Name That Theatre!

Several Broadway theatres have had their names changed. Can you tell me teh names from which these current Broadway houses had theirnames changed?

The Richard Rodgers Theatre
The Neil Simon Theatre
The Helen Hayes Theatre
The August Wilson Theatre
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre
The Walter Kerr Theatre
The American Airlines Theatre
The George Gershwin Theatre

For bonus points, name the three Broadway theatres that were demolished to make room for the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

Very good. And right, all of them. Do you want to takle the names of the three Broadway theatres that were demolished to make room for the Marriott Marquis Hotel?

Somethingwicked, I don't think he forgot the Ford Center/Hilton. Every theatre has had its name changed and some others even pretty recently (the Martin Beck to the Al Hirchfeld for example). I think he was just testing for fun.

Timmer, the answer is Bijou, Morosco, Helen Hayes.

Not that I know of B3TA07. I know that the Acme Theatre (a single screen movie theatre) was demolished to make way for the Virgin MegaStore in Union Square, but I don't think anything was demolished for the Times Square store.

Ghostlight, the Criterion stood where the Toys R Us is now, not the Virgin MegaStore.

Some of us still remember the Virginia when it was the ANTA. There may even be a few who remember it as the Guild.

>Every theatre has had its name changed<

There are a few theatres, though, that never had a name change. The Majestic, Broadhurst, Lyceum, Cort, Longacre, Barrymore, Biltmore, New Amsterdam, Minskoff, Music Box, Booth, Shubert, Imperial, Ambassador, Circle in the Square, and for all intents and purposes, the Palace, all feature their original names.

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Updated On: 6/24/07 at 02:05 AM

In fact, the Wintergarden was called the Wintergarden before the Shubert Bro.s bought it and renovated it into a proscenium theater. It was an arena for showing horses before it was a theater.

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As a Broadway theatre, the Broadway Theatre has indeed had the same name, although it was the Colony when it opened as a film house, which is why I didn't include it. As for the Winter Garden, it had that brief unfortunate stint as the Cadillac Winter Garden, so technically, it did suffer a "name change," although not a major one.

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To honor their conribution to theatre. The only ones I don't necessarily agree with are the ones named after critics. It's also tough with actors because there are too many deserving ones. I think they should stick with composers, directors, and the like.

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Wicked63: The Royale Theatre(now the Bernard B. Jacobs) and the Plymouth Theatre(now the Gerald Schoenfeld) had their names changed to the two top executives of the Shubert Organization, owner of those two theatres. Sort of self-serving, isn't it? The Shubert Theatre is considered the flagship theatre of the Shubert Organization, named after Sam S. Shubert, one of the founding brothers, who died at a young age in a train accident. His photograph is hung in the lobbies of all of the Shubert Organization Theatres. The Nederlander Theatre where RENT is playing, is owned by the Nederlander Organization. It had at least two prior names: The Billy Rose Theatre, named after a famous showman-producer, and the National Theatre.

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Updated On: 6/24/07 at 02:37 PM

I was there when they were demolishing The Morosco and one of the construction workers let me go inside the fence a grab a brick. Still have it. On name changes, The Broadhurst? The Majestic? They are just sitting there waiting crying for names that matter. I'd like to see The Majestic become the Gwen Verdon and the Broadhurst, The Fosse. That way they can still be together on Broadway, at least until someone like Tampax comes along with $10 million and names them the Maxi and Mini.

GYPSY9 Thanks so much for your answer. I know the full story of the Shuberts from the amazing book that was published about 2 or 3 years back. My question realy was why name them after people that the public have no idea about. I fully respect that they did a lot fot American (and UK) theatre. They are public buildings so maybe easier names to remember would help theyre recognition with Joe Public..
Many thanks again.

Updated On: 6/24/07 at 09:26 PM

>On name changes, The Broadhurst? The Majestic? They are just sitting there waiting crying for names that matter. <

Playwright George Broadhurst probably would disagree with that statement.

>What was the name of the theater that became the 54 th St theater & than the George Abbott which was than demolished?<

It opened as the Craig, and later was the Adelphi, before becoming the 54th Street, and finally the George Abbott.

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