Belasco Theatre (New York City, New York)

 theatre, interesting place

4-story Neo-Georgian theater completed in 1907. Designed by George Keister for impresario David Belasco, it was originally known as the Stuyvesant Theatre. In 1910 Belasco attached his own name to the venue. The Shuberts bought the theater in 1949 and leased it to NBC for three years before returning it to legitimate use. In 2014, Hedwig and the Angry Inch opened its first Broadway production, which was the longest running show at the Belasco and features a joke about fictional show that opened at the Belasco called Hurt Locker: The Musical.

Although Keister was responsible for the design of the theater, Belasco had input into every aspect of its planning from the seating configuration and decoration of the auditorium, to the specifications of the stage elevator and particularly the technical requirements of the theater's innovative lighting system.

The theater has an asymmetrically-arranged facade which is wider than it is high. Faced in unpainted burnt brick with random dark headers and accented with terra-cotta trim, the facade is dominated by a pedimented front. The ground floor acts as a base for the upper portions of the facade. The base is articulated by nine broad, deeply coursed brick bands above a granite water table. Three groups of doors are surmounted by a continuous modern marquee, a replacement of the original canopies, with five peaked pediments, using the original wall anchors. The central bays are flanked by painted terra-cotta Tuscan pillars. Display boxes flank this central group. To the west is an original wood-framed display board flanked by channeled Ionic pilasters of terra-cotta. At the west end, two granite steps with iron railings rise to two pairs of wood-and-glass double-doors which lead into the entrance lobby. The doors are flanked by Doric pilasters supporting an entablature, all of painted terra-cotta. In the east section of the facade, three granite steps with iron railings lead up to a wood-and-glass double-door that gives entrance to the balcony.

The base is surmounted by a projecting terra-cotta Greek key band course above a terra-cotta egg-and-dart molding. The central section of the upper floors is subdivided into three window bays, framed at left and right by paired Ionic pilasters of terra-cotta with a single pilaster between each window. A light-colored terra-cotta band at the base of the windows extends across the entire facade. The three multi-paned casement windows within shallow brick reveals are surmounted by terra-cotta lintels, each with three rectangular panels and a dentil course. Above each window a multi-paned fanlight is framed by a terra-cotta arch with keystone and resting on paneled terra-cotta blocks at impost level. The wall section above each arch is adorned with a large terra-cotta eared panel. The side sections of the upper floors are faced with burnt brick set off with terra-cotta quoins. A full entablature composed of moldings, frieze, dentils, and modillioned cornice extends across the facade and turns the corners. A pediment framed by a similarly modillioned cornice of terra-cotta rises above the center section. The brick wall section within the pediment contains a keyed, terra-cotta framed oval window opening. To the east of the pediment a pavilion, part of Belasco's penthouse apartment, rises above the entablature. Flanked by terra-cotta quoins, it is dominated by a Palladian window, framed by engaged Doric columns and pilasters of terra-cotta. The windows are multi-paned. The pavilion terminates with a terra-cotta egg-and-dart molding, above which, in either corner, are the remains of the original balustraded parapet.

The westernmost section of the facade is the office portion of the theater, framed with terra-cotta quoins. At the 2nd floor is a multi-paned triple-window; it is crowned by a terra-cotta paneled lintel. At the 3rd floor is a Palladian window, framed by Ionic pilasters of terra-cotta and containing multi-paned windows. At the 4th floor above the continuous entablature are three arched openings framed in terra-cotta with keystones. The window are flanked by Ionic pilasters which support a pulvinated frieze crowned by an egg-and-dart molding, all executed in terra-cotta.

The skeletal framework of a signboard projects at the 2nd floor level between the office section and the central window group. An illuminated vertical sign board with the name of the theater is hung from the wall above. There are narrow alleys on either side of the theater building; a decorative wrought-iron gate gives access to the ally on the west. The side walls of the building are faced in plain brick, painted white on the east side.

The interior originally featured Tiffany Studios lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and expansive murals by American artist Everett Shinn, and a ten-room duplex penthouse apartment that Belasco utilized as combination living quarters/office space. The theater seats 1,016.

www.shubertorganization.com/theatres/belasco.asp
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