The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, originally the Globe Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 205 West 46th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1910, the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre was designed by Carrère and Hastings in the Beaux-Arts style for Charles Dillingham. The theater is named after theatrical couple Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne; its original name was inspired by that of the Globe Theatre, London's Shakespearean playhouse. The current configuration of the interior, dating to 1958, has about 1,505 seats across two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. The facade is a New York City designated landmark.
The theater's only surviving facade is on 46th Street and was once the carriage entrance. The ground level contains the theater's entrance on the east, as well as exits from the auditorium and stage house. On the upper stories, the facade contains a five-bay-wide central pavilion with arches, flanked by simpler pavilions on either side. Another entrance on Broadway, with an ornate lobby, was demolished in 1958. The auditorium originally contained three levels and box seating prior to its reconfiguration. The tiled roof and the auditorium's ceiling were designed with retractable sections, which are no longer in use.
The Globe Theatre opened on January 10, 1910. Most of the Globe's early shows were revues and musicals, including several productions by Dillingham. The Globe was converted into a movie house operated by the Brandt chain in the 1930s. City Playhouses Inc., a partnership between developers Robert W. Dowling and William Zeckendorf, bought it in 1957. After the firm Roche and Roche completely renovated the interior, the former Globe was renamed and reopened on May 5, 1958. City Playhouses sold the Lunt-Fontanne to producers Cy Feuer and Ernest H. Martin in 1960, and it was then sold to developer Stanley Stahl in 1965. The Nederlanders have operated the theater since 1973.
Site The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is on 206 West 46th Street, on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The rectangular land lot covers . The theater has a frontage of on 46th Street and a depth of about .
The Lunt-Fontanne shares the block with the Paramount Hotel (including Sony Hall) and Lena Horne Theatre to the west, as well as the Hotel Edison to the north. Other nearby buildings include the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre to the northwest; the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and Morgan Stanley Building to the north; the Palace Theatre, Embassy Theatre, and I. Miller Building to the east; the New York Marriott Marquis to the south; and the Richard Rodgers Theatre, Music Box Theatre, and Imperial Theatre to the southwest.
Design The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre was designed by Carrère and Hastings in the Beaux-Arts style.; ; ; It was constructed for Charles Dillingham, opening in 1910 as the Globe Theatre.; ; The Lunt-Fontanne is the only surviving theater of four that Carrère and Hastings designed, as well as the last theater designed by that firm. Thompson–Starrett Co. was the main contractor. The Nederlander Organization operates the theater.
Facade
46th Street
The primary elevation of the Lunt-Fontanne's facade is on 46th Street and was originally the carriage entrance. It is symmetrically arranged, though the facade is shorter than its width. The first story, at ground level, was designed as a raised basement. The facade is divided into a central pavilion with five vertical bays, which is flanked by slightly recessed outer pavilions.; This arrangement, described as being in a modified Italian Renaissance style, was reminiscent of Carrère and Hastings's earlier design for the Century (New) Theatre on Central Park West. The westernmost portion of the facade contains the stage house, which is faced in brick and is recessed behind the main portion of the facade.
The first story contains a granite water table, blocks of rusticated stone, and doorways in each bay. The recessed doorways are originally designed as archways, which are partially concealed by the marquee. The westernmost door is the stage door. The easternmost two sets of doors lead into the ticket lobby, and the other doors contain auxiliary exits from the auditorium. Each of the lobby and auditorium doors contain paneled-wood doors with bronze handles, and the openings are also flanked by display boxes. The marquee above the doorways was added after the theater opened; it contains a band with foliate decorations, above which acanthus leaves rise vertically. The first story is topped by a frieze containing foliate decorations and flowers. Above the five central doorways are archivolts with sculpted heads, as well as modillion blocks with alternating somber and snarling faces. The arches and faces served to identify the building's theatrical use.
On the upper stories, the five central bays form a pavilion with double-height arches. A terrace projects slightly from the second floor, above the first story's modillions, with a balustrade made of wrought iron. This terrace was originally connected to the auditorium's first balcony level. There are pilasters between each arch, topped by capitals in the Ionic style. Each of the archways contains a multi-paneled window, with a broken pediment and a spandrel bar dividing the second and third floor. Above the centers of the arches are terracotta cartouches. The spandrels at the arches' corners contain semi-nude or nude female figures, holding theatrical masks that depict comedy and tragedy. The fourth floor of the center bays has square openings with sash windows, which are surrounded by eared frames and flanked by carvings of caryatids. The caryatids are topped by depictions of bows and helmets in the center three arches, as well as musical instruments in the outer two arches. A wave molding also runs above the fourth floor.
