Could the Ed Sullivan Theatre return to Broadway?

[MaxineElliott]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 8:03pm

With the Late Show ending next year and the slow death of Network/Late Night Television could the Ed Sullivan Theatre (originally built as the Hammerstein Theatre, a Broadway House) be returned for legitimate theatre? Would love to see it happen if the space is no longer needed by CBS. Hopefully it goes into the hands of someone with good intentions rather than see it not used or take down. 
 

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[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 8:24pm

I ... do not hate this idea

[ElephantLoveMedley]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 8:27pm

PLEASE!

[two ladies tickets]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 8:51pm

I remember going to a taping of Kate and Allie there  in the 1980s. I know there was another sitcom that shot there before David Letterman moved in, but I can't be bothered to look it up right now. Turning it back into a legitimate Broadway house would be amazing. 

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 9:04pm

Paramount will probably just sell the building to BlackRock or Blackstone for redevelopment before one of the theatre owners.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 9:19pm

Maybe ALW can buy it since he’s in the market for a theatre. 

[Age_of_Mendacity]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 9:27pm

It would require a major costly renovation to make it a viable Broadway theatre. It's currently configured with fewer than 400 seats and is essentially an office building with a tiny theatre at its base. I'd imagine converting the stage; lighting and sound systems; and backstage area would turn most investors off.

If Roundabout didn't already have the Laura Pels, it might be a good off-Broadway space for them, but not in this economy. Maybe if CBS could sell the office building separately from the theatre ... maybe

[Blow Gabriel]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 9:32pm

Is it a protected theater?  

[Age_of_Mendacity]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 9:36pm

Blow Gabriel said: "Is it a protected theater?"

Looks like the theatre is on the list of U.S. Historical Places and the lobby and auditorium are NYC Landmarks since the 80s, but it's been renovated inside since then, so I don't know to what extent.

[Blow Gabriel]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 9:43pm

If it were to be sold, I doubt anyone would want the space anyway except for the Broadway landlords. I wonder what Paramounts plans are with it. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 7/17/25 at 10:14pm

They did an $18m restoration just a decade ago to restore the neo-gothic interior (as well as revamp & add dressing, makeup, talent and green rooms). It’s much more functional and easier to revert back to a theater now than it was with Letterman. The blueprints and plans for the restoration and changes for Colbert are available online. The balcony is still there behind a curtain to my understanding. 

[MaxineElliott]

Posted: 7/18/25 at 12:43am

Yes! Colbert had the theatre restored when he took over which included uncovering the stunning stained glass windows in the space. and it is landmarked so they would have to keep it intact for the most part. I presume there are plenty of backstage areas and dressing rooms etc as well for the shows guests to use. The original theatre had over 1,000 seats so they would need to add back in some. 

below are some newer interior photos and photos of the original marquee when it was built for Oscar Hammerstein 

[SFFrontRow]

Posted: 7/18/25 at 1:44am

Thanks for the beautiful photo of the balcony and the stained glass windows (they were removed and put in storage by the Letterman show). 

I have an old theater book and stuff on the internet says this was a 1200 seat theater when it was first opened... it now has 300 or 400 seat capacity. This could be another Helen Hayes or an Amsterdam Theater-type renovation. The stained glass and the ceiling are worth it.

Updated On: 7/18/25 at 01:44 AM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/18/25 at 12:09pm

From this photo you can tell that the entire Late Show set is in front of the proscenium and in the place of roughly a 1/3 of the orchestra seating. This could easily be reverted. I believe the only headache would be raking the seating again. 
 

In this photo MaxineElliott shared you can see the aforementioned ‘curtain’ that’s hiding much of the balcony space. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 7/22/25 at 6:29pm

Would love to see it happen. 

Paramount wants real money, though. The 5-house Jujamcyn portfolio’s valuation was about $400 million (308 cash, plus Roth getting a 7% stake in the Lyric, Hudson, and Kings). The Helen Hayes sold for $25 million a decade ago. Even if a bidding war took this up to 75 or 100 million, that’s chump change for Paramount.

Paramount might be better off leasing it. But then it might never return to Broadway glory.

Obviously ATG is the most likely candidate and they want a bigger portfolio. I know ALW claimed to want the Hellinger, but I don’t know if there’s a successful business model for anyone owning just one Broadway house unless they pay an existing chain to operate it.

MSG could also (unfortunately) be an option, especially if they sell the Theatre at MSG as part of the Penn Station reno.

Or perhaps there’s a nonprofit with a deep-pocketed supporter…is this finally the Public’s moment?

Fingers crossed something happens.

Updated On: 7/22/25 at 06:29 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 7/22/25 at 6:46pm

I just had a horrible thought. Let's just hope Trump isn't in the market for a Broadway Theatre. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/22/25 at 7:15pm

Count me as one who can never succeed with embedding images. Here’s an old image looking from the balcony to the proscenium

https://imgur.com/a/XAU3rUc

And this cross section gives a nice idea of the scale of the room. Would be wonderful to have it used for live theatre again. 

https://imgur.com/a/zR3BkyP

Looking from the stage to the house in its current configuration. The curtain blocking the rear mezz can almost be seen with waves/creases in it

https://imgur.com/a/2nZvyUr

Updated On: 7/22/25 at 07:15 PM

[morosco]

Posted: 7/22/25 at 7:29pm

Wow. That theatre is spectacular!

[merle57]

Posted: 7/22/25 at 9:43pm

Broadway needs to reclaim it. It would be the fifth theatre ON Broadway if one counts the Marquis, the Palace, the Winter Garden, and the Minskoff.  It is a stunningly beautiful theatre and should return to its original Hammerstein name since four generations of Hammerstein have graced the American theatre -- Oscar I, Arthur, Reginald and Oscar II, and both of Oscar II's sons who produced and directed. .

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 7/23/25 at 1:28am

If you look at the Google Maps view of the theatre's interior, it shows the view from both the orchestra and mezzanine. It's actually from the old Letterman set, which reflects more how deep the upstage goes.

[witchoftheeast2]

Posted: 7/24/25 at 11:36am

Maybe they could also completely regut it to make it fully accessible. Ramps, elevators, escalators like with the new Palace thater. 

[Crusty Bagel]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 5:16am

It’s already had such a long history with CBS, they might just want to keep it and use it for some new morning show or something 

 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 11:09am

Kind of crazy CBS just covered all that beauty up...

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 11:47am

RippedMan said: "Kind of crazy CBS just covered all that beauty up..."

Acoustics led to it being necessary. The space was too “live” sounding so they had to lay fabrics over a lot of the surfaces. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 11:55am

Makes total sense, thanks!