Naming/Renaming of Broadway's Theatres

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 6:21pm

Seriously, how long is it going to take for Stephen Sondheim to get a theatre named after him?

What theatre will be renamed next?/ Who/What will it be named after?

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 6:26pm

He has to die first.

[ChiChi]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 6:28pm

Yes, and I do not want that to happen.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 6:31pm

Neil Simon isn't dead and he has a theatre named after him.

[Georgeanne]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 6:32pm

[Insert "As long as we continue to love and enjoy the work of Stephen Sondheim, he will never truly die.." here].

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 6:34pm

i had the same thought (about neil simon)

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 6:37pm

I think theaters should be renamed for famous flops.

I think we will be attending a show tonight @ the DOTV theater

[WonderBoy]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 6:44pm

Good point FOAnatic. I forgot about that one.

[hushpuppy]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 9:40pm

Am I the only one who cringes when he walks by the 'Schoenfeld' and 'Jacobs' theatres? Bleeeccchhh

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 10:08pm

Money talks - you know the rest

[Urban]

Posted: 7/13/05 at 11:05pm

Flops heh?

I want to go then to the Dude Theatre, the Via Galactica Theatre and the Carrie Theatre!

[Eastwickian]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 6:03am

I hate to rub it in, but the Sondheim Theatre will be opening in London sometime in the next few years as part of Cameron Mackintoshs regeneration of Shaftesbury Ave.

Info about halfway down the page:
Sondheim Theatre

[dry2olives]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 7:00am

The Neil Simon Theatre was a special case. It was actually done as a form of protest.

Brighton Beach Memoirs, which was playing at the AlVin Theatre, was not nominated for a Best Play Tony in 1983, despite being considered a major achievement by Simon.

The grand finale of the Tony Award ceremony that year was to be the re-naming of the Uris Theatre as the Gershwin. When Gene Saks won his Tony for directing Brighton Beach Memoirs, he surprised the crowd by announcing that as the ceremony was going on the "ALVIN" sign was being taken down and a new one re-naming the theatre the "Neil Simon" was being put up. It totally upstaged everything else that evening.

[Aigoo]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 9:34am

Sounds a bit weird...

"Let's go catch Sweeney Todd at the Sondheim."

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 9:45am

There should be a Cole Porter Theater and yes, an Ethel Merman Theater as well.

[Avigdor]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 10:11am

i cringe to..what awful namees

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 10:16am

Am I the only one who cringes when he walks by the 'Schoenfeld' and 'Jacobs' theatres?

I won't even call the Plymouth or the Royale by their new names.

Updated On: 7/14/05 at 10:16 AM

[WickedGeek28]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 10:24am

hushpuppy, i totally agree with you! i hate that! all they did was gve money, where as others did so much more for the theatre industry. They deserve them! Also, anyone find it wierd that if the yhonor someone with a theatre, they rename it . . . .

[ken8631]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 10:46am

And the Hilton theatre?

[Aigoo]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 10:52am

AMERICAN AIRLINES THEATRE?!

[NYC_or_Bust]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 2:56pm

Yeah, American Airlines Theatre is a bit much, I personally don't have a problem with "the Hilton"...it sounds classy haha

I'll just be interested to see Broadway become such titles as..

The Google Theatre
The Donald Trump NBC Theatre
The Broadwayworld.com Theatre
The Neverland Theatre (dedicated by Michael Jackson, naturally)......

[Aigoo]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 2:58pm

The America Online Theatre.
The George W. Bush Theatre....

I can only IMAGINE.

[bare_nakedlady]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 3:03pm

NYC_or_Bust,

The Neverland Theatre would only play childrens shows!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/14/05 at 3:12pm

Being alive or not has nothing to do with it.

The Martin Beck was renamed the Al Hirshfeld while Hirshfeld was still alive, but he died just a couple of weeks before the official naming ceremony.

The Ritz Theatre was renamed the Walter Kerr while Kerr was still alive.

The Brooks Atkinson was renamed after him upon his retirement as lead critic for the Times in 1960 (he lived another two decades).

Helen Hayes had two Broadway theatres named after her in her lifetime -- the first one was demolished in 1982 and the Little Theatre was renamed after her the next year.

The Ethel Barrymore was actually built and named for her in the late 1920s, while she was only in her 40s.

Updated On: 7/14/05 at 03:12 PM