Belasco Theatre (New York). Producer‐playwright David Belasco built this up‐to‐date theatre in 1907 on West 44th Street with a modern stage lighting system to show off his realistic productions. Since he already had another theatre named the Belasco, he called this one the Stuyvesant, but three years later Belasco renamed it after himself when he lost the earlier house. George Keister designed the 1,100‐seat theatre that boasted a complex dimmer board, an elevator stage, and a private apartment overhead for Belasco. It opened with A Grand Army Man, cowritten and directed by the owner, and later featured such famous Belasco productions as The Return of Peter Grimm (1911), Kiki (1921), Lulu Belle (1926), and The Governor's Lady (1912) in which he recreated Child's restaurant onstage. The house became an NBC broadcasting studio in 1950 but three years later regained its legitimate status and has been in use as a theatre ever since. In 1991 the Shubert‐owned house became the home of Tony Randall's National Actors Theatre, but other tenants have used it as well.
Belasco Theatre
| American Theater Guide: Belasco Theatre |
| Wikipedia: Belasco Theatre |
| Belasco Theatre | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Address |
111 West 44th Street
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| City | |
| Country | USA |
| Designation | Broadway |
| Architect | George Keister |
| Owned by | The Shubert Organization |
| Capacity | 1,016 |
| Opened | October 16, 1907 |
| Previous names | Stuyvesant Theatre |
| shubertorganization.com/theatres/belasco.asp | |
The Belasco Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 111 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan.
Designed by architect George Keister for impresario David Belasco, the interior featured Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and expansive murals by American artists Everett Shinn, and a ten-room duplex penthouse apartment that Belasco utilized as combination living quarters/office space. Technically it was outfitted with the most advanced stagecraft tools available, including extensive lighting rigs, a hydraulics system, and vast wing and fly space. Meyer R. Bimberg was the actual owner of the Stuyvesant/Belasco. He made his fortune selling political campaign buttons.[1]
It opened as the Stuyvesant Theatre on October 16, 1907 with the musical A Grand Army Man with Antoinette Perry. Three years later Belasco attached his own name to the venue. After his death in 1931, it was leased first by actress Katharine Cornell and then playwright Elmer Rice. The Shuberts bought it in 1949 and leased it to NBC for three years before returning it to legitimate use.
This theater is the subject of an urban legend that David Belasco's ghost haunts the theater every night. Some performers in the shows that played there have even claimed to have spotted him or other ghosts during performances.[2] It was also reported that after Oh! Calcutta! (A musical revue with extensive full frontal male & female nudity) played the theater the ghost of David Belasco stopped appearing.
Notable productions
- 1927: Hit the Deck
- 1935: Awake and Sing!
- 1937: Golden Boy
- 1940: Johnny Belinda
- 1948: The Madwoman of Chaillot
- 1953: The Solid Gold Cadillac
- 1955: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
- 1955: Fanny
- 1959: A Raisin in the Sun
- 1966: The Subject Was Roses; The Killing of Sister George
- 1968: Don't Drink the Water
- 1971: Oh! Calcutta!
- 1975: The Rocky Horror Show
- 1981: Ain't Misbehavin'
- 1995: Hamlet
- 2000: James Joyce's The Dead
- 2001: Follies
- 2002: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
- 2004: Dracula, the Musical
- 2005: Julius Caesar
- 2006: Awake and Sing!
- 2007: Journey's End
- 2008: Passing Strange; American Buffalo
- 2009: Joe Turner's Come and Gone
- 2010: Coming to the Hermosa Beach Playhouse
References
External links
- Official website
- Belasco Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database
- Belasco Theatre history
- Broadway Theatre Guide
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Coordinates: 40°45′23.1″N 73°59′0.5″W / 40.756417°N 73.983472°W
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
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Copyrights:
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 | American Theater Guide. The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Belasco Theatre". Read more |
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