The Longacre Theatre

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4-story French Neo-Classical theater completed in 1912. Designed by Henry B. Herts (of the firm of Herts & Tallant) for impresario Harry Frazee, it was named after Longacre Square, the original name for Times Square. Frazee was better remembered as the owner of the Boston Red Sox who, needing money for his theatrical ventures, sold Babe Ruth's contract to the New York Yankees. A curse allegedly lingers on the theater as a result, and there was a time superstitious producers would avoid it for fear they'd be backing a flop, as noted by William Goldman in his seminal book The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway. Despite the rumor, a large number of performers who have appeared on stage here have taken home a Tony Award for their efforts. The Longacre's first show was a production of the William Hurlbut-Frances Whitehouse comedy Are You a Crook?, which opened on May 1, 1913. After Frazee fell into financial difficulties, the theater changed hands many times before being sold to Astor Theatre Incorporated, a Shubert subsidiary, in 1919. WOR leased it from 1943-1953 as a radio and television playhouse. The 1,091-seat theater returned to legitimate theater use in 1953.

The facade's ground floor is of terra-cotta, now stuccoed and painted white, above a granite water table. Three central pairs of brass-and-glass entrance doors are set below transoms and placed within deep reveals. Paired brass exit doors are set in reveals in the outer bays, and brass-framed poster boxes adorn each pier. At this ground floor level the wall rises from a projecting stone base, and decorative bands surmount the base. The ground floor is surmounted by a frieze adorned with foliate ornament. A modern, brass-colored marquee, suspended from metal tie-rods joined to the original metal fasteners on the wall above, spans the three central doorways.

A molding with faceted blocks sets off the major portion of the facade which is faced with white terra-cotta. This section is divided into five bays by fluted pilasters with Corinthian capitals incorporating flowers and small winged figures. The base of each pilaster takes the form of a stylized plant holding an urn from which rises a niche filled with a female figure representing Drama. She holds a scroll in her left hand and a mask in her right. The two outer bays are paneled; each contains a central niche (which is empty) carried on a corbel. The three central bays have double-height window openings, each with a tripartite window below a tripartite transom. The window sills are carried on brackets above reeded panels. Each window surrounds has an eared architrave supporting a flower-adorned band and segmental-arched pediment filled with foliate ornament. The central window is now covered by projecting signs with the name of the theater. A wide frieze spans the five bays; each segment of it contains a central panel flanked by round indented forms filled with stylized masks set on scallops. An entablature consisting of a frieze with fluted panels and the inscription "THE LONGACRE THEATRE", a dentil course, and a modillioned cornice with stylized foliation and lions-heads, sets off the uppermost floor.

Each of the five bays on the top floor contains two window openings set in deep reveals, which are enhanced by stylized foliation and medallion. Pilasters with sculpted urns from which grow plant forms flank the bays. A simple architrave and slightly-stepped parapet terminate the facade. The side walls of the theater are visible from 48th Street. They are of plain brick and contain randomly-placed window openings and fire escapes.

www.shubertorganization.com/theatres/longacre.asp