The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a Broadway theater at 243 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1928, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles for the Shubert family. The theater, named in honor of actress Ethel Barrymore, has 1,058 seats and is operated by the Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
The ground-floor facade is made of rusticated blocks of terracotta. The theater's main entrance consists of two archways and a doorway shielded by a marquee. The upper stories contain an arched screen made of terracotta, inspired by Roman baths, which is surrounded by white brick. The auditorium contains ornamental plasterwork, a sloped orchestra level, a large balcony, and a coved ceiling with a dome. The balcony level contains box seats topped by decorative arches. The theater was also designed with a basement lounge and a now-demolished stage house.
The Shubert brothers developed the Barrymore Theatre after Ethel Barrymore agreed to have the brothers manage her theatrical career. It opened on December 20, 1928, with The Kingdom of God, and was the last pre-Depression house developed by the Shuberts. Ethel Barrymore only worked with the Shuberts until 1932 and last performed in the theater in 1940. The Barrymore has consistently remained in use as a legitimate theater since its opening, hosting plays and musicals; it is one of the few Broadway theaters to have never been sold or renamed. The theater was refurbished in the 1980s and the 2000s.
Site
The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is on 243 West 47th Street, on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The square land lot covers , with a frontage of on 47th Street and a depth of 100 feet. The Barrymore shares the block with the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre to the west, the Longacre Theatre to the north, and the Morgan Stanley Building to the east. Other nearby buildings include the Eugene O'Neill Theatre and Walter Kerr Theatre to the north; Crowne Plaza Times Square Manhattan to the northeast; 20 Times Square to the east; the Hotel Edison and Lunt-Fontanne Theatre to the south; and the Lena Horne Theatre and Paramount Hotel to the southwest.
Design The Ethel Barrymore Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in several styles and was constructed in 1928 for the Shubert brothers. The theater is named after actress Ethel Barrymore (1879–1959), a prominent member of the Barrymore family of actors, and is operated by the Shubert Organization. The Barrymore has been used continuously as a legitimate house and, unlike most Broadway theaters, has never been sold or renamed since its opening. The Barrymore was the last theater to be built by the Shubert Organization until 2003.
Facade
The facade is symmetrically arranged. The ground floor is clad in rusticated blocks of terracotta, painted in a limestone color, above a granite water table. At ground level, the auditorium entrance includes two arched openings, each with four aluminum and glass doors. The voussoirs of the arches are made of rusticated blocks, while the keystones at the centers of each arch are shaped like brackets. Within each arch, the spaces above the doors are infilled with black glazed tiles; originally, these spaces were filled with metal tracery. Between the arched doors is a smaller doorway, which is topped by a large keystone. Above all of these openings is a marquee with the name "Barrymore", which is supported by ornate bronze brackets. The presence of the large marquee obscures the contrast between the ground floor and upper stories. The brackets originally supported a smaller bronze-and-glass canopy, which curved upward in front of either arch.
On either side of the doors are terracotta niches with bronze-framed sign boards. Above the signboards are terracotta wreaths, which surround circular panels with the gilded letters "The Barrymore Theatre". Each wreath is topped by a curved pediment. The western and eastern portions of the facade are recessed slightly and contain recessed openings. The opening to the east is marked as the stage door. A frieze, decorated with leaf and wave moldings, runs above the first floor. To the east, there was originally a stage house with fire escapes on its facade, but this has since been replaced with the Morgan Stanley Building.
The upper stories are faced in bonded glazed-white brick. The central part of the facade includes a terracotta screen with an Ancient Roman–inspired pattern, surrounded by a cord molding. The screen includes a grid of squares, each of which contain central medallions with bars radiating in eight directions. To the left of the screen, the wall contains a sign with the name "Barrymore" and a metal fire escape. A metal sign hangs from the facade to the right. The top of the screen curves upward in a manner resembling a proscenium arch, and a brick parapet rises above the screen. A Greek key frieze and a cornice with talon moldings runs above the entire facade. Contemporary media from the theater's opening cited the top of the facade as being above the sidewalk, while the screen was wide.
Auditorium The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony, boxes and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The space is designed with plaster decorations in low relief. The auditorium is shaped almost as a square. According to the Shubert Organization, the auditorium has 1,058 seats; meanwhile, Playbill cites 1,039 seats and The Broadway League cites 1,096 seats. The physical seats are divided into 582 seats in the orchestra, 196 at the front of the balcony, 256 at the rear of the balcony, and 24 in the boxes. There were originally 1,100 seats, divided into 570 in the orchestra, 494 in the balcony, and 36 in the boxes.
