NYTimes & Photos: Henry Miller's Theatre to Reopen on Broadway!

[EugLoven]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:22pm

THE FIRST NEWLY OPENED THEATRE ON BROADWAY IN 20 YEARS!!!
I cannot wait to step inside!
And it looks like the outdoor marquee is going to be enormous.

NY TIMES:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/04/theater/04Green.html



Henry Miller's Theater, the first newly built Broadway house in more than 20 years - and the first so-called green theater on the Great White Way - has completed major construction and is set to open in September with Roundabout Theater Company's revival of the musical Bye Bye Birdie.

The 1,055-seat theater, on 43rd Street between Avenue of the Americas and Broadway, was built on the site of a theater planned by the actor Henry Miller, which opened in 1918. Over the decades, the original theater fell into disrepair and was used as a movie house and a disco before Roundabout produced the musical Cabaret there in 1998, followed by a run of Urinetown.

Updated On: 5/3/09 at 07:22 PM

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:24pm

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Looks beautiful!

Although I wish they would prop up a Urinetown revival there, seeing as it was forced to close with the theater...

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:28pm

Thanks for posting.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:30pm

Why is there so little off-stage space? Who's idea was that?

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:32pm

That huge marquee is going to be glorious!

That being said, why the hell is the inside so hideous and completely devoid of any character. Pleeeease tell me they are going to do something to those walls... paint them at least! Yuck.

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:33pm

Actr, I'm sure they're not finished painting yet.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:36pm

Modern theater's suck! What happened to treating theater like this big fancy ordeal. Instead we get some red chairs and some black walls. Yuck. Why not spring for some modeling and some design, and a nice big chandelier?

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:37pm

One can only hope. I guess I just assumed that they would have painted and carpeted before installing all the seats.

Still, that wood is horrendous. They couldn't have even tried to make the inside of the theater resemble the style of the outside? Look at what Disney did with the New Amsterdam!

Updated On: 5/3/09 at 07:37 PM

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:56pm

?The first time I came inside the old theater, it was a porno palace,? said Douglas Durst, president of the Durst Organization,

Poor phraseology, Mr. Durst.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 7:58pm

Please. I came inside when it wasn't a porno palace.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 8:03pm

22 stalls for the ladies!
Woo Hoo.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 8:09pm

One word come to mind: Sterile

It looks like it has a very shallow balcony. I wonder what the pricing structure will be for it.Putting full scale musicals into a reduced seat house should force them to spike up ticket prices . Time will tell.

Updated On: 5/3/09 at 08:09 PM

[PiraguaGuy2]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 8:13pm

That's what comes to mind when I think of you, Roxy.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 8:27pm

With a modern theater, I expect every seat to have a good view. There's no sense that they shouldn't. Also, I wonder why most get rid of the box seats? I know they don't offer a great view, but they help the theater feel cozy, at least to me.

[blaxx]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 8:33pm

Would this be officially the 40th Broadway theater?

[EugLoven]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 8:35pm

Goodgawd, you picky lil queens! It's a new theatre in the 21st Century! For crying out loud, be HAPPY there's yet another space in Midtown for some cultural arts, instead of a sprawling apartment skyscraper!

Yes, we live in a world of modern architecture. Imagine that. RippedMan (above) has it correctly: Expect every seat to be a good view.

And if you click through the slideshow, you'll see they've preserved as best they could some of the original infrastructure and design, like the fire-exit doors (now eerily suspended on the walls) and some of the concrete columns in the lobby.

When the lights go down, who's looking at the ceiling anyway?

[Alexis2]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 9:38pm

The first play i had ever seen as a young teenager was @ The Henry Miller Theatre. In 1966, Play: The Subject was Roses. Which I believe had moved to 4 to 5 theatres at that point. Less expensive to move a show in those years. It starred Maureen O'Sullivan, Chester Morris and Walter McGlyn. The understudy for the young soldier and the stage manager was Dustin Hoffman.

As a young kid I was AWESTRUCK by the entire experience and has kept me going to the theatre for years to come.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 9:46pm

Wow, boy do you guys know how to bi+ch about something stupid!

Relax!

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 9:59pm

We can bitch about whatever we damn well please. I think the interior is ugly. Sue me.

[Drunk Chita Rivera]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 10:04pm

I just don't understand what is so bad about it. Updated On: 5/3/09 at 10:04 PM

[Jane2]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 10:06pm

I personally loved the decadence which was the Henry Miller at the end. There was no better venue for the play The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant which closed in Feb. '01

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 10:06pm

Hopefully, this will replace that God-awful Studio 54, a real fire trap if there ever was one. Whatever quibbles are being raised about the new Henry Miller's, it sure beats the agony of going to Studio 54.

[TheActr97J]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 10:12pm

I rather like Studio 54, although I think it could use some serious touching up. Different strokes, I guess.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 10:24pm

It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks like nice, clean wood to me. I, personally, find that look to be fresh and timeless.

[BroadwayEnthusiast2]

Posted: 5/3/09 at 10:39pm

"Still, that wood is horrendous. They couldn't have even tried to make the inside of the theater resemble the style of the outside? Look at what Disney did with the New Amsterdam!"

I agree. I wish ever Broadway theatre could have the same delicacy, beauty, and intricacy as the New Amsterdam