The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theater at 111 West 44th Street, between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre, it was built in 1907 and designed by architect George Keister for impresario David Belasco. The Belasco Theatre has 1,016 seats across three levels and has been operated by The Shubert Organization since 1948. Both the facade and interior of the theater are New York City landmarks.
The main facade on 44th Street is made of red brick in Flemish bond, with terracotta decorative elements. The ground floor contains the entrance, while the upper stories are asymmetrical and topped by a pediment. Belasco and his company had their offices in the western wing of the theater. A ten-room duplex penthouse apartment occupies the top of the eastern wing and contained Belasco's collection of memorabilia. The interior features Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork, and expansive murals by American artist Everett Shinn. The auditorium consists of a ground-level orchestra and two overhanging balconies, with boxes at the second balcony level.
The theater was developed by Meyer R. Bimberg and operated by David Belasco as the Stuyvesant Theatre. It opened on October 16, 1907, and was expanded in 1909 with Belasco's apartment. Belasco renamed the venue for himself in 1910. After his death in 1931, Katharine Cornell and then the wife of playwright Elmer Rice leased the space. The Shuberts bought the theater in 1948 and leased it to NBC for three years before returning it to legitimate use in 1953. Through the late 20th century, despite a decline in the quality of productions hosted at the Belasco, it continued to show Broadway plays and musicals. The theater was renovated multiple times over the years, including in the 1920s, 1970s, and 2000s.
Site The Belasco Theatre is on 111 West 44th Street, on the north sidewalk between Seventh Avenue and Sixth Avenue, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The rectangular land lot covers , with a frontage of on 44th Street and a depth of about . On the same block, the Hotel Gerard, Hudson Theatre, and Millennium Times Square New York are to the west. Other nearby buildings include the Algonquin Hotel to the east, 1166 Avenue of the Americas to the northeast, the Americas Tower and High School of Performing Arts to the north, the Lyceum Theatre and 1540 Broadway to the northwest, 1500 Broadway to the southwest, and the Chatwal New York hotel and the Town Hall to the south.
Design The Belasco Theatre was designed by George Keister, the architect of the neighboring Hotel Gerard, in the neo-Georgian style. It was constructed from 1906 to 1907 as the Stuyvesant Theatre and was originally operated by David Belasco. The neo-Georgian style was selected because a similar style was used on many early government buildings of New York City. The original name was a homage to Peter Stuyvesant, a director-general of New Amsterdam, the 17th-century Dutch colony that later became New York City. Compared to its contemporaries, the Belasco is relatively small. A wing for offices and dressing rooms, separated from the rest of the theater by a thick wall, was constructed on the west side of the theater. The eastern part of the theater is topped by a private duplex apartment built in 1909.
Facade The primary elevation of the facade faces south on 44th Street and is made of red brick in Flemish bond, with terracotta decorative elements. It is split into an office section to the west and the main theater section to the east. The side walls are faced in plain brick. The 44th Street elevation is about tall, while the rear elevation is cited as being or tall. To comply with fire regulations at the time of the Belasco's construction, the theater is surrounded by an alley measuring wide. Due to the presence of the alley, the theater only measures .
Ground story On 44th Street, the ground-story facade consists of a water table made of granite, above which is burnt brick in Flemish bond. There are four pairs of doors at the center of the facade, above which is an entablature made of terracotta. These doors are separated by terracotta pilasters in the Tuscan style. On either side of the central doorways are wood-framed display boards.
The facade's westernmost portion corresponds to the office stories and has a granite stoop with two steps. The steps are flanked by iron railings and lead to two pairs of wood-and-glass doors, which connect to the ticket lobby. These doorways are set within the same opening, with Doric terracotta pilasters on either side and an entablature above. A metal gate leads to an alley on the west. The easternmost section contains a stoop with three steps, which lead to a pair of wood-and-glass doors flanked by pilasters; this provides access to the balcony. A large metal canopy hangs above the doorways. An egg-and-dart molding and a Greek key frieze runs above the ground story on 44th Street.
Upper stories
The upper stories are asymmetrical. The office section of the theater is at the extreme western end of the facade, while a pair of pavilions flanks three vertical bays on the rest of the facade. The entire third story is topped by an entablature with a molded frieze, a set of dentils, and a heavy cornice with modillions. The cornice wraps around to the side elevations of the facade.
The pavilions are made of burnt brick and generally lack windows. A metal sign assembly hangs in front of the west pavilion. The eastern corner of the east pavilion has a terracotta quoin. Belasco's apartment is on the fourth story above the eastern pavilion. On 44th Street, the apartment has quoins at either corner, a brick facade, and a Palladian window. Engaged columns and terracotta pilasters flank the center portion of the Palladian window, while multi-paned windows form the side portions of the window. An egg-and-dart molding runs above the apartment facade.
