Neil Simon Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for Alex A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley. The original name was an amalgamation of Aarons's and Freedley's first names; the theater was renamed for playwright Neil Simon in 1983. The Neil Simon has 1,467 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
The facade is divided into two sections: the six-story stage house to the west and the five-story auditorium to the east. The ground floor is clad with terracotta blocks and contains an entrance with a marquee. The upper stories of both sections are made of brick and terracotta; the auditorium facade has arched windows, niches, and a central pediment, while the stage house has a more plain design. The interior is designed in the Adam style and includes two lobbies and a mezzanine-level lounge. The auditorium consists of a ground-level orchestra and one balcony with boxes. The theater interiors are decorated with paneling and plasterwork, and the auditorium has a domed ceiling. Above the auditorium were three stories of offices.
Alexander Pincus and M. L. Goldstone developed the Alvin Theatre, which opened on November 22, 1927, with Funny Face. Aarons and Freedley initially operated the theater and owned it from 1930 to 1932. In the theater's early years, it hosted musicals such as Anything Goes, Lady in the Dark, and Something for the Boys, as well as plays. CBS took over in 1946 and continued to operate the theater until 1959, when Max and Stanley Stahl bought it. The Alvin was further sold in 1967 to Rock-Time Inc. and in 1975 to the Nederlanders. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the Alvin hosted long runs of shows such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, High Spirits, The Great White Hope, Company, Shenandoah, and Annie. After the theater was renamed for Neil Simon, it hosted several of his plays during the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the musical Hairspray during much of the 2000s.
Site
The Neil Simon Theatre is on 250 West 52nd Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The rectangular land lot covers, with a frontage of on 52nd Street and a depth of. The Neil Simon shares the block with the Mark Hellinger Theatre and Gallagher's Steakhouse to the east. Other nearby buildings include the August Wilson Theatre to the north; the Broadway Theatre and 810 Seventh Avenue to the northeast; Axa Equitable Center to the east; the Winter Garden Theatre to the southeast; and Paramount Plaza to the south.Design
The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructed in 1927. The exterior is designed in the neo-Georgian style, while the interior is designed in the Adam style typical of most of Krapp's designs.Facade
The facade consists of two sections, which are connected to each other. The five-story-tall eastern section is wider and is symmetrical, containing the auditorium entrance. The western section, which contains the stage house, is six stories high. On the upper stories, the facade is made of red brick in English bond, with terracotta trim. The Neil Simon is one of a few Broadway theaters with a neo-Georgian facade, along with the Belasco Theatre, Hayes Theater, and Stephen Sondheim Theatre. This was done to create the impression that theater-goers were "entering the producer's home". When the Alvin was built, one critic said the exterior design had "an appearance in keeping with the dignity of its neighbor" across the street, the Guild Theatre.Base
In both sections, the base is made of rusticated blocks of terracotta, designed to resemble marble. On the eastern side of the ground-floor facade is a pair of recessed metal doors. The center of the auditorium facade contains two sets of metal-and-glass doors. Six doors to the east connect with the inner lobby, while eight doors to the west connect with the box office lobby; there is a modern marquee above these doors. In the stage-house section of the facade, there are several recessed doorways, including a stage door. A horizontal frieze with panels and vertical grooves runs above the base.Upper stories
Above the base, vertical terracotta bands and quoins divide the auditorium facade into three sections. The central section has three vertical bays of windows. Each bay contains a double-height arched window at the second story, with terracotta imposts and keystones near the top of each arch. On the fourth story, each of the three central bays has a rectangular window with a terracotta frame, above which is a broken pediment with scrolls flanking an urn. The fifth-story windows also have rectangular terracotta frames; their sills are connected by a terracotta band course. A triangular gable rises above these windows; there is a terracotta oculus at the center of the gable, surrounded by wreaths and floral decorations.The outer sections of the auditorium facade are designed as pavilions, which are almost identical to each other except at the top. Both pavilions are flanked by fluted terracotta pilasters, which rest on the frieze that runs above the base. Between these pilasters are double-height niches at the second story, each surrounded by terracotta imposts and keystones. The niches contain terracotta urns, placed above seashell motifs. Above each niche, the fourth story contains two windows with rectangular terracotta frames. Each pair of pilasters supports a terracotta entablature and pediment on the fifth floor, as well as a cornice above that story. Whereas the eastern pavilion is capped by a parapet, the western pavilion rises for another story, the same height as the stage house.
