Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (New York City, New York)

 theatre, 1917_construction

6-story Adamesque-style theater completed in 1917. Designed by Herbert J. Krapp, it was built back-to-back with the Broadhurst Theatre, and was meant to resemble the style of the neighboring Henry B. Herts-designed Shubert and Booth theaters, using less expensive brick and terra-cotta materials on the facades. It opened as the Plymouth Theatre and was leased to producer Arthur Hopkins. He intended it to be a venue for legitimate plays starring notable actors like John and Lionel Barrymore. The premiere production was A Successful Calamity, a comedy with William Gillette and Estelle Winwood.

After Hopkins died in 1948, control of the theater returned to the Shuberts, who still own the property. The 1,080-seat house was renamed for Gerald Schoenfeld, chairman of the Shubert Organization, in 2005.

The Gerald Schoenfeld and Broadhurst pair mimic the configuration of the adjoining Booth and Shubert. Each pair comprises two similarly designed theaters backing up on each other, one facing 44th and one 45th Street. Where the flanks of the Booth and Shubert face on Shubert Alley, the flanks of the Plymouth and Broadhurst face on a service alley.

The Gerald Schoenfeld Theater faces onto 45th Street and has a curved corner at the northeast section of the building which echoes the design of other Shubert Alley theaters. The facade is wider than it is high and is divided into two sections: one for the 3-story entrance/auditorium at the east, the other for the 6-story stage house at the west. The entrance/auditorium section is symmetrically organized and faced in buff brick laid in Flemish bond and framed in white terra-cotta. The ground floor, faced in terra-cotta above a tan-painted granite water table, contains three pairs of bronze and glass doors set below bronze transoms leading into the lobby, and a pair of metal doors for the stage entrance. Modern aluminum display boxes flank the doors, and a display window is placed to the west of the entrance doors. A modern marquee with signs extends above the lobby doors and stage entrance. At the 2nd & 3rd floors the windows and exit doors are framed in brick. The fire escape at the 3rd floor is roofed in sheet-metal, taking the form of a gallery. The wrought-iron railing is enhanced with cast-iron shields supported by unfurled ribands. Above the 3rd floor a terra-cotta cartouche
with swags is centered on the terra-cotta frame. Terra-cotta pilasters with stylized capitals rise for three stories flanking the terra-cotta frame. A similar frame highlights the curved corner at the eastern end of the facade.

Access is provided to the ticket lobby through an opening with double-doors surmounted by a pediment supported by an escutcheon with swags. Above the 3rd floor level a large escutcheon bearing a fleur-de-lis and suspended from swags accents the curve and signals the presence of the main entrance. The curved and straight portions of the facade are capped by a large but simple sheet-metal cornice which extends around the curve and supports a slightly stepped and raked parapet.

The stage house portion of the facade is six stories high and faced in buff brick in Flemish bond. The brickwork is accented by diaperwork panels. At the ground floor, two openings, one very high for installation of sets, allow access to the stage. Display boards accent the eastern door. The upper floors are punctuated by brick-framed segmental-arched windows for the dressing rooms; these
lead onto a fire escape. Corbelling accents the parapet surmounting the facade. The side walls of the stage house portion are partially visible and are faced with the same buff brick.

www.shubertorganization.com/theatres/gerald_schoenfeld....