The Lyceum Theatre (New York City, New York)

 theatre, movie / film / TV location, 1903_construction, Beaux-Arts (architecture)

6-story Beaux-Arts theater completed in 1903. Designed by Herts & Tallant, it is one of the two oldest surviving Broadway venues (along with the New Amsterdam Theatre). The Lyceum is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theater in New York City, and the first Broadway theater ever to be granted landmark status (in 1974). It is one of the few theaters in New York which continues to operate under its original name. It was built for impresario Daniel Frohman, replacing Frohman's earlier Lyceum on Fourth Avenue that closed in April 1902. The new Lyceum opened on November 2, 1903 with the play The Proud Prince. Frohman's brother Charles served as the theater's manager until his death in 1915.

The theater maintains most of its original Beaux-Arts design, including its elaborate marble staircases and undulating marquee. The rusticated ground floor has three bays of entrances with wood double-doors, plus a service door at the west end, and a wooden double stage door at the east end, next to another service entrance. The building is visually dominated by a row of six tall ornate columns (paired at the ends) rising above a soaring canopy which protects the entrances at street level. These columns, which are elaborately fluted and banded, terminate in elaborate composite capitals, and support a massive entablature spanning the facade. The frieze is enlivened by heads in the form of theatrical masks. Tall French windows set in three-centered, richly decorated arched enframements open up the wall between the columns. A wide ornamental frieze adorns the wall above these windows. To the outside of the paired end columns, the 2nd & 3rd floors have simple, recessed single-windows.

Above the entablature is a balustrade serving as a balcony for the three central pedimented windows of the "penthouse"--now used for offices. A sloping mansard roof above the penthouse with six oval dormer windows encloses a former rehearsal hall and, with its crestings, effectively crowns the theater. Although it has three levels, it is one of the smallest Broadway theaters in terms of capacity, seating only 922. An apartment located above the orchestra, originally used by Frohman, is now the headquarters of the Shubert Archives.

A very narrow 6-story wing extends through the block the 46th Street, serving as the stagehouse. Its north facade is clad in dark grey-brown brick. The ground floor has an entrance at the left, up two stone steps, and a window on the right, this level is topped by a black metal cornice with three brackets and a dentil course. The 2nd-4th floors have triple-windows in black iron framing, with stone sills and brick lintels. The 5th floor has a double-height triple-window, and the double-height top floor has a large multi-paned window of 6-over-4 panes. At the base of this window is a triangular pediment, below which is a small landing for the fire escape that angles over to the east bay of the facade, and continues down with additional small landings. The Shubert Archive library is housed on the top floor.

The interior and exterior was used as a filming location for S1E1 of the HBO original series "Sex and the City/And Just Like That" as the supposed site of the Manhattan School of Music,

www.shubertorganization.com/theatres/lyceum.asp