The outer bays are faced in stucco. These have double-height windows at the second and third floors, with molded window frames and projecting lintels above. There is a circular window at the fourth story above each double-height window. Simple sash windows are placed on the side of the western pavilion, which projects from the stage house. A frieze with panels, as well as a course with dentils, runs above the outer pavilions. Above that is a cornice, which runs the whole width of the facade. The central pavilion has a deeply projecting parapet, below which are brackets and a decorative band of heads, cartouches, and panels. The theater's tiled roof is above the parapet.
Former Broadway entrance
The Globe Theatre was built with an entrance on 1555 Broadway, between 46th and 47th Streets.; The Broadway elevation was described in the New York Dramatic Mirror as the main entrance, though other sources stated that the Broadway entrance was secondary to that on 46th Street. The Broadway elevation was four stories high and measured wide. It had been adapted from a brownstone residence and contained signs in front of it. The facade was flanked by Ionic pilasters and contained interspersed stone panels. The second floor was decorated with "elaborately ornamented" arched casement windows. There were also masks, garlands, cherubs, pediments, and a cornice on the facade. The entrance led to the box-office vestibule and a corridor to the auditorium.
The Broadway entrance is no longer extant. It was cut off from the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre in 1957 when the theater was renovated. While the Broadway elevation physically existed for half a century afterward, it did not serve as an entrance, and tall signs were built in front of the four-story facade. In 2006, the old Broadway entrance was demolished, along with a neighboring Howard Johnson's restaurant at 1551 Broadway. The Broadway entrance was replaced with an American Eagle Outfitters store.
Interior
Original interior The Globe Theatre's original interiors included ornamental plaster from Crane & Mahoney, metal lath from Arthur Greenfield Inc., and limestone from Farnum Cheshire. The structural frame was made of steel and concrete. The theater had an Italian Renaissance design with a color palette of gold, blue, and ivory white, as well as "rose du Barry" curtains. At ground level, the promenade from Broadway was decorated in gold and rose. The entire 46th Street frontage functioned as a large exit corridor. The entrance vestibule from 46th Street was designed as a promenade with a similar color scheme to the rest of the theater. The promenade from 46th Street measured long and wide. A foyer at the second story (originally the first balcony level) led to the terrace on the 46th Street frontage of that story.; Dillingham's offices were housed on the upper stories, above the auditorium.
The auditorium was designed in a fan shape; according to contemporary publications, that shape allowed both optimal acoustics and sightlines.; The fan shape also allowed the audience to be closer to the performers than in other theaters, creating a more intimate house. The auditorium had an orchestra level, two balconies, boxes, and a stage behind the proscenium arch.; There were 1,416 seats in total; the orchestra alone had 15 rows of seats. The seats could be individually cooled by ice or heated by hot air from vents underneath. At the rear of the second balcony level, three holes could provide spotlight illumination. There were twelve boxes, arranged in two tiers on both sides of the auditorium. The boxes were at the front of the theater and stepped down toward the proscenium; they were separated by Corinthian columns. Rose-colored curtains were also hung above the upper tier of boxes.
The auditorium had a coved ceiling when it was built. The original design included a retractable ceiling, as well as a movable roof above. According to contemporary sources, the ceiling had a retractable oval panel, which would be moved "when weather permits" to allow starlight and keep the auditorium cooler in summer. The historian William Morrison could not find a reference to the ceiling ever opening; he said that retracting the roof would have been difficult because of debris buildup. The proscenium arch was surrounded by a molded frame on all sides in a way that suggested "a rich frame to a picture". The large stage was capable of accommodating all the necessary theatrical equipment.;
The backstage areas had "modern and convenient dressing rooms", including showers for the actors. An elevator connected the stage to a six-story dressing room wing in the rear. The theater had provisions for fireproofing, such as modern standpipe and sprinkler equipment, automatic alarms, and watchmen's systems.
Modifications
When the theater was renovated in 1958, most of the old Globe's interiors were removed and redecorated in an 18th-century style. According to Robert Dowling, who helped redevelop the theater, the promenade was redecorated in a rococo style with "exotic" wall decorations. The mezzanine contained a lounge with paneled mirrors, as well as murals depicting opera houses in Europe. Blue rococo floor coverings were installed throughout the theater, with a layer of thick foam underneath.
In the auditorium, the two levels of balconies were removed, and a single balcony level with 700 seats was installed. The orchestra level was arranged with 800 seats. In both levels, the first few rows were upholstered in rococo blue silk above rubber foam cushions, with additional cushions for short guests. Tickets to the front-row seats were higher than those for the remaining seats, which were salvaged from the old Globe's interiors. Modern estimates of the seating capacity vary: Playbill cites a capacity of 1,470 seats, while the Broadway League cites 1,519 seats. Broadway Direct—the website of the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre's owner, the Nederlander Organization—gives a capacity of 1,505 seats.