Edison Theatre

Last updated
Edison Theatre
Arena Theatre
Edison Ballroom 2 (cropped).jpg
The Edison Theater in 2021 as the Edison Ballroom
Edison Theatre
Address240 West 47th Street
New York City
United States
Owner Hotel Edison
Type Broadway theatre
Capacity 541
Current useBallroom
OpenedMay 31, 1950
ClosedFebruary 24, 1991

The Edison Theatre was a Broadway theatre in the Hotel Edison at 240 West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1931 as the hotel's ballroom, it became the Arena Theatre on May 31, 1950, with a revival of George Kelly's The Show Off. The following year it was returned to the hotel's ballroom and remained as such until the early 1970s, when it was re-converted to a theatre. Its most notable production was Oh! Calcutta! , which opened on September 24, 1976, and ran for 13 years, with a total of 5,959 performances. Other shows staged here included Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope , Me and Bessie , Sizwe Banzi is Dead , The Island , and Love Letters .

The theatre closed on February 24, 1991. Its final production was Those Were the Days, a musical revue celebrating Klezmer, featuring Bruce Adler, [1] who was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1991, Maria DiDia, the Edison Theater General Manager, returned the property to the owners of the Edison Hotel, who promptly removed the theater seats and restored it to its original art deco ballroom configuration. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Curry</span> British actor (born 1946)

Timothy James Curry is a British actor and singer. He rose to prominence as Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London and 1974 Los Angeles musical stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway theatre</span> Type of theatre in New York City

Broadway theatre, or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Taylor (actor)</span> American actor, singer and writer (1952–2002)

Ronald James Taylor was an American actor, singer and writer. He grew up in Galveston, Texas, and later moved to New York City to attend the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After graduating, Taylor began working in musical theater, appearing in The Wiz (1977), before getting his break with the 1982 off-Broadway production Little Shop of Horrors. Taylor voiced the killer plant Audrey II in the show, which ran for five years and over 2,000 performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Playwrights Horizons</span> Off-Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit American Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work.

Dinner theater is a form of entertainment that combines a restaurant meal with a staged play or musical. "Dinner and a show" can also refer to a restaurant meal in combination with live concert music, where patrons listen to a performance during a break in the meal. In the case of a theatrical performance, sometimes the play is incidental entertainment, secondary to the meal. In the style of a night club, the play may be the main feature of the evening, with dinner less important or optional. Dinner theater requires the management of three distinct entities: a live theater, a restaurant and, usually, a bar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian Borle</span> American actor (born 1973)

Christian Dominique Borle is an American actor and singer. He is a two-time Tony Award winner for his roles as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and as William Shakespeare in Something Rotten! Borle also originated the roles of Prince Herbert, et al. in Spamalot, Emmett in Legally Blonde, and Joe in Some Like It Hot on Broadway. He starred as Marvin in the 2016 Broadway revival of Falsettos. He also starred as Tom Levitt on the NBC musical-drama television series Smash and Vox in the adult animated black comedy musical series Hazbin Hotel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquis Theatre</span> Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York

The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theater on the third floor of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1986, it is operated by the Nederlander Organization. There are about 1,612 seats in the auditorium, spread across an orchestra level and a balcony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niblo's Garden</span> 1823–1895 New York Broadway theater

Niblo's Garden was a theater on Broadway and Crosby Street, near Prince Street, in SoHo, Manhattan, New York City. It was established in 1823 as "Columbia Garden" which in 1828 gained the name of the Sans Souci and was later the property of the coffeehouse proprietor and caterer William Niblo. The large theater that evolved in several stages, occupying more and more of the pleasure ground, was twice burned and rebuilt. On September 12, 1866, Niblo's saw the premiere of The Black Crook, considered to be the first piece of musical theater that conforms to the modern notion of a "book musical".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Astor Place Theatre</span> Off-Broadway theatre in New York City

The Astor Place Theatre is an off-Broadway house located at 434 Lafayette Street in the NoHo section of Manhattan. The theater is located in the historic Colonnade Row, originally constructed in 1831 as a series of nine connected buildings, of which only four remain. Though it bears the same name, it was not the site of the Astor Place Riot of 1849.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom O'Horgan</span> American director, actor, and musician

Tom O'Horgan was an American theater and film director, composer, actor and musician. He is best known for his Broadway work as director of the hit musicals Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. During his career he sought to achieve a form of "total theater" described by The New York Times as "wittily physical", and which earned him a reputation as the "Busby Berkeley of the acid set".

