Broadhurst Theater
235 W 44th Street
between 7th & 8th Avenues
Completed 1918
Architect Herbert J Krapp
Built back-to-back, the Broadhurst
and its companion the Plymouth were meant to evoke the style of
the neighboring Henry B Herts designed Shubert and Booth theaters
using less expensive patterned brick and terra cotta materials on
the facades. This is a typical Krapp-designed theater: minimal
ornamentation, single balcony, wide space and excellent sightlines
are signatures of Krapp's work during this period. It was built by
the Shuberts in partnership with impresario George Broadhurst to
be a showplace for the British-born playwright's work. Broadhurst
was an experienced theater manager, with interests in other
theaters in Milwaukee, Baltimore and San Francisco. Broadhurst had
a string of successes on Broadway starting in 1907, but his
creative flame dimmed and his last show was produced in 1924
Broadhurst's first production at
his new theater, on September 27, 1917, was a drama entitled Misalliance.
Ever since, the theater has remained a legitimate Broadway venue
1918 Ladies First isn't a Gershwin
musical, but George and Ira's 'The Real American Folk Song' is
included. It's the first time one of their co-written tunes has
been heard on the Great White Way.
1924 Beggar on Horseback, a George
S Kaufman-Marc Connelly collaboration, stars Roland Young
1925 George Abbott and Philip Dunning
authored Broadway, which runs for 603 performances
1928 The Ray Henderson-Buddy De Sylva-Lew
Brown musical Hold Everything includes 'You're the Cream in
My Coffee.' The cast includes Ona Munson, Betty Compton, Jack
Whiting and Bert Lahr
1929 Leslie Howard produced and stars in
Philip Barry's Animal Kingdom. It features Ilka Chase and
Frances Fuller
1933 Sidney Kingsley's Men in White
wins the Pulitzer Prize. Winning over audiences are Margaret
Baker, Phoebe Brand, Luther Adler and Morris Carnovsky
1935 What a fine cast! Robert E Sherwood's
classic, The Petrified Forest, features producer Leslie
Howard, Humphrey Bogart and Peggy Conklin on stage
1935 Helen Hayes and Vincent Price make a
517-performance run in Lawrence Houseman's Victoria Regina
1939 Let's have a little fun with Abbott
& Costello and Carmen Miranda in The Streets of Paris
1942 One great play, two great actors.
Thomas Job's Uncle Harry takes to the boards 430 times with
Joseph Schildkraut and Eva Le Gallienne in the lead
1944 Agatha Christie makes the leap to
Broadway with Ten Little Indians
1946 Anita Loos' Happy Birthday is
a smash comedy hit. At the first Tony
presentations, star Helen Hayes is recognized for outstanding
actress in a play
1949 Jean and Walter Kerr wrote the book
for Touch and Go. Peggy Cass and Louis Nye star
1951 We've got to include a flop when we
like the title. And we like saying Flahooley. Yip Harburg
went on to write some great music. Barbara Cook and Yma Sumac
became stars. The show Fla-opped with audiences
1954 Jerome Chodorov and Joseph Fields
have another hit. This time McDonald Carey and Kitty Carlisle star
in Anniversary Waltz
1956 Rosalind Russell defines the role of
a loving aunt in the Jerome Lawrence-Robert E Lee comedy Auntie
Mame. Peggy Cass takes home a Tony
for featured actress in a play
1958 France Nuyen and William Shatner are
in Paul Osborn's The World of Suzie Wong
1959 This is going to take some time:
George Abbott and Jerome Weidman write the book. Jerry Bock and
Sheldon Harnick write the score. Abbott directs. Peter Gennaro
choreographs. Hal Prince produces. Howard Da Silva, Patricia
Wilson, Nathaniel Fry and Ellen Hanley perform. Tom Bosley debuts.
Abbott wins a Tony.
Bosley wins a Tony.
The show wins a Tony
and the Pulitzer. The show is Fiorello!
1963 110 in the Shade makes a
330-performance run with Robert Horton, Stephen Douglas, Will
Geer, Leslie Ann Warren and Gretchen in the cast. Inga Swenson
makes her Broadway debut
1966 If you want to see a hit, just come
to the Cabaret, with Jill Haworth, Joel Grey, Jack Gilford,
Lotte Lenya, Peg Murray and Bert Convy. John Kander and Fred Ebb
win Tonys
for the score, Harold Prince for direction, Ronald Field for
choreography. Grey and Murray take home Tonys
for featured actor and actress. Cabaret plays 1,165 times.
1967 Playwright Eugene O'Neill did not
think More Stately Mansions should be performed. He was
right, but with a cast that includes Arthur Hill, Ingrid Bergman
and Colleen Dewhurst, it deserves a mention
1969 Woody Allen, Tony Roberts and Diane
Keaton. Sounds like a big-screen formula we all know, but this
time it's Allen's Play It Again Sam, on the boards for 453
shows
1972 Alan Arkin directs Jack Albertson and
Sam Levene in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys
1976 Ooh! Ooh! It's Kate Hepburn in Enid
Bagnold's drama A Matter of Gravity. Christopher Reeves
plays opposite
1976 Larry Gelbart's drama Sly Fox
is directed by Arthur Penn. In the cast are George C Scott, Trish
van Devere, Jack Gilford, Gretchen Wyler and Hector Elizondo
1978 Ann Reinking and Wayne Cilento star
in director and choreographer Bob Fosse's Dancin'. It's
1,774 performances good
1980 Peter Shaffer's Amadeus
settles in for a 1,181 performance run. Ian McKellen, Tim Curry
and Jane Seymour star. It's Tonys
for best play, McKellen's performance and Peter Hall's direction
1983 Hinton Battle gives a Tony-winning
performance in The Tap Dance Kid. Alfonso Ribeiro is the
kid
1984 Remarkable. Remarkable. Remarkable.
Dustin Hoffman is Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a
Salesman. Hoffman and Miller, with Robert Whitehead,
co-produced this revival. John Malkevich and Kate Reid give strong
cast support
1986 Linda Lavin and John Randolph win Tonys
for their performances in Neil Simon's comedy Broadway Bound.
Jason Alexander and Phyllis Newman ain't bad either
1988 It's Neil Simon again, this time with
Rumors. Ron Liebman, Joyce Van Patten, Jessica Walter and
Ken Howard are on the boards. Also Andre Gregory and Lisa Banes.
Oh yeah! Christine Baranski wins a featured actress Tony
1990 The Broadhurst would have been dark
again within a week of Aspects of Love opening, but because
it was an Andrew Lloyd Webber show, people bought it way in
advance. It lasted for 377 tortured performances
1993 A Terrence McNally-John Kander-Fred
Ebb Tony-winning
musical, The Kiss of the Spider Woman also produces Tony-winning
performances by Chita Rivera, Brent Carver and Anthony Crivello
1995 Say it slowly: Shakespeare, The
Tempest; Patrick Stewart, Prospero. Sounds right
1996 Sarah Jessica Parker stars in this
revival of the Jay Thompson-Marshal Barer-Dean Fuller-Mary Rodgers
musical Once Upon a Mattress
1999 Fosse
the dance revue featuring retrospective of dance numbers created
by Bob Fosse, includes selections from Cabaret, Chicago, Sweet
Charity, All That Jazz, Pippin, Dancin' and Big Deal
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