Belasco renovation — Page 2
#27
Posted: 10/1/09 at 6:16pm
This week's Time Out NY Public Eye column interviews a painter for Shubert, who mentions uncovering some original Everett Shinn paintings that had been painted over at the Belasco, now being restored.
Not online yet, or I'd post a link.
Not online yet, or I'd post a link.
#29
Posted: 11/23/09 at 9:34pm
This should eventually be turned into a Museum of American Theater specifically for drama or musicals with exhibits & memorabilia.
I doubt it will ever be able to make a go of it as a venue for a long playing show.
I doubt it will ever be able to make a go of it as a venue for a long playing show.
Poster Emeritus
#30
Posted: 11/23/09 at 9:45pm
I'm not sure I agree with that assessment. When the Belasco had tenants like Denzel Washington in Julius Caesar, Stanley Tucci and Edie Falco in Frankie and Johnny, Janet McTeer in A Doll's House, Ralph Fiennes in Hamlet, or Joe Turner's Come and Gone, post-Obama's visit, no one had any trouble finding that theatre. In recent years, it had two distinguished, though commercially unsuccessful shows with Journey's End and Passing Strange, as well as the Tony-winning revival of Awake and Sing! from Lincoln Center. I expect it to be the most beautiful playhouse in town, post renovation. If it were available this spring, it would be booked in a heartbeat.
These days, Broadway needs all of its 40 Broadway theatres - even the catastrophic ones, like the Marquis, Minskoff and Gershwin.
These days, Broadway needs all of its 40 Broadway theatres - even the catastrophic ones, like the Marquis, Minskoff and Gershwin.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
#32
Posted: 11/24/09 at 12:37pm
last time i was there i saw passing strange and sat 2nd row via TDF tix.. i saw everything fine so the stage wasn't too high.. pretty much the people's heads in row 1 were at the actors feet
#33
Posted: 11/24/09 at 3:14pm
Just remember stage height has more to do with the production design and less to do with the actual stage at the theatre.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27199361@N08/ Phantom at the Royal Empire Theatre
#34
Posted: 6/29/10 at 4:13pm
Strolled past the theatre this afternoon and the doors were open while work was happening inside. Took this shot... you can see the new lower boxes, which have been recreated and the Tiffany-style octagonal shades that have also been recreated, covering what had been left as bare filament bulbs. Also, just under the boxes, it looks like there is a mural which has been restored or uncovered. I don't remember seeing it there before. Looked like new seats have been installed.
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Updated On: 7/15/10 at 04:13 PM
#35
Posted: 6/29/10 at 4:16pm
Thank you for posting that!
And no one grew into anything new, we just became the worst of what we were."
#36
Posted: 7/15/10 at 10:39am
For those interested, the Belasco sign is back up in front of the theatre - looking pretty much like it did before, but a bit cleaned up. More interestingly, work is being done on the marquee and there was a piece going up this morning, looking very much like a facsimile of the entrance portico visible in this 1907 photo.
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#37
Posted: 7/15/10 at 10:53am
Thanks as always, smaxie. Great to see that the under-mezz Tiffany fixtures have been recreated and restored. I can't wait to see the place when it's done. Bar none, the Belasco is my favorite theater. It certainly has its limitations, but pair it with the right show and it's perfection.
#38
Posted: 7/15/10 at 10:59am
The one thing I hope they do is remove those front bars from the mezz and balcony so you can actually see the stage without having one of them obstructing the view.
#39
Posted: 7/15/10 at 10:59am
It's my favorite, too, ghostlight.
I can't imagine a better theater for, say, "Hamlet"--as when Ralph Fiennes, et al appeared there.
I can't imagine a better theater for, say, "Hamlet"--as when Ralph Fiennes, et al appeared there.
#40
Posted: 7/15/10 at 11:51am
I love re-reading that New Yorker article.
"...His apartment was the city’s supreme bachelor pad, configured and employed for the seduction of leading and not-so-leading ladies. An elevator took the girls straight up from backstage to a watery vestibule called the Grotto....They passed into an ornate study, where the Bishop of Broadway, as he was known, awaited them, in clerical dress. The pornography was hidden behind sliding panels in the wainscoting of the bedroom upstairs."
"...His apartment was the city’s supreme bachelor pad, configured and employed for the seduction of leading and not-so-leading ladies. An elevator took the girls straight up from backstage to a watery vestibule called the Grotto....They passed into an ornate study, where the Bishop of Broadway, as he was known, awaited them, in clerical dress. The pornography was hidden behind sliding panels in the wainscoting of the bedroom upstairs."
#41
Posted: 7/15/10 at 2:49pm
Here are two shots I took of the exterior. Here's the Belasco sign and part of the new marquee. You can also see that they've stripped off the layers of beige paint on all of the windows.
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Updated On: 7/15/10 at 02:49 PM
#42
Posted: 7/15/10 at 2:52pm
And a portion of the new marquee.
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#43
Posted: 7/15/10 at 4:28pm
These photos look great! I'm really excited to see a show in the restored Belasco.
#44
Posted: 7/20/10 at 3:18pm
Here's more of the new marquee, in place.
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Updated On: 7/20/10 at 03:18 PM
#45
Posted: 7/20/10 at 3:20pm
...and the front entrance, getting a good scraping.
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#47
Posted: 7/20/10 at 4:03pm
I love that woman hailing the cab. Just sticks out in the picture like a sore thumb!!
#48
Posted: 7/20/10 at 4:25pm
I wish they had done a prettier marquee like the Lyceum or something. I hate when you can see the metal and the backs of the marquees like the Jacobs, etc.
#49
Posted: 7/20/10 at 4:35pm
It's nowhere near finished, RentBoy. And they are at least doing somewhat of a facsimile of the original look of the marquee, rather than those boxy circa 1960s marquees that remain on the Jacobs, Schoenfeld, Golden, Ambassador, Cort, etc.
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#50
Posted: 7/20/10 at 4:52pm
Oh, no I totally agree. It looks way better than it did. I just look at the West End houses and how sort-of original they are in their marquees and stuff. I just hate that boxy cap on each end look. I like when they creative and different like the Walter Kerr did, or the Lyceum.
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