The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (known as the Plymouth Theatre prior to 2004) is a Broadway theater at 236 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Schoenfeld Theatre is named for Gerald Schoenfeld, longtime president of the Shubert Organization, which operates the theater. It has 1,079 seats across two levels. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
The neoclassical facade is simple in design and is similar to that of the Broadhurst Theatre, which was developed concurrently. The Schoenfeld's facade is made of buff-colored brick and terracotta and is divided into two sections: a stage house to the west and the theater's entrance to the east. The entrance facade is topped by fire-escape galleries and contains a curved corner facing east toward Broadway. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, a large balcony, a small technical gallery, a mostly flat ceiling, and a sounding board. The space is decorated in the Adam style with plasterwork designs. Near the front of the auditorium, flanking the elliptical proscenium arch, are box seats at balcony level.
The Shubert brothers developed the Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters following the success of the Booth and Shubert theaters directly to the east. The Plymouth Theatre was leased to Arthur Hopkins and opened on October 10, 1917, with the comedy A Successful Calamity. The Shuberts retained ownership of the theater and took over after Hopkins's death in 1950. The theater has hosted not only musicals but also revues, comedies, and dramas throughout its history. It was renamed for Gerald Schoenfeld in 2005.
Site The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre is on 236 West 45th Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The rectangular land lot covers , with a frontage of on 44th Street and a depth of . The Schoenfeld Theatre shares the city block with the Row NYC Hotel to the west. It adjoins six other theaters: the Majestic to the southwest, the John Golden and Bernard B. Jacobs to the west, the Booth to the east, the Shubert to the southeast, and the Broadhurst directly to the south. Other nearby structures include the Music Box Theatre, Imperial Theatre, and Richard Rodgers Theatre to the north; the New York Marriott Marquis to the northeast; One Astor Plaza to the east; and Sardi's restaurant, the Hayes Theater, and the St. James Theatre one block south.
The Schoenfeld is part of the largest concentration of Broadway theaters on a single block. The adjoining block of 45th Street is also known as George Abbott Way, and foot traffic on the street increases box-office totals for the theaters there. The Broadhurst, Schoenfeld, Booth, and Shubert theaters were all developed by the Shubert brothers between 44th and 45th Streets, occupying land previously owned by the Astor family. The Broadhurst and Schoenfeld were built as a pair, occupying land left over from the development of the Shubert and Booth, which were also paired.; The Broadhurst/Schoenfeld theatrical pair share an alley to the east, parallel to the larger Shubert Alley east of the Shubert/Booth pair. The Broadhurst/Schoenfeld alley was required under New York City construction codes of the time but, unlike Shubert Alley, it was closed to the public shortly after its completion. The Shuberts bought the land under all four theaters from the Astors in 1948.
Design The Schoenfeld Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and constructed in 1917 for the Shubert brothers as the Plymouth Theatre. The Broadhurst and Plymouth were two of Krapp's first theatrical designs as an independent architect. While the facades of the two theaters are similar in arrangement, the interiors have a different design both from each other and from their respective facades. The Schoenfeld is operated by the Shubert Organization.
Facade Krapp designed the Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters with relatively simple brick-and-stone facades, instead relying on the arrangement of the brickwork for decorative purposes. The Broadhurst and Schoenfeld contain curved corners at the eastern portions of their respective facades, facing Broadway, since most audience members reached the theaters from that direction. The use of simple exterior-design elements was typical of Krapp's commissions for the Shubert family, giving these theaters the impression that they were mass-produced. The Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters' designs contrasted with Henry Beaumont Herts's earlier ornate designs of the Shubert and Booth theaters. Nevertheless, the use of curved east-facing corners was common to all four theaters. The Schoenfeld's facade is divided into two sections: the auditorium to the east and a stage house to the west. The facade is generally shorter than its width.
Auditorium section
The ground floor of the auditorium contains a water table made of granite. The rest of the facade is largely made of architectural terracotta, which surrounds patches of buff brick in Flemish bond. Along the ground floor on 45th Street, there are three glass-and-bronze double doors with aluminum frames and transoms, which lead to the lobby. There are display boxes on either side of the lobby doors, and a bronze stage door is to the right (west) of these doors. A marquee extends above the doors. The northeastern corner of the facade is curved and contains an entrance to the ticket lobby. This entrance contains a double door, above which is a glass transom panel. The corner entrance is topped by a broken pediment, which is supported by console brackets on either side and contains an escutcheon at the center.
