Lyceum Theatre (Broadway)
The Lyceum Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 149 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.
It has the distinction of being the oldest surviving Broadway venue (along with the New Amsterdam Theatre), the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in New York City, and the first Broadway theatre ever to be granted landmark status (1974). It is one of the few theatres in New York to operate under its original name.
Designed by architects Herts & Tallant, the Lyceum was built by impresario Daniel Frohman, whose brother Charles served as manager until his death in 1915. It replaced Daniel Frohman's earlier Lyceum on Fourth Ave. that closed in April 1902. The new Lyceum opened on November 2, 1903 with the play The Proud Prince.
Among the prominent performers who appeared on its stage in the theatre's early years were Ethel Barrymore, Billie Burke, Basil Rathbone, Fanny Brice, Walter Huston, Miriam Hopkins, and Cornelia Otis Skinner.
The theatre maintains most of its original Beaux-Arts design, including its elaborate marble staircases and undulating marquee. Although it has three levels, it is one of the smallest Broadway theatres in terms of capacity, seating only 950. An apartment located above the orchestra, originally used by Frohman, is now the headquarters of the Shubert Archives.
[edit] Notable productions
- 1903: The Admirable Crichton
- 1910: The Importance of Being Earnest
- 1910: The Assumption of Hannele
- 1935: Three Men on a Horse
- 1936: The Postman Always Rings Twice
- 1946: Born Yesterday
- 1950: The Country Girl
- 1952: Time Out For Ginger
- 1955: A Hatful of Rain
- 1957: Look Back in Anger
- 1960: A Taste of Honey
- 1965: Entertaining Mr. Sloane
- 1972: Liza with a Z
- 1973: Out Cry
- 1976: Something's Afoot
- 1980: Morning's at Seven
- 1982: Master Harold...and the Boys
- 1985: As Is
- 1995: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
- 1997: The Sunshine Boys
- 1999: Night Must Fall
- 2003: I Am My Own Wife
- 2005: Steel Magnolias
- 2007: Inherit the Wind; Is He Dead?
- 2008: Macbeth; [title of show]
- 2009: reasons to be pretty
- 2009: In the Next Room (or The Vibrator Play) (Oct 2009-Jan 2010)
- 2010: Looped (Feb 2010-Apr 2010)
- 2010: The Scottsboro Boys (Oct 2010 - Dec 2010)
- 2011: Ghetto Klown (March 2011 - July 2011)
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Lyceum Theatre (Broadway) |
- Lyceum Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database
- Lyceum Theatre Official Site
- Broadway Theatre Guide
- "At this Theatre" at Playbill.com