<i>Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story</i> Jukebox musical by Alan Janes featuring the music of Buddy Holly

Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story is a musical in two acts written by Alan Janes, and featuring the music of Buddy Holly. It opened at the Plymouth Theatre Royal in September 1989 before It transferred to the Victoria Palace Theatre on 12 October 1989. An early example of the jukebox musical, Buddy ran in London's West End for over 12 years, playing 5,140 performances. Janes took over the producing of the show himself in 2004, and Buddy has been on tour extensively in the UK since then, having played Broadway, five U.S. National Tours and numerous other productions around the world. The show was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Musical.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olympia Theatre (New York City)</span> Former theater complex in Manhattan, New York

The Olympia Theatre, also known as Hammerstein's Olympia and later the Lyric Theatre and the New York Theatre, was a theater complex built by impresario Oscar Hammerstein I at Longacre Square in Manhattan, New York City, opening in 1895.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Theater Center</span> Off-Broadway theater in New York City

The Theater Center is an off-Broadway theater on 50th Street in Manhattan, New York City. It has two stages.

Bruce Adler was an American Broadway actor. After debuting on the Broadway stage in the 1979 revival of Oklahoma!, he went on to a career that saw him nominated for Tony Awards as Best Featured Actor in a Musical for Those Were the Days (1991) and Crazy For You (1992). His film work was limited to voice work in animated films, notably providing the singing voice for the peddler of the 1992 Disney film Aladdin and the 1996 sequel Aladdin and the King of Thieves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brent Barrett</span> American actor and tenor

Brent Barrett is an American actor and tenor who is mostly known for his work within American theatre. Barrett has performed in musicals and in concerts with theatres, symphony orchestras, opera houses, and concert halls internationally. He starred in the original production of Maltby and Shire's hit Off-Broadway musical Closer Than Ever in 1989 and the 2001 West End revival of Cole Porter's Kiss Me, Kate. He has also appeared sporadically on television and in films.

The Flagstar at Westbury Music Fair is an entertainment venue located in the hamlet of Jericho, outside of Westbury, New York. Constructed as a theatre in the round style with seating for 2,870 that was originally developed as a means to present top performers and productions of popular theatrical musicals at a series of venues located in suburban locations on the East Coast of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shubert Alley</span> Pedestrian street in Manhattan, New York

Shubert Alley is a pedestrian alley in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The alley, a privately owned public space, connects 44th and 45th Streets and covers about 6,400 square feet (590 m2). It runs through the middle of a city block, parallel to Eighth Avenue to the west and Broadway to the east. The western half of the alley abuts the Shubert and Booth theaters, while the eastern half is adjacent to One Astor Plaza. Because it is near several major theaters, the alley has been considered the geographical center of Broadway theatre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grand Theatre (Manhattan)</span> Former theater in Manhattan, New York

The Grand Theatre was a theatre in the Yiddish Theatre District in Manhattan in New York City built for Yiddish productions, the first of its kind. The theater was built in 1904 by Jacob Pavlovitch Adler, a famous Russian-born Jewish actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel Edison</span> Hotel in Manhattan, New York

Hotel Edison is at 228 West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1931, it is part of the Triumph Hotels brand, owned by Shimmie Horn and Gerald Barad. Thomas Edison turned on the lights when it opened. It accommodated 1,000 guests on 26 floors and offered three restaurants. It attempted to mimic the telephone number PEnnsylvania 6-5000 of the Hotel Pennsylvania by using the telephone exchange name CIrcle 6-5000. Herbert J. Krapp was the architect, and Milton J. Kramer was the original owner. The hotel's ballroom was used as the Broadway theatres Arena Theatre in 1950 and as the Edison Theatre from 1972 until 1991, when it was converted back into a ballroom.

<i>Fun Home</i> (musical) Musical adapted by Lisa Kron and Jeanine Tesori

Fun Home is a musical theatre adaptation of Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic memoir of the same name, with music by Jeanine Tesori, and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron. The story concerns Bechdel's discovery of her own lesbian sexuality, her relationship with her closeted gay father, and her attempts to unlock the mysteries surrounding his life. It is told in a series of non-linear vignettes connected by narration provided by the adult Alison character.

References

  1. Weber, Bruce (July 28, 2008). "Bruce Adler, Actor With Yiddish Roots, Is Dead at 63". The New York Times . Retrieved 16 May 2018.
  2. William A. Lester, Treasurer, Edison Theatre 1976-1991

40°45′34.92″N73°59′10.31″W / 40.7597000°N 73.9861972°W / 40.7597000; -73.9861972