Both the curved corner and the 45th Street facade contain terracotta frames, which are flanked by terracotta pilasters with stylized capitals. Along 45th Street, the auditorium's second and third floors contain a fire escape made of cast iron and wrought iron. There are doors and windows on both levels, leading to the fire escape. In addition, the fire escape's third-floor railing contains cast-iron depictions of ribands and shields, while a sheet-metal canopy covers the fire escape. Above the center of the third floor, on 45th Street, is a terracotta cartouche containing depictions of swags. The curved corner contains a third-floor window, topped by an oval escutcheon that is decorated with swags and fleur-de-lis. A terracotta cornice and a brick parapet run above the auditorium facade. The parapet is stepped and contains a coping made of sheet metal.
Stage house
The stage house is six stories high. The 45th Street facade is made of buff brick, containing interspersed diamond patterns, and the side walls are faced with plain brick. The ground floor of the stage house contains a granite water table with two metal doors. The western door is double-height, allowing large sets to be transported into the theaters, while the eastern door contains signboard panels. The stage house has five sash windows on each of the third through sixth stories. These windows are placed within segmental arches made of brick. There is a metal fire escape in front of the stage house, which leads to the fire escape in front of the auditorium's third story. A parapet with corbels runs above the sixth story of the stage house.
Auditorium The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony, boxes, and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium's width is greater than its depth, and the space is designed with plaster decorations in relief. According to the Shubert Organization and The Broadway League, the theater has 1,079 seats, while according to Playbill, there are 1,046 seats. The physical seats are divided into 653 seats in the orchestra, 392 on the balcony, and 24 in the boxes. There are 15 standing-only spots. The orchestra is wheelchair-accessible, but the balcony can only be reached by stairs. In the basement are restrooms and drinking fountains. The Schoenfeld and the neighboring Jacobs are two of the most desired theaters among producers because of their good sightlines from the seating areas.
The Plymouth was originally decorated in a brown, blue, and gold color scheme. Like Krapp's other commissions for the Shuberts, the Schoenfeld's interior was designed with decorative elements in the Adam style. Low-relief plasterwork was used throughout the auditorium to highlight architectural features. These plasterwork decorations generally depict classical figures playing instruments.
Seating areas
The rear or eastern end of the orchestra contains a promenade. It contains four paneled piers supporting the balcony level. The promenade's ceiling is surrounded by a band of modillions and acanthus leaves. There are also rhombus-shaped panels on the promenade ceiling, which contain chandeliers suspended from medallions. Two staircases with metal railings lead from the promenade to the balcony. The orchestra level is raked, sloping down toward an orchestra pit in front of the stage. The orchestra and its promenade contain walls with plasterwork panels, as well as doorways. On the south (left) and east (rear) walls, the exit doors are placed within deep reveals and are flanked by paneled pilasters, which are topped by brackets. An entablature, a fluted frieze, and a cyma recta cornice run above these doors. The entrance doors on the north (right) wall are more simple in design. On all sides, each doorway has a pediment above the cornice; it consists of a shield with console brackets on either side.
The balcony contains a promenade at its rear, with plasterwork panels on the walls. At the rear of the balcony are four paneled piers (corresponding to those at orchestra level), which are topped by Corinthian-style capitals. These piers support a frieze that depicts sphinxes holding swags, alternating with urns. The balcony's side walls also contain plasterwork panels, above which is an Adam-style cornice. There are doorways with pediments on the side walls, similar to those on the orchestra's south and east walls. Rhombus panels, containing medallions with light fixtures, are placed on the balcony's soffit and underside. There are also air-conditioning vents on the balcony's soffit. In front of the balcony are acanthus-leaf arabesques, which are mostly hidden behind light boxes. There is a small technical gallery above the rear of the balcony. The front railing of the gallery contains moldings of swags.
On either side of the stage is a wall section with three boxes at the balcony level. The boxes step downward toward the stage; the front box curves forward into the proscenium arch, while the rear box curves backward into the balcony. At the orchestra level, there are three rectangular openings, corresponding to the locations of former boxes on that level. The front railings of the boxes contain acanthus-leaf arabesques. The underside of each box is decorated with a medallion containing a light fixture; this is surrounded by a molded band. Above the boxes on either side is an elliptical arch, which contains a curved pediment with acanthus-leaf arabesques on either side of a central medallion. Above the elliptical arch on either side is an arched lunette panel, which supports the ceiling's sounding board.
Other design features