The stage house is to the right of the auditorium. Vertical terracotta bands and quoins split the stage house into sections with one, three, and one bays from left to right. The windows of the stage house are rectangular, with terracotta lintels above each window. The center bays of the stage house also have terracotta panels above the third and fourth floors. There is a cornice and paneling above the fifth floor, as well as a parapet with a balustrade above the sixth floor. The leftmost bay of the stage house, nearest the auditorium, rises to a seventh story. The stage house's rightmost bay has a vertical sign with the theater's name.
Interior
Lobbies
The rectangular ticket lobby is directly inside the main entrance and has dark marble walls. The western wall has ticket windows, while the eastern wall has a recessed niche to the inner lobby, containing a glass-and-bronze double door flanked by small sconces. The eight glass-and-bronze doors on the north wall lead from the street, with panels above them, while the south wall contains paneled wooden doors to the auditorium's orchestra level. A cornice surrounds the ceiling. which is decorated with plasterwork in the Adam style. The middle of the ceiling has a pair of crystal lamps.The inner lobby is rectangular in plan. It is accessed by the niche on its western wall, which leads from the ticket lobby, as well as from the six glass-and-bronze doors on the north wall, which lead from the street. The south wall contains paneled wooden doors to the auditorium, while the east wall contains a staircase to the mezzanine lounge. The inner lobby's ceiling is decorated with plasterwork in the Adam style and contains a pair of crystal chandeliers.
When the Alvin was built, the mezzanine lounge was designed as an English lounge measuring. The mezzanine lounge's walls are wainscoted and contain lighting sconces. The space also originally contained a fireplace. Four "retiring rooms" led off the lounge, which included men's and women's smoking rooms. The lounge's ceiling has an oval dome with plasterwork decorations; a central chandelier; and a cornice, which intersects with the dome. From the mezzanine lounge, staircases lead down to the north, connecting with the inner lobby, and south, connecting with the orchestra. There are rectangular coffers above either staircase, with crystal chandeliers and surrounding cornices. The southern staircase has a metal railing. These staircases were placed in the lounge, rather than within the auditorium itself, to minimize disruption from latecomers.
Auditorium
The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony, boxes, and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium space is designed with plaster decorations and is nearly square in plan. According to the Nederlander Organization, the auditorium has 1,445 seats; meanwhile, The Broadway League cites a capacity of 1,467 seats and Playbill cites 1,380 seats. The theater originally had a capacity of 1,400 seats, with 702 in the orchestra, 674 in the balcony, and 24 in the boxes. An article from 1967 described the theater as having 1,363 seats for musicals and 1,334 seats for plays. The auditorium initially had a color scheme of ivory, blue, gray, and gold, with lavender or mulberry draperies. White paint covers many of the original interior decorations. The auditorium is topped by three stories of offices.Seating areas
The orchestra level is raked, sloping down toward an orchestra pit in front of the stage. The rear of the orchestra contains a promenade with a paneled wall to the east, with sconces. The rear of the orchestra has a standing rail made of marble, separating the promenade from the rear rows of seats. The promenade and the orchestra seating are separated by two columns, designed to resemble marble pillars; they are topped by Doric-style capitals. The south wall of the orchestra has metal doorways, alternating with paneled wall sections that contain sconces. The north wall has two sets of paneled wooden doors, separated by a panel with a sconce; the doors in the rear lead to the inner lobby, while those in the front lead to the ticket lobby. The exit signs above each door are flanked by friezes that depict lyres and griffins.The balcony level is divided into front and rear sections by an aisle halfway across its depth, which in turn is delineated by a metal railing. The crossover aisle connects to exit doors on both of the side walls, which in turn are topped by friezes with lyres and griffins. Exit doors with similar friezes are also placed on the side walls next to the front balcony. The rest of the balcony's side walls are divided into sections by pilasters with Ionic capitals, which support an entablature around the auditorium. Each side-wall section contains crystal-and-brass lighting sconces. The front rail of the balcony contains swags, urns, and cameo patterns, which have been partly covered over with light boxes. The underside of the balcony has Adam-style panels with crystal light fixtures. The balcony's rear wall is divided into panels that contain lighting sconces. There are some air-conditioning vents on the walls.
On either side of the stage is a wall section with three boxes at the balcony level. The boxes step downward toward the stage; the front box curves forward into the proscenium arch, while the rear box curves backward into the balcony. At the orchestra level, there is an opening on either wall, corresponding to the locations of the boxes above. The undersides of the boxes include crystal lamps and console brackets, while the front railings of the boxes contain swags, urns, and cameo patterns. Paneled piers separate the boxes from each other, supporting a smaller entablature directly above the boxes; each small entablature has a broken pediment with scrolls flanking an urn. Above the pediment, there are colonettes with female grotesques, which extend upward to the entablature that surrounds the auditorium.