New Broadway Theater to Open Under U.K. Giant Ambassador Theater Group

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:23pm

Looks like we're about to have 41 theaters!

 

http://variety.com/2015/legit/news/new-broadway-theater-1201663322/

Updated On: 12/16/15 at 04:23 PM

[blm2323]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:25pm

Nice! I always walk past it and wonder when it will come to life again!

 

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:25pm

Nice to see it being brought back into the fold. I believe The Steve Allen Show originated from here

It was designed by the firm that did the old Hammerstein on 34 th street. Updated On: 12/16/15 at 04:25 PM

[Cupid Boy2]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:36pm

Such exciting news! Now if only we could get the Mark Hellinger back, too.

[matineeidol2591]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:39pm

http://www.millenniumhotels.com/content/dam/usa/en/millennium-broadway-new-york/downloads/interactive-floorplan/interactive-floorplan.swf

Looks beautiful!  Cant imagine theyll have to do too much work- the space is immaculate.  Excited to have another broadway house!

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:40pm

Maybe Santa will bring it to us for Christmas

 

The last of Thomas Lamb's big theaters still standing in midtown. Sadly, the rest are all gone.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:41pm

Can't help but wonder if this might be where Great Comet goes...? Just a possibility!

[sorano916]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:54pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "Can't help but wonder if this might be where Great Comet goes...? Just a possibility!"

 

Maybe... Comet's lead producers, the Kagans, were the lead producers of On The Town, which was at the Lyric, which is also ATG-owned. So there's a relationship there.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:55pm

I thought about the Harry Potter play being its first tenant.

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 4:58pm

^ why?

I was in the theater once for a benefit concert and remember it being nice. Can't wait!

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 5:02pm

neonlightsxo said: "^ why?

 

I was in the theater once for a benefit concert and remember it being nice. Can't wait!"

This is directly from the article.

"In addition to theater ownership, ATG also has a hand in producing internationally, and although the umbrella organization hasn’t had much luck as a lead producer on Broadway, one of its subsidiaries, Sonia Friedman Prods., is a major player on both sides of the Atlantic, particularly when it comes to plays. Such non-musical fare seems likely to be the best fit for a theater the size of the Hudson. (Next year Friedman will produce “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” on the West End)."

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 5:03pm

well ATG has failed to solved the riddle of 213 W 42nd St so in the great tradition of Broadway they double down. good luck. Maybe they can be less tone deaf in finding tenants for this venue that, in case anyone is not looking, those who know how to make money as Broadway landlords have avoided like the plague. 

[Kad]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 5:05pm

Why do you think it has been avoided, HH? It would appear to me, as a layman in such matters, a fairly well-placed theatre, despite being on the dreaded east side of Broadway.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 5:20pm

IIRC it has very limited/poor backstage amenities, and I don't think the capacity can be comfortably expanded to 950 as is being reported (meaning it will have the equivalent of budget airline seating if it hits that target). Demand for venues in that range is the weakest on Broadway, so only someone with money and a lack of the sense of the pulse of Broadway (remember we are talking not only about the latest owner of the Lyric but also about the owner of the Kings in Brooklyn and we see from the thread about Annie how tone deaf that has been) is likely to bite.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 5:32pm

The capacity was formerly 1050 when the Hudson was previously a legit theatre.  I think they would be able to hit 100 less seats without a problem.  The articles about the renovation work note that the rigging, fly space, backstage areas will be brought up to state of the art condition.  And while there are times in the past when the two balcony east of Broadway houses have sat empty, the Lyceum, Belasco and Cort have been pretty steadily occupied in the last few years.  And the Hudson has the advantage of that spacious, comfortable lobby, something that those other theatres all lack.  I feel that with the theatre crunch in the last few years, it's a welcome addition to the fold.  

