The Hudson Theatre is a Broadway theater at 139–141 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. One of the oldest surviving Broadway venues, the Hudson was built from 1902 to 1903. The exterior was designed by J. B. McElfatrick & Son, while Israels & Harder oversaw the completion of the interior. The theater has 970 seats across three levels. Both its exterior and interior are New York City designated landmarks, and the theater is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Hudson Theatre's massing consists of two primary rectangular sections, both of which are clad in tan brick with Flemish bond. The main entrance is through a four-story wing on 44th Street, while the auditorium is housed in the rear along 45th Street. The first story of the 44th Street wing contains an entrance vestibule, ticket lobby, and main lobby, while the other stories contained offices. The auditorium consists of a ground-level orchestra and two overhanging balconies, with boxes at the first balcony level. The lobbies and auditorium are ornately decorated in the Beaux-Arts Classical style, while the backstage facilities are more simply decorated. The theater is flanked by the two wings of the Millennium Times Square New York hotel, of which it is part.
The Hudson was originally operated by Henry B. Harris, who died in the 1912 sinking of the Titanic. His widow, Renee Harris, continued to operate the Hudson until the Great Depression. It then served as a network radio studio for CBS from 1934 to 1937 and as an NBC television studio from 1949 to 1960. The Hudson operated intermittently as a Broadway theater until the 1960s and subsequently served as an adult film theater, a movie theater, and the Savoy nightclub. The Millennium Times Square New York hotel was built around the theater during the late 1980s, and the Hudson Theatre was converted into the hotel's event space. The Hudson Theatre reopened as a Broadway theater in 2017 and is operated by ATG Entertainment; the building is owned by Millennium & Copthorne Hotels.
Site The Hudson Theatre is at 139–141 West 44th Street,; between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue near Times Square, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. It is between the two wings of the Millennium Times Square New York hotel, of which the Hudson Theatre is technically part. The primary elevation of the facade is along 44th Street; a rear elevation extends north to 45th Street. The theater's land lot originally had the addresses 139 West 44th Street and 136–144 West 45th Street. It had a frontage of on 44th Street and on 45th Street, with a depth of between the two streets. The modern hotel's lot includes the theater. The lot covers , with a frontage of on 44th Street and a depth of .
On the same block, 1530 Broadway is to the west and the Hotel Gerard and Belasco Theatre are to the east. Other nearby buildings include the High School of Performing Arts to the northeast, the Lyceum Theatre and 1540 Broadway to the north, One Astor Plaza to the west, 1500 Broadway to the southwest, and the Lambs Club Building and the Town Hall to the south. Generally, the area includes residential or commercial buildings much larger than the Hudson. Just before the theater's development at the beginning of the 20th century, the portion of the site on 45th Street had belonged to Paul J. Crovat, while the 44th Street portion was owned by the estate of Joseph Deutsch.
Design The Hudson Theatre was designed in the Beaux-Arts style and constructed from 1902 to 1903.; The architectural firm of J. B. McElfatrick & Son was the original architect, but the firm of Israels & Harder oversaw the completion of the design.; It is not known why the plans were changed. McElfatrick was a prominent theater architect, but Charles Henry Israels and Julius F. Harder are not known to have designed any other theaters.; Plans indicate that McElfatrick designed the facade while Israels and Harder designed the interior.
Facade The Hudson Theatre's massing consists of two primary rectangular sections: a narrow entrance to the south on 44th Street, as well as the auditorium on 45th Street. Both the 44th and 45th Street elevations are clad in tan brick with Flemish bond. The four-story 44th Street elevation is the more ornate street frontage, being the primary entrance.; The five vertical bays are symmetrically arranged, with the three middle bays forming a projecting pavilion, and they are split into three horizontal sections of one, two, and one stories. The facade was deliberately designed to be slightly shorter than its width, referencing the largely residential character of the neighborhood at the time of the theater's opening. The five-story 45th Street elevation is comparatively plain in design and has little decoration.;
44th Street The first-story facade consists of rusticated blocks of limestone, with a water table made of granite. The outermost bays contain wood-and-glass double doors, which are recessed deeply from the facade. Above each of the outer doorways are brackets supporting a cornice, which is topped by a bull's-eye window with cornucopias on either side. The three inner bays contain the theater's main entrance, which is also recessed.; Within the main entrance opening are three sets of wood-and-glass double doors, above which is a wooden transom bar and glass window lights above. The central set of doors has a scroll frame, which is topped by a circular window flanked by oval window lights. A marquee hangs above the inner bays and is supported by tie rods from the third story of the facade. This marquee dates from 1990 but is similar in design to the original marquee. A belt course with small dentils runs above the first floor.