The three center bays are delineated by a pair of Ionic terracotta pilasters at each end, as well as two single pilasters in the center. At the second story, each of the center bays contains tripartite casement windows. Above the windows are terracotta lintels, which are separated into three panels and are topped by a course of dentils. At the third story, each center bay has a round-arched window, surrounded by paneled terracotta blocks and topped by a keystone. A rectangular terracotta panel with eared corners is placed above each window. Above the cornice, a brick triangular pediment rises over the center three bays. There is an oval window at the center of the pediment, with a terracotta frame and keystones, as well as a cornice with modillions above the pediment.
The westernmost portion of the 44th Street elevation is the office section, which is designed in a similar style as the main theater facade, though it is distinctly demarcated from the rest of the facade. which is flanked on either side by terracotta quoins. The second story of the office section has a tripartite window with a terracotta lintel. The third story of the offices contains a Palladian window, which consists of an arched window flanked by rectangular windows on each side. The Palladian window has Ionic terracotta pilasters and a terracotta keystone above the arch. Above the entablature, the fourth story of the office section has quoins at either corner. There are three arched windows at the fourth story, surrounded by terracotta frames and topped by terracotta keystones. The windows are separated by Ionic pilasters, supporting a frieze and egg-and-dart molding of the same material.
Interior The interior color scheme was devised largely by Wilfred Buckland, who worked for Belasco's studios. Everett Shinn designed murals for the theater. The Belasco was outfitted with the most advanced stagecraft tools available including extensive lighting rigs, a hydraulics system, and vast wing and fly space. Like the neighboring Lyceum Theatre, it was built with ample workshop space underneath the stage. Tiffany Studio designed lighting fixtures throughout the theater, which were executed by theatrical-lighting specialists Nimis & Nimis. Nineteen emergency exits lead from the auditorium onto the street or the alley, including ten from orchestra level. According to news reports published when the theater opened, the entire theater could be evacuated in three minutes. The Belasco's color scheme consisted largely of blue, green, and brown hues.
The theater was also mechanically advanced for its time, with heating, cooling, and ventilating systems. There were no radiators in the theater, but the floor contained a plenum system with 350 ducts. The plenum system used to evenly distribute the heat from two boilers, either of which could heat the theater on its own. When a sufficient level of heat had been reached, the heat was shut off and fresh air was distributed through the plenum system, using large blowers. Air outflow passed through hidden openings in the ceiling of the auditorium. In addition, the cellar contained a fire pump capable of per minute, supplied by a water tower on the roof and a reserve tank in the basement. Below the stage was a mezzanine with heating coils. Each side of the theater had three separate sets of fire escapes, and the western side had a marble-and-stone staircase leading directly into the alley there. The additional exits were constructed to prevent crowd crushes, such as happened in the 1876 Brooklyn Theatre fire, where hundreds had died.
Lobby
The entrance lobby is a nearly square space, accessed from the westernmost entrance on 44th Street. John Rapp designed the lobby. It originally was decorated in a walnut-brown and gold color scheme, but this was changed to black and gold sometime in the 20th century. The floor is made of mosaic tiles and terrazzo. The walls of the lobby are wainscoted in Rouge Duranche marble, with paneling and Corinthian pilasters above the wainscoting. Partway up the wall is an entablature around the entire room, which contains a cornice with modillions. The wall surfaces above the entablature are designed to resemble leather. The side-wall panels have gilded sconces, and the ceiling has a chandelier suspended from it.
The main entrance is from the south wall, above which are murals by Everett Shinn. The east wall contains doors to the auditorium. At the center of the north wall, directly opposite the entrance doors, is an ornate box office within an arched opening. The main ticket window is flanked by Corinthian-style colonnettes on either side, which support an arched pediment; there are also arched panels to the left and right of the ticket window. In addition, there are Corinthian columns placed on marble bases on either side of the box office opening. Above the opening is the cornice and a carved aedicule with a pediment and a brass figure. A brass standing rail originally was placed in front of the ticket window but was removed.
Auditorium The auditorium has a ground-level orchestra, boxes, two balconies, promenades on the three seating levels, and a large stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium's width is greater than its depth. The auditorium has 1,016 seats. These are divided into 527 seats at orchestra level, 283 on the first balcony, and 200 on the second balcony, as well as 24 box seats and 25 standing-only spots. The orchestra was designed with 15 rows of seats. There were also twelve boxes in total. The seats were all made by the American Seating Company. Each seat was of heavy wood, upholstered in dark brown leather, and the back of each chair was embossed with an emblem of a bee.
Seating areas