Eugene O'Neill Theater
former Coronet Theater | nee Forrest Theater
230 W 49th Street
between Broadway & 8th Avenue
Completed 1926
Architect Herbert J Krapp
The Forrest Theater was named to
honor America's first internationally known actor, Edwin Forrest,
the histrionic tragedian partly responsible for the Astor Place
riots of 1849. This is a typical Shubert-built, Krapp-designed
theater: a simple facade shrouding an elegant Adamesque interior
The theater opened on November 24,
1925 with a performance of Mayflowers. In 1934, Tobacco
Road, which had opened at Theater Masque in 1932, moved to the
Forrest. The bulk of the show's 3,182 performances were staged at
this theater. In 1945 the theater's name was changed to the
Coronet. Then, on November 11, 1959 the theater was renamed for
Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, author of Anna
Christie, Long Day's Journey into Night, Mourning Becomes Elektra
and The Iceman Cometh, among other intense psychological
dramas. You'll notice below a string of Neil Simon hits played the
theater, starting with The Last of the Red Hot Lovers in 1969.
Simon then owned the Eugene O'Neill and sold it to the Jujamcyn
organization in 1982. The interior of the theater was designated a
New York City landmark in December 1987
1944 Arthur Miller's Broadway debut show, The
Man Who Had All the Luck, has nothing but bad luck. It closes
after 4 performances
1945 Betty Field and Wendell Corey star in
Elmer Rice's comedy Dream Girl
1947 Arthur Miller has better luck this
time around. His All My Sons stars Ed Begley and Arthur
Kennedy and is directed by Elia Kazan. Tonys
go to Miller for outstanding playwright, Kazan for outstanding
director and Kennedy for outstanding supporting performance
1952 A revival of The Children's Hour
stars Patricia Neal and Kim Hunter
1955 Arthur Miller is back with another
classic-in-his-own-time, A View from the Bridge, starring
Van Heflin, J Carroll Nash, Eileen Heckart and Jack Warden
1957 Ralph Richardson and Mildred Natwick
star in Jean Anouilh's comedy Waltz of the Toreadors
1958 This is memorable. The cast of The
Disenchanted includes Rosemary Harris and George Grizzard, but
this is Jason Robard Sr's first time on Broadway since 1922. The
kicker? He shares the stage with Jason Robards Jr, who goes on to
win a best actor Tony
for his performance
1962 Herb Gardner's A Thousand Clowns
nets Sandy Dennis a Tony;
she stars opposite Jason Robards Jr
1963 She Loves Me, the charming Joe
Masteroff-Jerry Bock-Sheldon Harnick musical, directed by Harold
Prince, stars Barbara Cook, Daniel Massey, Barbara Baxley and Jack
Cassidy
1969 James Coco stars in Neil Simon's
comedy Last of the Red Hot Lovers
1971 Peter Falk, Lee Grant and Vincent
Gardenia are directed by Mike Nichols in Neil Simon's latest
comedy The Prisoner of Second Avenue. Gardenia and Nichols
earn Tonys
1973 Let's have a Neil Simon drama for a
change. Christopher Plummer, Marsha Mason, Frances Sternhagen,
Rene Auberjonois and Barnard Hughes (whew!) share the stage in The
Good Doctor
1975 Tovah Feldshu originates the role of
the Yeshiva boy in the Leah Napolin-Isaac Bashevics Singer drama Yentl
1976 He's back. Neil Simon is back to
comedy with Tammy Grimes, George Grizzard, Jack Weston, Barbara
Barrie and Leslie Easterbrook starring in California Suite
1980 And again. Neil Simon's I Ought to
Be in Pictures stars Ron Liebman, Joyce Van Patten and Dinah
Manoff, who earns a Tony
for her performance
1983 We need a flop, so let's throw in the
heralded Moose Murders. All 1 performance of it
1985 Roger Miller's music and lyrics
combine with William Hauptman's book to produce the Tony-winning
musical Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Dan
Jenkins, Ron Richardson, John Goodman and Rene Auberjonois star,
directed by Des McAnuf. Williams, Hauptman, McAnuf and Richardson
win Tonys
1988 David Henry Hwang's Tony-winning
drama M Butterfly stars John Lithgow and BD Wong. Wong
earns a Tony,
as does director John Dexter
1990 Charles Durning's performance
opposite Kathleen Turner earns a Tony
in this revival of Tennessee William's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1991 Okay, so its only 14 performances.
But its Dickens. It's The Christmas Carol. Its Patrick
Stewart
1992 The Louis Jordan-Clarke Peters Revue Five
Guys Named Moe takes to the boards for 445 performances
1994 Tommy Tune directs and choreographs
this revival of Grease. The practice of rotating
celebrities in and out of principal roles ensures a long run
1999 First Lee J Cobb did it. Then Dustin
Hoffman did it. Surprisingly, now Brian Dennehy does it. Each star
of Arthur Miller's Death
of a Salesman interprets Willy Loman in his own way.
Dennehy rivals the best and earns a Tony
as does Elizabeth Franz, director Robert Falls and the show itself
|
