ATG Looking to Buy More Broadway Theaters

The venue I've often wondered about is the Liberty Theatre on 42nd Street. It's been completely underutilized as a party space, pre-Covid, and would seem a viable candidate, even with two balconies. ATG has had a few successes at the Hudson, another two balcony house, which has even less seats than the Liberty. The Liberty did house musicals in its past, including notably, the Astaires in the Gershwins' Lady, Be Good! The load-in door is on 41st Street, so it won't interrupt 42nd Street traffic flow. Unless there's something about the house that is unworkable or something else is planned for it, it seems like a return to legit would be the best option, since it has had little success over the 25+ years of the New 42nd Street's existence.

The Kings is a beautiful albatross. I don't think it can be used for anything other than concerts. Public transportation to/from is a particular problem.

Updated On: 4/2/21 at 10:30 AM

>I saw something there and the whole stage is basically where the kitchen is, and there’s no 2 balconies.<

Really? This was what it was looking like quite recently.

Updated On: 4/2/21 at 01:02 PM

Did the photos disappear from my post? Not sure why. Anyway, it's what was on Yelp, though I don't know how old the photos are. It's also been a few years since I was in there, but it still pretty much looked like that, unless something drastic happened?

https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-liberty-theater-new-york

Renovated theaters are so much better than the old, crumbling theaters with tiny seats. If they have the money, let's make it happen!

Unfortunately the opportunity for the Times Square Theatre to reopen as a legit Broadway house ended in 1997/1998 when Livent built the Ford Center. Instead of also renovating the Times Square and creating a way for the Times Square to be loaded in from 43rd Street, they only focused on the Apollo and Lyric to create their new space leaving the Times Square landlocked with access only from 42nd St.

NYC has an ordinance that 42nd Street can not be shut down in any way for loading in or out a show. Without a logistical way to get a show in/out of the Times Square from a direction that doesn't involve 42nd Street, it can never be used as a legitimate Broadway space again.

The Liberty (and maybe the Edison? or the Paramount?) probably have the best chance at this point of being reborn into main stem Broadway Theatres. I always thought the old Lowes space under the Minskoff that became the Nokia/Playstation live performance space would be an ideal location to convert into a Broadway house, but I'm sure creating underground retail/parking is easier for the folks involved.

re the Times Square, my understanding is that there is no there there, meaning that there is nothing salvageable. As to the 42nd Street issue, in the current mindset regarding traffic and the use of roads in the city, I am not as sure as I once was that the priorities have not changes and that this would be on the table if it meant providing a solution for the space. re the Playstation, this is modern construction so the only real conversion issue is the dimensions of the cube.