Al Hirschfeld Theatre
The Al Hirschfeld Theatre is a legitimate theatre located at 302 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.
Designed by architect G. Albert Lansburgh for vaudeville promoter Martin Beck, the theatre opened as the Martin Beck Theatre with a production of Madame Pompadour on November 11, 1924. It was the only theater in New York that was owned outright without a mortgage. It was designed to be the most opulent theatre of its time, and has dressing rooms for 200 actors.
Famous appearances include Basil Rathbone as Romeo to the Juliet of Katharine Cornell in December 1934.
On June 21 2003, it was renamed the Al Hirschfeld Theatre in honor of the caricaturist famous for his drawings of Broadway celebrities, and reopened on November 23, 2003 with a revival of the musical Wonderful Town.
Notable productions
- 1934: The Pirates of Penzance, H.M.S. Pinafore, The Mikado
- 1934: Romeo and Juliet
- 1935: Winterset
- 1937: High Tor
- 1940: Cabin in the Sky
- 1941: Watch on the Rhine
- 1942: My Sister Eileen
- 1943: The Corn is Green
- 1945: On the Town
- 1946: The Iceman Cometh
- 1951: The Rose Tattoo
- 1953: The Crucible
- 1956: Candide
- 1959: Sweet Bird of Youth
- 1960: Bye Bye Birdie
- 1961: Milk and Honey; The Happiest Girl in the World
- 1964: I Had a Ball
- 1965: Oliver!
- 1966: A Delicate Balance
- 1967: Hallelujah, Baby!
- 1968: Man of La Mancha
- 1980: Onward Victoria
- 1981: The Little Foxes
- 1984: The Rink
- 1987: Into the Woods
- 1989: Grand Hotel
- 1995: Moon Over Buffalo
- 1998: The Sound of Music
- 2005: Sweet Charity
- 2006: The Wedding Singer
- 2007: Curtains
References
- Who's Who in the Theatre, edited by John Parker, tenth edition, revised, London, 1947, p.1184.