Biltmore Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (formerly the Biltmore Theatre) is a legitimate
Broadway
theatre located at 261 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan
.
Herbert J. Krapp
for impresario
Irwin Chanin
, it opened on December 7, 1925 with the play Easy Come Easy Go. With a seating capacity of 903, it was one of Broadway's smaller venues.
The theatre was used by Federal Theatre's Living Newspaper
project in the 1930s. CBS leased it for use as a radio
and television
studio from 1952 until 1961. In 1968, the groundbreaking rock musical
Hair
opened at the theatre.
In 1987, a fire struck the Biltmore. The blaze, which was later determined to be an act of arson
, destroyed the interior. After the fire, the building sat vacant for fourteen years, suffering more structural damage from water and vandals. The theatre's ownership changed hands several times between 1987 and 2001, but most plans proposed for its future use - such as a showcase for "Best of Broadway" revues - were rejected since its New York City landmark
designation required it to operate only as a legitimate Broadway house if renovated.
In 2001, the property was purchased by the Manhattan Theatre Club
as a permanent home for its productions. Surviving sections of the original theatre were restored by Polshek Partnership Architects (plasterwork restored by EverGreene Architectural Arts), and missing parts were reconstructed. With 622 seats the new Biltmore has about two-thirds of the capacity of the old, although it now boasts modern conveniences such as elevators and meeting rooms. The Biltmore's landmarked features, such as the proscenium arch, dome, staircases and a vaulted second-floor gallery, were restored or replicated.
The theatre was renamed the "Samuel J. Friedman Theatre" in a dedication ceremony held on September 4, 2008. The new name honors Broadway publicist Samuel J. Friedman.
.
Legitimate theater
The term "legitimate theater" dates back to the Licensing Act of 1737, which restricted "serious" theatre performances to the two patent theatres licensed to perform "spoken drama" after the English Restoration in 1662...
Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
theatre located at 261 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
History
Designed by architectArchitect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Herbert J. Krapp
Herbert J. Krapp
Herbert J. Krapp was a theatre architect and designer in the early part of the twentieth century.Krapp was an apprentice with the Herts & Tallant firm, where he was involved with designing the plans for the Lyceum, Shubert, Booth, New Amsterdam and Longacre Theatres, among others. He departed the...
for impresario
Impresario
An impresario is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas; analogous to a film producer in filmmaking, television production and an angel investor in business...
Irwin Chanin
Irwin Chanin
Irwin Salmon Chanin was an American architect and real estate developer, best known for designing several Art Deco towers and Broadway theaters. He was President of Chanin Theatres Corporation, and his brother Henry I...
, it opened on December 7, 1925 with the play Easy Come Easy Go. With a seating capacity of 903, it was one of Broadway's smaller venues.
The theatre was used by Federal Theatre's Living Newspaper
Living Newspaper
Living Newspaper is a term for a theatrical form presenting factual information on current events to a popular audience. Historically, Living Newspapers have also urged social action and reacted against naturalistic and realistic theatrical conventions in favor of the more direct, experimental...
project in the 1930s. CBS leased it for use as a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
studio from 1952 until 1961. In 1968, the groundbreaking rock musical
Rock musical
A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concept albums become rock musicals...
Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
opened at the theatre.
In 1987, a fire struck the Biltmore. The blaze, which was later determined to be an act of arson
Arson
Arson is the crime of intentionally or maliciously setting fire to structures or wildland areas. It may be distinguished from other causes such as spontaneous combustion and natural wildfires...
, destroyed the interior. After the fire, the building sat vacant for fourteen years, suffering more structural damage from water and vandals. The theatre's ownership changed hands several times between 1987 and 2001, but most plans proposed for its future use - such as a showcase for "Best of Broadway" revues - were rejected since its New York City landmark
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The Commission was created in April 1965 by Mayor Robert F. Wagner following the destruction of Pennsylvania Station the previous year to make way for...
designation required it to operate only as a legitimate Broadway house if renovated.
In 2001, the property was purchased by the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
as a permanent home for its productions. Surviving sections of the original theatre were restored by Polshek Partnership Architects (plasterwork restored by EverGreene Architectural Arts), and missing parts were reconstructed. With 622 seats the new Biltmore has about two-thirds of the capacity of the old, although it now boasts modern conveniences such as elevators and meeting rooms. The Biltmore's landmarked features, such as the proscenium arch, dome, staircases and a vaulted second-floor gallery, were restored or replicated.
