Broadhurst Theatre
The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Broadhurst Theatre is named for British-American theatrical producer George Broadhurst, who leased the theater before its opening. It has 1,218 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
The neoclassical facade is simple in design and is similar to that of the Schoenfeld Theatre, which was developed concurrently. The Broadhurst's facade is made of buff-colored brick and terracotta and is divided into two sections: a stage house to the west and the theater's entrance to the east. The entrance is topped by fire-escape galleries and contains a curved corner facing east toward Broadway. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, a large balcony, a small technical gallery, and a flat ceiling. The space is decorated in the classical Greek and Adam styles, with Doric columns and Greek friezes. Near the front of the auditorium, flanking the flat proscenium arch, are box seats at balcony level.
The Shubert brothers developed the Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters following the success of the Booth and Shubert theaters directly to the east. The Broadhurst Theatre opened on September 27, 1917, with Misalliance; its namesake had intended to use the theater for his own productions. The Shuberts acquired full control of the Broadhurst in 1929 and have operated it since then. The theater has hosted not only musicals but also revues, comedies, and dramas throughout its history. Long-running shows hosted at the Broadhurst have included Hold Everything!, Fiorello!, Cabaret, Grease, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Les Misérables, and Mamma Mia!.
Site
The Broadhurst Theatre is on 235 West 44th Street, on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The rectangular land lot covers, with a frontage of on 44th Street and a depth of. The Broadhurst Theatre shares the city block with the Row NYC Hotel to the west. It adjoins six other theaters: the Majestic to the west, the John Golden and Bernard B. Jacobs to the northwest, the Gerald Schoenfeld to the north, the Booth to the northeast, and the Shubert to the east. Other nearby structures include the Music Box Theatre and Imperial Theatre one block north; One Astor Plaza to the east; 1501 Broadway to the southeast; and the Sardi's restaurant, the Hayes Theater, and the St. James Theatre to the south.The Broadhurst is part of the largest concentration of Broadway theaters on a single block. The Broadhurst, Schoenfeld, Booth, and Shubert theaters were all developed by the Shubert brothers between 44th and 45th Streets, occupying land previously owned by the Astor family. The Broadhurst and Schoenfeld were built as a pair, occupying land left over from the development of the Shubert and Booth, which were also paired. The Broadhurst/Schoenfeld theatrical pair share an alley to the east, parallel to the larger Shubert Alley east of the Shubert/Booth pair. The Broadhurst/Schoenfeld alley was required under New York City construction codes of the time but, unlike Shubert Alley, it was closed to the public shortly after its completion. The Shuberts bought the land under all four theaters from the Astors in 1948.
Design
The Broadhurst Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and constructed in 1917 for the Shubert brothers. The Broadhurst and Plymouth were two of Krapp's first theatrical designs as an independent architect after he left the firm of Herts & Tallant. While the facades of the two theaters are similar in arrangement, the interiors have a different design both from each other and from their respective facades. The Broadhurst is designed to complement the Shubert/Booth theatrical pair, with a simple neoclassical facade compared to the Shubert's and Booth's "Venetian Renaissance" designs. The Broadhurst is operated by the Shubert Organization.Facade
Krapp designed the Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters with relatively simple brick-and-stone facades, instead relying on the arrangement of the brickwork for decorative purposes. The Broadhurst and Plymouth contain curved corners at the eastern portions of their respective facades, facing Broadway, since most audience members reached the theaters from that direction. The use of simple exterior-design elements was typical of Krapp's commissions for the Shubert family, giving these theaters the impression that they were mass-produced. The Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters' designs contrasted with Henry Beaumont Herts's earlier ornate designs of the Shubert and Booth theaters. Nevertheless, the use of curved east-facing corners was common to all four theaters. The Broadhurst's facade is divided into two sections: the auditorium to the east and a stage house to the west. The facade is generally shorter than its width.Auditorium section
The ground floor of the auditorium contains a water table made of granite, above which are vertical blocks of architectural terracotta. The rest of the facade is made of buff brick in Flemish bond, laid in a diaper pattern. Along the ground floor on 44th Street, there are glass-and-bronze double doors with aluminum frames and transoms. There are display boxes on either side of these doors, and a marquee extends above the doors. The southeastern corner of the facade is curved and contains an entrance to the ticket lobby. This entrance contains a double door, above which is a glass transom panel with the word "Broadhurst" inscribed on it. The corner entrance is topped by a broken pediment, which is supported by console brackets on either side and contains an escutcheon at the center.Along 44th Street, the auditorium's second and third floors contain a fire escape made of cast iron and wrought iron. There are doors and windows on both levels, leading to the fire escape. In addition, the fire escape's third-floor railing contains cast-iron depictions of ribands and shields. A canopy originally shielded the fire escape at the third floor. Above the center of the third floor, on 44th Street, is a terracotta cartouche containing depictions of swags. The curved corner contains a third-floor window, topped by an oval escutcheon decorated with swags and fleur-de-lis. A terracotta cornice and a brick parapet runs above the auditorium facade. The parapet is stepped and contains a coping made of sheet metal.
Stage house
The stage house is five stories high. The ground floor of the stage house contains a granite water table with terracotta blocks above it. On this story, there are two metal doors and three windows. The stage house has five sash windows on each of the upper stories. These windows are placed within segmental arches made of brick. There is a metal fire escape in front of the stage house, which leads to the fire escape in front of the auditorium's third story. A parapet with corbels runs above the fifth story of the stage house.Auditorium
The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony, boxes, and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium has about the same width and depth, and the space is designed with plaster decorations in relief. According to the Shubert Organization, the theater has 1,218 seats; meanwhile, The Broadway League gives a figure of 1,186 seats and Playbill cites 1,163 seats. The physical seats are divided into 733 seats in the orchestra, 429 on the balcony, and 24 in the boxes. There are 32 standing-only spots. The theater contains restrooms in the basement and concessions in the lobby. The orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible and contains an accessible restroom; the balcony is not wheelchair-accessible.Seating areas
The rear or eastern end of the orchestra contains a promenade, with four paneled piers supporting the balcony level. The promenade's ceiling is surrounded by a Doric-style cornice as well as a frieze designed in the Adam style. There are also plasterwork panels on the promenade ceiling, which contain chandeliers suspended from medallions. Two staircases with metal railings lead from the promenade to the balcony. The orchestra level is raked, sloping down toward an orchestra pit in front of the stage. The orchestra and its promenade contain walls with plasterwork panels. Doorways on the south wall lead from the lobby, while those on the north and east walls lead to the exits. The tops of the doorways are flanked by console brackets, which support an entablature and a pediment with anthemia. When the theater was built, the orchestra had a movable floor; half the seating could be removed overnight to accommodate smaller productions.At the rear of the balcony are four paneled piers, which are topped by Doric-style capitals. The side walls contain plasterwork panels with swags. There are also doorways with pediments, similar to those on the orchestra. Low-relief panels and air-conditioning vents are placed on the balcony's underside. In front of the balcony is a Panathenaic frieze, based on that of the Parthenon, which is mostly hidden behind light boxes. There is a small technical gallery above the rear of the balcony, the front railing of which contains moldings of swags. A Doric-style cornice runs above the balcony walls, wrapping above the boxes and proscenium.
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 are three rectangular openings, corresponding to the locations of former boxes on that level. The front railings of the boxes contain sections of a Panathenaic frieze, separated by fasces made of plaster; the frieze contained depictions of horsemen. The underside of each box is decorated with a medallion containing a light fixture; this is surrounded by a molded band. Doric-style columns separate the boxes from each other, supporting a molding and panel at the top of each wall section.