home to the play "Perfect Crime" by Walter Manzi that has been playing in various off Broadway venues since 1987. Before coming to the Snapple it played at the Duffy Theatre at 46th and Broadway above a Howard Johnsons restaurant that was torn down.

References

* [http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=3622 New Snapple Theatre will House Perfect Crime - Broadwayworld.com - June 15, 2005]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2005_June_7/ai_n13799935 Snapple to Take Center Stage on the Great White Way! Curtain Rises on Snapple Theater Center Featuring the Longest-Running Non-Musical Play in New York History - Perfect Crime - Business Wire - June 7, 2005]
* [http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=9931 Photo Coverage: Snapple Theater Center Opens - May 25, 2006 - Broadwayworld.com]