Нью-Йорк қаласындағы Бродвей театры

Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Broadway Theatre (formerly Universal's Colony Theatre, B. S. Moss's Broadway Theatre, Earl Carroll's Broadway Theatre, and Ciné Roma) is a Broadway theater at 1681 Broadway (near 53rd Street) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1924, the theater was designed by Eugene De Rosa for Benjamin S. Moss, who originally operated the venue as a movie theater. It has approximately 1,763 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The Broadway Theatre is one of the few Broadway theaters that is physically on Broadway. The Broadway's facade was originally designed in the Italian Renaissance style and was made of brick and terracotta. The modern facade of the theater is made of polished granite and is part of the office building at 1675 Broadway, completed in 1990. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, one balcony, and box seats. The modern design of the auditorium dates to a 1986 renovation, when Oliver Smith redecorated the theater in a reddish color scheme. The office building is cantilevered above the auditorium. B. S. Moss's Colony Theatre opened on Christmas Day 1924 and was originally leased to Universal Pictures Corporation. Moss renovated the venue for legitimate shows and reopened it as the Broadway Theatre on December 8, 1930. The theater had several operators over the next decade, and it switched between hosting legitimate shows, movies, and vaudeville. Lee Shubert and Clifford Fischer took over the Broadway Theatre in December 1939, and the Shubert family bought the theater in 1940. Since then, the Broadway has largely been used as a legitimate theater, though it was briefly used for movies in 1947 and in 1952–1953. The Broadway was extensively rebuilt in the late 1980s. Over the years, it has hosted many long running musicals that have transferred from other theaters, as well as other long lasting shows such as Evita, Les Misérables, and Miss Saigon.

The Broadway Theatre is at the southwest corner of Broadway and 53rd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is one of the few active Broadway theaters that are physically on Broadway.

Its original exterior was designed in the Italian Renaissance style and was made of brick and terracotta. The exterior contained a double height electric sign. The original building covered ; there was of office space above the theater's lobby and two stores on Broadway. In addition, there was a wrought iron ticket booth. There were 18 exits, allowing it to be evacuated within three minutes.

The modern facade of the theater (which has its own address at 1681 Broadway) is part of the 1675 Broadway office building, The facade of 1675 Broadway, designed by Fox & Fowle, consists of polished granite in deep green and greenish gray hues. The seven story facade on Broadway, which contains the entrance, was refaced in a similar material, with contemporary and Art Deco style decorations. There is an Art Deco marquee in front of the theater as well. The massing consists of several horizontal and vertical setbacks, inspired by the massing of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The lower stories have recessed windows; the upper story windows are surrounded by flame finished granite panels, which give the impression of depth. There was mixed architectural commentary of the current building's design. Although Paul Goldberger called the building "exceptionally handsome, even dignified", another critic described the structure as "unpleasantly monolithic". Meanwhile, Ken Bloom describes the theater as having 1,765 seats; The Broadway League gives a contrasting figure of 1,761 seats; and Playbill cites 1,738 seats. The physical seats are divided into 909 seats in the orchestra, 250 at the front of the mezzanine, 584 at the rear of the mezzanine, and 20 in the boxes. The Broadway Theatre was decorated ornately with marble and bronze. In the mid 20th century, the theater was repainted in a blue color scheme, which set designer Oliver Smith likened to "a coal mine". Smith redecorated the theater in a reddish color scheme in 1986, since he felt red was the "color that arouses emotion". The proscenium opening measures about 46 feet (14 m) wide and 27 feet (8 m) tall. The depth of the auditorium to the proscenium is 54 feet (16 m), while the depth to the front of the stage is 57 feet (17 m). The Broadway has long been a popular theater for producers of musicals because of its large seating capacity, and the large stage. Successful shows in smaller theaters have frequently transferred to the Broadway Theatre.

Times Square became the epicenter for large scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression. Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from Union Square and Madison Square during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. Additionally, movie palaces became common in the 1920s between the end of World War I and the beginning of the Great Depression. The Colony Theatre, as the current Broadway Theatre on 53rd Street was originally known, was developed as a movie palace by B. S. Moss, who had previously operated the now demolished Broadway Theatre on 41st Street.