At the second and third stories, four double-height pilasters flank the inner bays, with stylized theatrical-mask motifs at the pilasters' capitals.; The second-story inner bays contain French doors, which open onto wrought-iron balustrades containing motifs of lyres. Above the center bay is a broken pediment shaped as a segmental arch; the center of the pediment contains a male head (probably depicting the god Apollo) and a lyre. The next-from-center bays are topped by plain lintels, as well as console brackets supporting segmental-arched pediments. The outermost bays have double-hung sash windows with limestone surrounds and lintels.;
The third-story windows all have limestone surrounds and double-hung sash windows. The third-story windows are smaller than the second-story windows, though the inner windows are wider than the outer ones. Beneath each third-story window sill are corbels. Above the windows is a limestone string course, containing three splayed keys above each window. The center window is topped by a console bracket and a tablet with the word . The third story is topped by a leaf-and-tongue molding (interrupted by the tablet) and a cornice with modillions.
The fourth-story windows are sash windows, similar to those on the third story, except that the three middle windows are flanked by quoins. Each fourth-story opening is topped by an entablature, containing three splayed keys above each window. The top of the fourth story contains a denticulated stone cornice and a parapet with a metal balustrade. Above the parapet, the outer bays contain piers, while the center bay has an oval shield with consoles and swags. The cornice wrapped around to both the west and east elevations, but only the east cornice return is visible.
45th Street
The north elevation is plain in design and is made of tan brick in Flemish bond. The stage house, comprising most of the 45th Street elevation, is flanked by one-bay-wide, five-story-tall galleries. The base of the stage house contains three blind arches, with recessed openings in the two outer arches. The western opening has a stage door. The imposts below the tops of the arches are connected to each other, creating a belt course above the second story. The upper stories of the stage house are also divided into three bays by single and double pilasters. The capitals of these pilasters are topped by Corinthian capitals with mask decorations. Recessed brick panels flank the outer bays. Above the stage house is a metal cornice with a reeded frieze, modillions, and medallions.
On either side of the stage house are the galleries. At the first story, there are metal emergency exit doors. The upper stories have double-hung windows with cast stone lintels. A wrought-iron fire escape runs in front of both galleries. The fifth-story windows contain cast-stone lintels, above which are arches and limestone cornices.
Interior The Hudson Theatre has multiple interior levels. On 44th Street, the first story contains an entrance, ticket lobby, and main lobby. The second story (once the Dress Circle) was partitioned into offices after the original Broadway theater closed, while the third and fourth stories were divided into apartments. On 45th Street is the stage house, comprising the three-level auditorium, the stage, and backstage facilities. The lobbies and auditorium are ornately decorated in the Beaux-Arts Classical style, while the backstage facilities in the basement, rear, and sides of the theater have simple decorations. The three lobby spaces collectively measure wide and long, wider than any other lobby in New York City when the theater opened in 1903. The lobbies and auditorium contained several hundred concealed lamps, which could be dimmed and which comprised a diffused lighting system.
Lobbies
Entrance vestibule The rectangular entrance vestibule from 44th Street measures wide by deep. It has green marble paneling on the lowest two-thirds of the room's height. The walls are high and were originally topped by a green frieze; there was also a domed ceiling with electric lights. The west and east walls of the vestibule contain doorways, which were added in 1989 and connect with the hotel wings on either side. The main section of the vestibule has a staircase to the second story, while the eastern section has double doors leading to the third and fourth stories.
Ticket lobby The ticket lobby is north of the entrance vestibule. It is approached from the vestibule by four sets of double wood-and-glass doors, which contain thresholds of white marble. The ticket lobby has a hand-woven carpet patterned with hexagonal shapes. The walls contain antique dark green marble with gold veining; they are topped by a shallow cornice, entablature, and neoclassical plaster frieze.; The east wall has a box office with two ticket windows, as well as a staircase to the second balcony level of the auditorium. The ticket windows have bronze frames and are flanked by caryatids, which support entablatures above them.;
The ticket lobby has a coved plaster ceiling with 264 coffers. The coffers are separated by bands and originally contained mounts for incandescent light bulbs. The light bulbs were removed and replaced with chandeliers at some point after the theater opened. A 1903 news article compared the ticket lobby's ceiling and plaster decorations to the Roman Baths of Titus.
Inner lobby