Richard Rodgers Theatre Restoration

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 1:45am

Found an interesting article regarding the current Rodgers restoration

http://evergreene.com/2013/05/richard-rodgers-restoration-exhuming-a-lost-proscenium/

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 2:16am

Studio 54 is really in need of a renovation

[carousel94]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 2:39am

So glad this theatre is being restored, it needed a clean up badly.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 4:31am

Interesting! Can't wait to see how it looks when the restoration is done.

[devonian.t]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 10:20am

Fantastic news- I look forward to seeing it!

[DAME]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 10:28am

I hope they are doing something about the seats and the leg space.

[madlibrarian]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 7:28pm

No doubt they are shrinking both, Dame.

[theatreguy]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 7:44pm

The layout of the seating will not change.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 7:49pm

Didn't Disney fix it up a bit not that long ago before Tarzan opened?

[Citygirl.grace]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 7:56pm

Glad someone pointed this out. I noticed they started renovating right after Cat on a Hot Tin Roof closed and someone thought I was crazy. Told me it was just "load out". I've been watching them do this for weeks now! Can't wait to see the finished product.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 8:35pm

Oh how nice. They're stripping paint and replacing old seats.

When are they going to actually fix the place and raise the mezzanine so they're not charging full price premium prices for partial view in the rear orchestra?

Why do no Broadway theatre owners want to take responsibility for updating interiors built in the vaudeville era to handle the increasingly technical shows they insist on squeezing in?

[allofmylife]

Posted: 7/23/13 at 9:24pm

Probably because they can't change them too much. These places are grandfathered into the building code. If you start changing the structure, you open Pandora's box. If you just repaint and recover, that's restoration, not renovation. Different rules apply.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 12:36am

The rear orchestra is only partial view if a show is badly directed and designed.
A producer COULD offer those as rush / student tickets. In fact, They MAY be doing that for Romeo and Juliet based on the announced policy.

It is important to remember that Rodgers was designed for great viewing for dance pieces, where you are not looking to the heights of the stage, but looking at dancers and choreography at stage level.

The article is interesting to read and I hope the space looks great. The lobby is coming together nicely. I pass it each day and the new doors look great.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 12:41am

I love when they updated the marquee. Wish more shows would go back to their original marquees. And then they had to ruin it with that ugly ass Marquis marquee.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 1:25am

To be fair, the Marquis entrance on 46th St sports a marquee that fits the tacky 80s architecture of the building and theatre interior.

[phantomcrazy14]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 8:54am

The proscenium underneath looks beautiful! I wish more theaters were restored. Especially the outside and the original marquees. Is sad to look at the Shubert Organizations website and see some of the carving and details on the exteriors of the theatre that are gone now.

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 10:19am

Here is a video about the history of the Rodgers Theatre
http://vimeo.com/48977173
at 1:56 there is an old photo of the original entrance doors, the new doors put in place last week mimic the style of the originals.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 4:35pm

"The rear orchestra is only partial view if a show is badly directed and designed."

"It is important to remember that Rodgers was designed for great viewing for dance pieces, where you are not looking to the heights of the stage, but looking at dancers and choreography at stage level."

Like I said, designed for the vaudeville era and not modern Broadway. There are more shows being created these days that WON'T fit the Richard Rodgers than ones that will.

And with all the off-Broadway and out of town transfers, not all shows have the time or money to completely redesign and redirect a show to fit in the one musical house that was available that April. It's just unfortunate that every season, producers and creatives are forced work around the handicap of the older theatres when trying to put on a new show.

Don't get me started on the boxes full of light and sound equipment. I don't care how pretty the proscenium is when it's blocked by those eyesores.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 7/24/13 at 4:40pm

True, but I'd rather them have equipment then make me sit there and not be able to see anything.

Did the older theaters not use "booths" for the people running the show?

[TheaterBoy7777]

Posted: 9/9/13 at 12:07pm

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/181881-PHOTO-CALL-Inside-the-Richard-Rodgers-Theatre-Renovation?tsrc=hph