In 1923, the Neponsit Building Company acquired the five story Standard Storage Warehouse and three dwellings at the corner of Broadway and 53rd Street. That July, Eugene de Rosa filed plans for a theater and office building on the site, which was to cost $350,000. The site measured 56 feet (17 m) on Broadway and 112 feet (34 m) on 53rd Street, with a wing extending 18 feet (5 m) along 52nd Street. Moss announced in mid December 1924 that the theater would be named the Colony, and Edwin Franko Goldman was hired to lead the Colony's orchestra. The theater cost $2 million to complete and was originally leased to Universal Pictures Corporation. Soon after the theater opened, Moss installed an automated air cooling system in the theater. The Colony began screening movies during early mornings in October 1925, starting with The Freshman. In its early years, the Colony screened Universal films such as Friendly Enemies, A Woman's Faith, The Flaming Frontier, and The Cat and the Canary. Additionally, the theater hosted a weekly "lingerie revue" with fashion models. Moss left the vaudeville business in late 1927, retaining the Colony as his only theater. In early 1928, WABC announced that it would begin broadcasting concerts from the venue on Sundays. After the film We Americans flopped in April 1928, the Colony closed temporarily, and Moss considered leasing it for vaudeville. Theatrical operator Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. was negotiating to lease the Colony that June, but he initially balked because he considered the $225,000 annual rent to be too expensive. By that August, Ziegfeld had tentatively agreed to lease the Colony for musical productions and renovate the theater. Meanwhile, the Colony resumed screenings during late 1928. Among those were Steamboat Willie, screened that November as the first Mickey Mouse cartoon to be released to the public, and a documentary about the New York Stock Exchange, screened that December.

Moss took back the Colony Theatre in February 1930 and announced that he would begin hosting musicals there. He expanded the Colony into an adjacent parcel; according to The New York Times, "the theatre was gutted until only its four walls remained." The Broadway's first legitimate show, The New Yorkers by Cole Porter, opened on December 8, 1930; at the time, it was the largest Broadway theater. The New Yorkers closed in May 1931, after which the theater stood dark for several months. In September 1931, Moss announced that he would simultaneously present musical revues and talking pictures at the Broadway for twelve weeks. The theater then reverted to live shows. Moss sold the theater in July 1932 to Amalgamated Properties Inc. The same year, Earl Carroll took over the theater, which was renamed Earl Carroll's Broadway Theatre. The Broadway hosted The Earl Carroll Vanities, Stanley Lawton then leased the theater, and the Broadway began showing vaudeville that November. The theater once again hosted opera performances in 1934. The Broadway's next legitimate show was the operetta The O'Flynn, which opened in December 1934 and closed after a week. The Broadway Theatre was leased to the Chasebee Theatre Corporation in August 1935 as part of a receivership proceeding against the Prudence Company. The theater then switched once more to showing films, reopening as B. S. Moss's Broadway Theatre on October 12, 1935. The vaudevillian Gus Edwards leased the Broadway in March 1936 and renamed the theater Gus Edwards' Sho Window. Edwards began showing vaudeville at the Broadway the next month, but it only lasted for two weeks. The Nuvo Mondo Motion Pictures Corporation then leased the Broadway Theatre in February 1937. The venue was renamed the Ciné Roma and began showing Italian films. which only ran until February 1940.

