Lunt-Fontanne Theatre (New York City, New York)
USA /
New Jersey /
West New York /
New York City, New York /
West 46th Street, 205
World
/ USA
/ New Jersey
/ West New York
World / United States / New York
theatre
Add category
5-story Beaux-Arts theater completed in 1910. Designed by Carrère & Hastings, it was built by producer Charles Dillingham and opened as the Globe Theatre, in honor of London's Shakespearean playhouse, on January 10, 1910 with a musical entitled The Old Town.
The symmetrical facade has a rusticated stone limebase above a black-painted granite water table. There are eight bays with openings, plus an extra bay in a 1-story extension on the west side with a stage door. The two easternmost bays have widest, and have pairs of wooden double-doors that lead into the lobby. The next two bays have wooden double-doors as secondary entrances, and the other bays have service entrances with black metal doors. The ground floor is topped by a marquee with undulating gold cresting of vertical acanthus leaves along the top edge, running nearly the full length of the facade. Above the marquee, the 2nd floor retains partially filled-in arches with the keyed center blocks of the five central arches containing sculpted helmets above masks. The base is surmounted by a frieze with flowers and foliation and, in the central portion, modillions in the form of satyr heads of two types - one mustached and somber, the other with grapes in his hair and snarling - supporting a cornice.
The major portion of the painted, stuccoed facade takes the form of a central arcaded pavilion flanked by slightly recessed bays. The arches of the pavilion are flanked by double-height pilasters set on bases and terminated by Ionic capitals. The arches are filled with double-height windows, tripartite below and multi-paned above, divided by a spandrel with a broken pediment. An intricate wrought-iron railing spans the cornice. Semi-nude female figures carrying theatrical masks are in the spandrels of the arches, flanking cartouches. Square window openings with deep reveals rise above the cartouches. A broad band with panels of musical instruments (outer bays) and helmets and bows (center bays) spans the pavilion and flanks the window openings and the caryatids.
The flanking side bays are characterized by double-height window openings with molded surrounds surmounted by panels with carved putti and foliate swags and cornices carried on consoles. An oculus is set in the wall above each double-height window opening. A simple continuous cornice, above a paneled frieze and dentil course in the side bays and a wave molding in the central pavilion, spans the facade. This in turn is surmounted by a parapet which is further articulated above the central pavilion by an ornate frieze with panels, cartouches, and carved bearded heads. A dentil course sets off a flat tilted roof carried on closely-spaced brackets. A brick stage house rises from the roof at the west, with a latticework pattern at the parapet. There are two angled signs mounted above the ends of the theater's marquee, and six sets of upper and lower iron poles projecting horizontally from the piers for mounting vertical banners between the bays.
Most of the Globe's early shows were dramatic plays, including two revivals of La Dame aux Camélias. In the late teens and 1920s, the focus shifted to musicals. In the 1930s, the Globe was converted into a movie house operated by the Brandt chain. City Playhouses Inc. bought it in 1957 and had the firm Roche and Roche extensively renovate it. Major changes were made, including the removal of the second balcony level, the Broadway entrance, and much of the original decor. It was rechristened the Lunt-Fontanne in honor of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne and reopened on May 5, 1958 with Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Visit, starring the distinguished theatrical couple.
The theater, which seats 1,509, presently is owned by the Nederlander Organization.
The symmetrical facade has a rusticated stone limebase above a black-painted granite water table. There are eight bays with openings, plus an extra bay in a 1-story extension on the west side with a stage door. The two easternmost bays have widest, and have pairs of wooden double-doors that lead into the lobby. The next two bays have wooden double-doors as secondary entrances, and the other bays have service entrances with black metal doors. The ground floor is topped by a marquee with undulating gold cresting of vertical acanthus leaves along the top edge, running nearly the full length of the facade. Above the marquee, the 2nd floor retains partially filled-in arches with the keyed center blocks of the five central arches containing sculpted helmets above masks. The base is surmounted by a frieze with flowers and foliation and, in the central portion, modillions in the form of satyr heads of two types - one mustached and somber, the other with grapes in his hair and snarling - supporting a cornice.
The major portion of the painted, stuccoed facade takes the form of a central arcaded pavilion flanked by slightly recessed bays. The arches of the pavilion are flanked by double-height pilasters set on bases and terminated by Ionic capitals. The arches are filled with double-height windows, tripartite below and multi-paned above, divided by a spandrel with a broken pediment. An intricate wrought-iron railing spans the cornice. Semi-nude female figures carrying theatrical masks are in the spandrels of the arches, flanking cartouches. Square window openings with deep reveals rise above the cartouches. A broad band with panels of musical instruments (outer bays) and helmets and bows (center bays) spans the pavilion and flanks the window openings and the caryatids.
The flanking side bays are characterized by double-height window openings with molded surrounds surmounted by panels with carved putti and foliate swags and cornices carried on consoles. An oculus is set in the wall above each double-height window opening. A simple continuous cornice, above a paneled frieze and dentil course in the side bays and a wave molding in the central pavilion, spans the facade. This in turn is surmounted by a parapet which is further articulated above the central pavilion by an ornate frieze with panels, cartouches, and carved bearded heads. A dentil course sets off a flat tilted roof carried on closely-spaced brackets. A brick stage house rises from the roof at the west, with a latticework pattern at the parapet. There are two angled signs mounted above the ends of the theater's marquee, and six sets of upper and lower iron poles projecting horizontally from the piers for mounting vertical banners between the bays.
Most of the Globe's early shows were dramatic plays, including two revivals of La Dame aux Camélias. In the late teens and 1920s, the focus shifted to musicals. In the 1930s, the Globe was converted into a movie house operated by the Brandt chain. City Playhouses Inc. bought it in 1957 and had the firm Roche and Roche extensively renovate it. Major changes were made, including the removal of the second balcony level, the Broadway entrance, and much of the original decor. It was rechristened the Lunt-Fontanne in honor of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne and reopened on May 5, 1958 with Friedrich Dürrenmatt's The Visit, starring the distinguished theatrical couple.
The theater, which seats 1,509, presently is owned by the Nederlander Organization.
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunt-Fontanne_Theatre
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 40°45'33"N 73°59'9"W
- Arenson Prop Center 1.4 km
- Atlantic Stage 2 2.5 km
- New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ 15 km
- Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts 50 km
- Open Air Theatre at W. C. S. P. 89 km
- Destinta Theaters 89 km
- Penn's Peak 144 km
- Boardwalk Hall 161 km
- Hotel du Pont/DuPont Building 174 km
- The Playhouse on Rodney Square 174 km
- Theatre District 0.1 km
- Times Square Area 0.1 km
- Midtown (North Central) 0.3 km
- Garment District 0.7 km
- Hell's Kitchen (Clinton) 0.8 km
- Midtown (Manhattan, NY) 1 km
- Manhattan 2.7 km
- Hudson County, New Jersey 7.9 km
- Queens 15 km
- The Palisades 23 km