[HogansHero]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 5:46pm

Smaxie said: "The capacity was formerly 1050 when the Hudson was previously a legit theatre.  I think they would be able to hit 100 less seats without a problem.  The articles about the renovation work note that the rigging, fly space, backstage areas will be brought up to state of the art condition.  And while there are times in the past when the two balcony east of Broadway houses have sat empty, the Lyceum, Belasco and Cort have been pretty steadily occupied in the last few years.  And the Hudson has the advantage of that spacious, comfortable lobby, something that those other theatres all lack.  I feel that with the theatre crunch in the last few years, it's a welcome addition to the fold.  "

I realize I am being a bit of a devil's advocate here (and I did not think the capacity was that high-it doesn't look like it would be) but that state of the art stuff has to be filtered through an appreciation for the limits of 3 dimensional space. I wish everyone luck, as I said, but I think they may discover some unpleasant surprises. I'll be happy to be wrong.

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 5:46pm

BroadwayConcierge said: "Can't help but wonder if this might be where Great Comet goes...? Just a possibility!

 

"

Except that the venue is slated to open for the 2016/2017 season and Great Comet is slated to open this Fall, so... probably not. 

 

Neon, why are you so quick to negate the possibility of the Harry Potter play going here??? People are predicting it will be here by 2017 and with a UK landlord and a relatively smaller house here why couldn't it happen? 

[Jonwo]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 5:55pm

I imagine Harry Potter will be aiming for 1300-1500 seaters since it's going to play at the Palace Theatre in London which is 1400 seaters. I wouldn't be surprised if they're aiming for theatres like the Shubert, Imperial, Lunt Fontanne, Neil Simon etc

 

[kdogg36]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 6:19pm

Except that the venue is slated to open for the 2016/2017 season and Great Comet is slated to open this Fall, so... probably not.

 

Wouldn't this fall indeed be the 2016/2017 season? After all, the fall of 2015 is already behind us. :)

[GreasedLightning]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 6:48pm

kdogg36 said: "Except that the venue is slated to open for the 2016/2017 season and Great Comet is slated to open this Fall, so... probably not.

 

 

 

Wouldn't this fall indeed be the 2016/2017 season? After all, the fall of 2015 is already behind us. :)

 

"

Technically, yes... but I highly doubt they are renovating and opening this space in under one year. For a project like this, the 2016/2017 season, to me, means probably sometime after the 2017 New Year. 

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 6:50pm

My thoughts exactly, kdogg. Not that I necessarily think Natasha, Pierre will go there, but the time line does indeed fit.

 

I'm curious as to how much space The Cursed Child will need and if it will fit into one of the smaller playhouses. Being set in the Wizarding world, and also being two plays that will be running in rep, I would assume they will want a theatre that has a decent amount of backstage space for it.

[Jonwo]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 7:05pm

AEA AGMA SM said: "

I'm curious as to how much space The Cursed Child will need and if it will fit into one of the smaller playhouses. Being set in the Wizarding world, and also being two plays that will be running in rep, I would assume they will want a theatre that has a decent amount of backstage space for it.

I wouldn't rule out any of the musical houses that I mentioned in my previous post. Given the Shubert, Imperial and Neil Simon have all had successful plays in them in the last few years, I assume Sonia Friedman will be looking at them first. 

 

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 7:06pm

Very excited to hear one of the old still-extant theaters being restored!!

 

Some images from just before its debut in 1903:

The Lobby

Rear orchestra

Boxes

 

[MarkBearSF]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 8:18pm

Wondering it it will be renamed. (And if so, how many threads will result here).

In the spirit of the day, I suggest that they rename it the "Falcon Theatre." If they co-brand with the hotel, it could be the Millennium Falcon.

[Smaxie]

Posted: 12/16/15 at 8:39pm

No way to know for sure, but Ambassador Theatre Group seems to generally not rename their theatres.  I think only one of their theatres in London was renamed during their ownership, when the Comedy Theatre became the Harold Pinter.   As for what is now the Lyric, they actually gave it that name, for one of the two theatres that originally stood on that site (and it's the only decent name that theatre has had).  The present Lyric Theatre uses the 42nd and 43rd Street facades of what was the original Lyric.  

Updated On: 12/16/15 at 08:39 PM