The Broadway then hosted long running musicals that had transferred from other theaters, beginning with Rodgers and Hart's Too Many Girls in April 1940. To raise money for British soldiers during World War II, Walt Disney showed his feature film Fantasia in November 1940; it was the first Disney film rendered in Fantasound, an early stereo system. This was followed in 1942 by the Irving Berlin musical This Is The Army; a season of productions from the New Opera Company; and a transfer of the comedy My Sister Eileen. the operetta The Student Prince, and performances by the San Carlo Opera Company in repertory. The same year, theatrical operator Michael Todd reneged on a plan to lease the Broadway, and the Yaw Theatre Corporation took over the theater. The Shubert family's Trebuhs Realty Company acquired the Broadway in July 1943. it ran for 503 performances. The play The Tempest and the musical Memphis Bound! had brief runs in 1945, followed by a transfer of Up in Central Park that June, which lasted nine months. Also in 1946, the Broadway hosted transfers of the operetta Song of Norway and the play A Flag Is Born; and Duke Ellington and John La Touche's musical Beggar's Holiday. After Beggar's Holiday closed in March 1947, paying $5,000 a week for one year. The first film UA screened at the theater was Charlie Chaplin's Monsieur Verdoux that April. The Broadway Theatre was unprofitable and closed in July 1947 due to lack of films, The Cradle Will Rock relocated to the Broadway in early 1948, and a transfer of High Button Shoes. The Spanish revue Cabalgata opened at the theater in July 1949, running for three months. followed by Olsen and Johnson's musical Pardon Our French, which flopped after 100 performances. In 1951, the Broadway hosted transfers of the musical Where's Charley? and the play The Green Pastures, Mae West's Diamond Lil had a brief run later that year. It was followed in early 1952 by Kiss Me, Kate, ANTA's version of Four Saints in Three Acts and the all Black revue Shuffle Along. Lee Shubert leased the theater in mid 1952 to Cinerama Productions, which added a wide screen for Cinerama films. The Broadway reopened as a Cinerama theater on September 30, 1952, with the film This Is Cinerama, which transferred to the Warner Theatre in February 1953. The venue returned to legitimate use in June 1953,

Les Ballets de Paris and dancer José Greco performed at the theater in 1954, and the operetta The Saint of Bleecker Street opened there at the end of the year. The Broadway hosted several live engagements in late 1955, including those by dancer Antonio, the Comédie Française, the Katherine Dunham Company, and the Azuma Kabuki Troupe. Next was the musical Mr. Wonderful with Sammy Davis Jr., which opened in March 1956 and had 383 performances. and The Most Happy Fella transferred to the Broadway later the same year. This was followed the same year by Ballets de Paris, the Ballet Español, the Théâtre National Populaire, and the Old Vic. In addition, the Broadway hosted the Bolshoi Theatre's version of West Side Story in early 1959. The Broadway was refurbished before the opening of Jule Styne and Stephen Sondheim's musical Gypsy

The theater hosted several musicals from 1960 to 1962, and Martha Graham's dance troupe in 1962. The musical Tovarich with Vivien Leigh and Jean Pierre Aumont opened in 1963, and the Noël Coward musical The Girl Who Came to Supper. The Broadway then hosted the Folies Bergère and the revue Zizi with Zizi Jeanmaire in 1964. The musical Baker Street and the play The Devils were staged in 1965, followed the next year by another musical, A Time for Singing. The Lincoln Center Theater's production of the musical Annie Get Your Gun moved to the Broadway in September 1966, and the musical Funny Girl came at the end of the year. and the Kander and Ebb musical The Happy Time ran for 286 performances in 1968. This was followed by transfers of the musicals Cabaret and Mame from other theaters. The project would use a zoning bonus that allowed office building developers to erect theaters in exchange for additional office space. The New York City Planning Commission approved a zoning permit for the planned 43 story building in May 1970. The project would include a three level, 1,800 seat theater as well as a shopping arcade between 52nd and 53rd Street. The Shuberts postponed this plan indefinitely in 1971 due to declining demand for office space. Meanwhile, the musical Purlie opened at the Broadway in March 1970. It was followed by Fiddler on the Roof, which transferred to the Broadway in December 1970 The theater also hosted the 26th Tony Awards in April 1972. The Broadway was renovated at a cost of $100,000 prior to the opening of the musical Dude in October 1972. The show lasted for only two weeks, and ran for close to two years. This was followed in July 1976 by a version of the musical Guys and Dolls with an all Black cast; it lasted until the next February. Another all Black musical, The Wiz, moved to the Broadway in mid 1977 and stayed for one and a half years. and flopped after four months. That September saw the opening of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice's musical Evita, which lasted 1,568 performances over the next four years.