Ambassador Theatre in Shambles Mr. Shubert

Are the theatre owners allowed to do whatever they want from charging a theater restoration fee? I've always wondered.

I agree with "in shambles." I saw Chicago a couple of weeks ago, and was appalled at the state of the place. What exactly are they refurbishing with those theatre restoration fees over there?

You missed my sarcasm, winston.

In the 1990s, the Ambassador sat empty for I think five years (around the same time when the Shubert Organization came very close to selling the Longacre and turning it into a midtown courthouse). It's another of these theatres that had been dulled down in its decor over the years. Original photos of the interior show it to be a very attractive house - far more detailed and appointed than the current interior would lead you to believe. A number of the Shubert houses got bad paint jobs in the 60s and 70s, where institutional white, ivory, mushroom or oatmeal colored paint was slathered over every surface. The Shubert Organization, thankfully, seems to be rectifying this, theatre by theatre. The Shubert and Longacre were restored, with the Belasco currently under restoration. I believe that the Cort is next on the list. Maybe they have plans for the Ambassador if and when Chicago ever closes.

Whatever they eventually do with it, I'd love for it to get some approximation of its old marquee back. It seems to be the same design that had been used on the Ritz/Walter Kerr and which Jujamcyn painstakingly recreated when that theatre was renovated.

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The CORT desperately needs new ladies rooms. The situation there is almost as dire as The Public.

It's a weird theatre in that it was built on a triangular piece of property. The house is built like an egg - wide in the middle and thinning out at the top and bottom. (The back row of the mezz has like four seats in it). It's even stranger backstage, with all sorts of odd angles and diagonals. It's like working in a Max Escher painting.

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