The theatre was renamed the "Samuel J. Friedman Theatre" in a dedication ceremony held on September 4, 2008. The new name honors Broadway publicist Samuel J. Friedman.
Biltmore Theatre in media
In 1983, the Biltmore Theatre can be seen in The Muppets Take ManhattanThe Muppets Take Manhattan
The Muppets Take Manhattan is the third of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets, and also the final film before Henson's death. This film was produced by Henson Associates and TriStar Pictures, and was filmed on location in New York City during the summer of...
.
Notable productions
- 1928 Pleasure ManPleasure ManPleasure Man was a 1928 play by Mae West. New York City police arrested the entire cast of 56 after a performance at the Biltmore Theatre and they were charged with indecency....
- 1940: My Sister EileenMy Sister Eileen (play)My Sister Eileen is an American comedy stage production, written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, based on autobiographical short stories by Ruth McKenney...
- 1946: No ExitNo ExitNo Exit is a 1944 existentialist French play by Jean-Paul Sartre. The original French title is Huis Clos, the French equivalent of the legal term in camera, referring to a private discussion behind closed doors; English translations have also been performed under the titles In Camera, No Way Out...
- 1947: The HeiressThe HeiressThe Heiress is a 1949 American drama film. It was written by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, adapted from their 1947 play of the same title that was based on the 1880 novel Washington Square by Henry James. The film was directed by William Wyler, with starring performances by Olivia de Havilland as...
- 1951: Billy BuddBilly BuddBilly Budd is a short novel by Herman Melville.Billy Budd can also refer to:*Billy Budd , a 1962 film produced, directed, and co-written by Peter Ustinov, based on Melville's novel...
(with Lee MarvinLee MarvinLee Marvin was an American film actor. Known for his gravelly voice, white hair and 6' 2" stature, Marvin at first did supporting roles, mostly villains, soldiers and other hardboiled characters, but after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor for his dual roles in Cat Ballou , he landed more...
's stage-debut) - 1961: Take Her, She's MineTake Her, She's MineTake Her, She's Mine is a 1963 comedy film starring James Stewart and Sandra Dee. The film was written by Henry Ephron, Phoebe Ephron, and Nunnally Johnson, with Dee's character based on the then 22-year-old Nora Ephron, and directed by Henry Koster...
- 1963: Barefoot in the ParkBarefoot in the ParkThis article is about the Broadway production. For the film adaptation see Barefoot in the Park .Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The original Broadway production, directed by Mike Nichols, opened October 23, 1963, with the four lead roles taken by actors Elizabeth Ashley ,...
- 1968: LootLoot (play)Loot is a two-act play by the English playwright Joe Orton. The play is a dark farce that satirises the Roman Catholic Church, social attitudes to death, and the integrity of the police force....
; HairHair (musical)Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
; StaircaseStaircase (play)Staircase is a two-character play by Charles Dyer about an aging gay couple who own a barber shop in the East End of London. One of them is a part-time actor about to go on trial for propositioning a police officer... - 1976: The Robber BridegroomThe Robber Bridegroom (musical)The Robber Bridegroom is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry and music by Robert Waldman. The story is based on the 1942 novella by Eudora Welty of the same name, with a Robin Hood-like hero; the adaptation placed it in a late 18th century American setting...
- 1977: Hair (musical-revival)Hair (musical)Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
- 1978: The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon MarigoldsThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon MarigoldsThe Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds is a 1964 play written by Paul Zindel, a playwright and science teacher. Zindel received the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for the work. The play's world premiere was staged in 1964 at the Alley Theatre...
- 1980: NutsNuts (film)Nuts is a 1987 American drama film directed by Martin Ritt and starring Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfuss. The screenplay by Tom Topor, Darryl Ponicsan, and Alvin Sargent is based on Topor's 1979 play of the same title...
- 1982: DeathtrapDeathtrapDeathtrap may refer to:*Deathtrap , a 1978 play by Ira Levin which received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play*Deathtrap , a 1982 film based on the Levin play*Deathtrap , a plot device in fiction and drama...
- 1983: Doonesbury
- 2003: The Violet HourThe Violet HourThe Violet Hour is a play by Richard Greenberg. It was commissioned by and originally produced by South Coast Repertory with Hamish Linklater as Seavering and Mario Cantone as Gidger. It received its Broadway debut on November 6, 2003 when the Manhattan Theatre Club produced it as the first play...