The seats were designed to be "unusually comfortable", with steel backs and bottoms. A source from the theater's opening cited the auditorium as having an old-gold and brown color scheme. The interior uses a combination of Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam-style design motifs.
Seating areas
The rear of the orchestra contains a promenade. The rear wall of the promenade contains three doorways, above which is a frieze. The promenade ceiling is curved and contains Elizabethan strapwork patterns. There is a wrought iron balustrade between the orchestra promenade and the last row of orchestra seating. Two staircases lead from either end of the promenade to the balcony level; they contain wrought-iron railings with shield and strapwork motifs. The orchestra is raked, sloping down toward the stage. The side walls of the orchestra contain a wainscoting that is divided into panels. The walls were originally painted cinnamon and gold. There are lighting sconces on the walls.
The balcony level is cantilevered above the orchestra and is divided into front and rear sections by an aisle halfway across its depth. The crossover aisle connects to segmentally arched exit doors on both of the side walls. There are console brackets above the arched exit doors, which support terraces that project slightly from an opening on either wall. The rest of the balcony's side walls are made of simple plaster and contain wall sconces. The front rail of the balcony contains high-relief strapwork patterns, which have been covered over with light boxes. The underside of the balcony has plasterwork panels with crystal light fixtures suspended from medallions. The original lighting fixtures, consisting of inverted bowls of cut glass, have since been replaced. Air-conditioning vents are placed along some of the panels under the balcony, as well as at the balcony's rear. There is a technical booth behind the balcony's rear wall.
On either side of the proscenium are three boxes, raised about from the orchestra floor, which curve toward the side walls. At orchestra level is a wainscoted wall interrupted by three segmental-arched openings, one beneath each box. The undersides of the boxes contain moldings and crystal light fixtures similar to those on the balcony. The box fronts are decorated with three Elizabethan-style plasterwork bands. From bottom to top, the bands depict shields with putti's faces; rosettes; and strapwork around shields. Immediately behind the boxes are six gold-colored, fluted pilasters with Ionic capitals. There are half-columns in front of the pilasters that flank the center box. Above the pilasters is an architrave with plaster strapwork reliefs, as well as a balustrade containing vase-shaped balusters. There is a lunette above the balustrade; it includes a square shield motif, which is connected by latticework bands to sphinxes on either side. The lunette is surrounded by strapwork bands and several concentric semicircular arches. The semicircular arches have design motifs such as shells, shields, anthemia, and half-columns. The arches, combined with the lunette, constitute a sunburst pattern. The boxes and semicircular arches are surrounded by a plaster frame.
Other design features
Next to the boxes is a three-centered proscenium arch. The archway is surrounded by a wide band with strapwork motifs, with narrow bands of leaves on either side. The spandrels, above the corners of the proscenium arch, contain decorative motifs. The proscenium measures high and wide. The depth of the auditorium to the proscenium is , while the depth to the front of the stage is . According to sources from the theater's completion, the proscenium opening was wide, while the arch itself was high. As arranged, the stage itself measured deep by wide. The stage gridiron was placed above the stage. There are traps throughout the entire stage, as well as a counterweight fly system.
The ceiling rises from the floor of the orchestra. The coved ceiling contains a dome at its center, measuring wide. At the center of the dome is a grilled centerpiece, which is surrounded by several Elizabethan-style circles, as well as four medallions placed at 90-degree angles. A glass chandelier hangs from the center of the dome. The rest of the dome is divided into wedge-shaped sections, which are arranged in a circular pattern around the centerpiece. Outside of the dome, the coved ceiling contains latticework panels, surrounded by a strapwork pattern. Where the coved ceiling curves onto the side walls, there is a band with water-leaf motifs. Originally, this band was colored in green, gold, and gray.
Other interior spaces The theater was built with a general lounge in the basement, which measured . Separate spaces in the lounge were provided for women and men, and there was also a telephone booth. According to contemporary news articles, the basement lounge was decorated with an ivory-colored strapwork ceiling, modeled after English designs. The lounge had antique Elizabethan furniture, a mulberry-and-taupe carpet, and walls with an "old English texture in antique color". When the theater opened, Gilbert Miller lent a bronze bust of Ethel Barrymore, which was designed by A. C. Laddy. The basement also had a large dressing room for choruses.
On the first floor, Ethel Barrymore had her own modern-style reception and dressing room. The second floor had a chorus room and a smaller dressing room. The theater was built with three additional floors, each with four dressing rooms.
History