Henry Miller's Theater
126 W 43rd Street
between 6th Avenue & Broadway
Completed 1918
Architect Allen, Ingalls & Hoffman
This is one of a number of theaters
built post-World War I for specific impresarios. Henry Miller,
actor-director-producer, operated the theater until his death in
1926. In contrast to the one-balcony practice in new theater
construction of the day, Miller made sure to include the second
balcony; those were the seats he was able to afford as a young man
Louis Evan Shipman's drama The
Fountain of Youth opened the theater on April 1, 1918. The
show was directed by Henry Miller, choreographed by Henry Miller,
produced by Henry Miller and starred Henry Miller. In case you've
forgotten, it was staged at Henry Miller's theater
With few exceptions the theater has
not operated as a legitimate Broadway venue since its conversion
to a cinema theater in 1969. Through much of the 90s, Henry
Miller's had been home to the Kit Kat Club, the latest in a string
of discos and dance clubs. The impresarios name still appears on
the marquee and one of the original Broadway theaters above 42nd
Street was again host to a legitimate production when the revival
of Cabaret moved to the theater in 1998 in search of Tony
eligibility. The Miller cachet worked
1919 George and Ira Gershwin's now
forgotten musical La Lucille plays 104 performances
1919 Henry Miller produces and stars with
Blanche Bates in James Forbes' drama The Famous Mrs. Fair
1922 The Awful Truth, an Arthur
Richman comedy, stars Ina Claire
1923 Are you one of thousands standing
outside Henry Miller's to see Jane Cowl after her performance in Romeo
and Juliet. You might if you love Broadway in 1923. Her Romeo
is Rollo Peters
1925 Noel Coward authored and stars in The
Vortex. Sharing the stage are Lillian Braithwaite and Leo G
Carroll
1934 Eugene O'Neill's Days Without End
ends after 57 performances
1934 It isn't only because our buddy
Charlie likes Gladys George, her starring role in Lawrence Riley's
comedy Personal Appearance runs 501 times
1939 Produced and directed by Jed Harris,
Thornton Wilder's Our Town is an instant classic. Wilder
wins a Pulitzer Prize
1942 642 performances strong, Gwen
Anderson, Frank Amy and Herbert Evans star in the Josephine
Bentham-Herschel Williams comedy Janie
1943 Helen Hayes is on the boards in Harriet,
a drama by Florence Ryerson and Colin Clements
1944 Lenore Lonergan. Say it 3 times fast.
She appears with Virginia Gilmore and John Dall in the
long-running comedy Dear Ruth
1950 TS Eliot. The Cocktail Party.
Alec Guiness. Irene Worth. Magic
1951 Barbara Bel Geddes takes to the Henry
Miller's stage with Barry Nelson and Donald Cook for 924
performances of F Hugh Herbert's The Moon is Blue
1953 Why does it have to be a limited run?
Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful has nary a bump with
Lillian Gish and Jo Van Fleet guiding a young Eva Marie Saint. Van
Fleet wins a Tony
1954 Crime drama can't get any better than
Agatha Christie. Her Witness for the Prosecution stars
Francis L Sullivan, Gene Lyons and Patricia Jessel. Sullivan and
Jessel earn Tonys
for their performances
1957 A young actress makes her debut in
the Georges Feydeau-MauriceDesvallieres comedy Hotel Paradiso.
She goes on to win 4 best musical actress awards. Would Angela
Lansbury have won 5 Tonys if her debut show had music?
1963 Alan Arkin Enters Laughing
with Alan Mowbray and Vivian Blaine in the Joseph Stein comedy.
Arkin earns a Tony
1998 This revival of Cabaret is deemed Tony-eligible
by the committee. It's a good thing: Alan Cumming, Natasha
Richardson and Ron Rifkin all win the little doodads
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