- 2005: After the Night and the MusicAfter the Night and the MusicAfter the Night and the Music is a play by Elaine May.Borrowing its title from the Howard Dietz song "You and the Night and the Music,", it actually is a one-acter preceded by a curtain raiser, a quartet of interlaced monologues, and an intermission....
- 2006: Rabbit HoleRabbit HoleRabbit Hole is a play written by David Lindsay-Abaire. It was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play was originally commissioned by South Coast Repertory and first presented at its Pacific Playwrights Festival reading series in 2005...
- 2007: LoveMusikLoveMusikLoveMusik is a musical written by Alfred Uhry, using a selection of music by Kurt Weill. The story explores the romance and lives of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, based on Speak Low : The Letters of Kurt Weill and Lotte Lenya, edited and translated by Lys Symonette & Kim H. Kowalke. Harold Prince...
, MauritiusMauritiusMauritius , officially the Republic of Mauritius is an island nation off the southeast coast of the African continent in the southwest Indian Ocean, about east of Madagascar... - 2008: Come Back, Little ShebaCome Back, Little Sheba (play)Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St...
; Top GirlsTop GirlsTop Girls is a 1982 play by Caryl Churchill. It is about a woman named Marlene, a career-driven woman who is employed at the 'Top Girls' employment agency. The play examines issues of gender discrimination present in the Thatcherite society that it is set in...
, To Be or Not To BeTo Be or Not to Be (1942 film)To Be or Not to Be is a 1942 American comedy directed by Ernst Lubitsch, about a troupe of actors in Nazi-occupied Warsaw who use their abilities at disguise and acting to fool the occupying troops. It was adapted by Lubitsch and Edwin Justus Mayer from the story by Melchior Lengyel... - 2009: The American PlanThe American PlanThe American Plan is a play by Richard Greenberg. It was first produced and performed by Manhattan Theatre Club Stage II on January 23, 1990, in New York City, where it ran for 32 performances. The original cast included Rebecca Miller, Tate Donovan, Beatrice Winde, Joan Copeland, and Eric...
; Accent On YouthAccent on YouthAccent on Youth is a Broadway play written by Samson Raphaelson which debuted on Christmas Day, 1934. The plot concerns a lazy, middle-aged playwright who is spurred to write by his new young secretary. The original cast included Nicholas Hannen as playwright Steven Gaye and Constance Cummings as...
; The Royal Family - 2010: Time Stands StillTime Stands StillTime Stands Still is a 1982 Hungarian film about two brothers and the woman they both love, all living in Budapest during the uprisings of the 1950s. It stars István Znamenák, Henrik Pauer, Sőth Sándor and Anikó Iván and was directed by Péter Gothár...
; Collected StoriesCollected Stories (play)Collected Stories is a play by Donald Margulies which premiered at South Coast Repertory in 1996.It premiered on Broadway in a limited engagement production by the Manhattan Theatre Club with previews having started April 9, 2010, opening April 28, 2010, through June 2010...
; The Pitmen PaintersThe Pitmen PaintersThe Pitmen Painters is a play by Lee Hall, inspired by a book by William Feaver about the Ashington Group. Following a sell out run at both the Live Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne in 2007 and its transfer to the Royal National Theatre, and returned to the National for a limited season before heading... - 2011: Good PeopleGood People (play)Good People is a 2011 play by David Lindsay-Abaire. The world premiere was staged by the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City. The production was nominated for two 2011 Tony Awards – Best Play and Best Leading Actress in a Play , with the latter winning.- Synopsis :Margie Walsh, a resident of...
; Master ClassMaster ClassMaster Class is a play by Terrence McNally, with incidental music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini, and Vincenzo Bellini.The play originally was staged by the Philadelphia Theatre Company and the Mark Taper Forum. After twelve previews, the Broadway production, directed by Leonard Foglia, opened...
; Venus in FurVenus in FurVenus in Fur is a two-person play set in the modern day by David Ives, which had its première at the Classic Stage Company Off Broadway in New York City in 2010, and on Broadway in 2011.-Productions:...
External links
- Friedman Theatre Broadway Theatre Guide listing
- "At This Theatre" at Playbill.com
- "A Midsummer Night's Renovation" by Iris Dorbian in Stage Directions, July 2004