The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, formerly the Biltmore Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 261 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1925, it was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the neo-Renaissance style and was constructed for Irwin Chanin. It has 650 seats across two levels and is operated by the Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC). The auditorium interior is a New York City landmark, and the theater is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Since 2008, the theater has been named for Broadway publicist Samuel J. Friedman (1912–1974), whose family was a major donor to MTC.
The facade is largely designed in terracotta and buff-colored brick. The ground floor, which contains the theater's entrance, is shielded by a marquee. The upper stories are divided into bays separated by fluted pilasters, and the facade is topped by an entablature and balustrade. The auditorium contains neo-Renaissance detailing, a raked orchestra level, a large balcony, and a shallow domed ceiling. The basement contains MTC's gift shop and the Susan and Peter J. Solomon Family Lounge, while a mezzanine level contains another lounge. There are also false box seats near the front of the auditorium, flanking the proscenium arch. The modern configuration of the theater dates to a 2000s renovation, when the auditorium's capacity was shrunk, allowing the addition of MTC's lounges and offices behind it.
The Biltmore Theatre was Chanin's second Broadway theater, opening on December 7, 1925, with the play Easy Come Easy Go. The Biltmore largely hosted flops during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It was leased by the Federal Theatre Project of the Works Progress Administration in 1936, before being acquired by Warner Bros. The Biltmore was a CBS radio and television studio from 1952 to 1961, when producer David Cogan turned the Biltmore back into a legitimate theater. Cogan sold the Biltmore in 1986, and it fell into disrepair after a fire in late 1987. Though the theater was sold several times afterward, including to the Nederlander Organization and Stewart F. Lane in 1993, it was not restored until MTC agreed to operate the theater in 2001. The theater reopened in 2003, and MTC took ownership of the Friedman after it was renamed in 2008.
Site The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre is on 261 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 trapezoidal land lot covers , with a frontage of on 47th Street and a depth of . The Friedman shares the block with the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, Longacre Theatre, and 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; the Hotel Edison and Lunt-Fontanne Theatre to the southeast; the Lena Horne (formerly Brooks Atkinson) Theatre and Paramount Hotel to the south; and the off-Broadway 47th Street Theatre to the west. The Friedman Theatre's site had previously contained three five-story apartment buildings.
Design The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, originally the Biltmore Theatre, was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in the neo-Renaissance style and was constructed in 1925 for the Chanin brothers. Since 2008, the theater has been named for Samuel J. Friedman (1912–1974), a press agent; his children made a large donation to the theater through the Dr. Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman Foundation. The Friedman is operated by the Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC), a nonprofit theater company. The theater's modern configuration dates to an early-2000s renovation by Polshek Partnership.
Facade
The facade is designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival style with low-relief classical ornamentation. It is made of glazed white brick with white terracotta decorations. The first story of the facade is symmetrically arranged and is faced with rusticated terracotta blocks. The center of the first story contains the main entrance to the theater, with glass-and-metal doors connecting with the box office lobby. Sign boards are placed on either side of the main entrance, and a frieze runs above the first story. A metal marquee, installed during the theater's 2000s renovation, hangs above the entrance. The marquee contains the letters "Samuel J. Friedman Theatre", which were installed when the theater was renamed in 2008. There are enclosed alleys on either side of the theater.
The facade's upper stories are divided into three vertical bays, separated by four fluted terracotta pilasters with composite-style capitals. The central bay contains four windows at the second story, while the outer stories each contain one window. All of the second-story windows are six-over-six double hung windows, placed within terracotta surrounds. Above these windows, there are rectangular brick panels at the third and fourth stories, with terracotta floral decorations at each corner. A lighted sign with the theater's name is placed in front of the central bay's panel. The outer bays are topped by short, rectangular terracotta panels, which contain cartouches with molded wreaths. Similar rectangular terracotta panels are placed above the center bay. These are surrounded by bands of stretcher brick.
The pilasters support an entablature near the top of the facade. The entablature contains a frieze with molded rosettes above each pilaster, interspersed with wave moldings above the bays. The frieze is topped by a cornice with modillions and dentils. Above the cornice, the center bay has a brick parapet while the other bays have blind balustrades. During the theater's 2000s renovation, the roof was rebuilt with a steel frame, and HVAC and electrical systems were placed on the roof slab.
Interior Auditorium
The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony, and a stage behind the proscenium arch; there are false boxes flanking the stage. In contrast to Krapp's earlier works, the auditorium is shaped like a horseshoe in plan and is oriented on a slightly diagonal axis relative to its site. The space is designed with plaster decorations in relief.; The Friedman is one of the smaller Broadway theaters. The Broadway League cites the theater as having a capacity of 650 seats, while Playbill cites 637 seats. The first two rows of the orchestra can be removed to provide as few as 600 seats for small productions. Prior to a renovation in 2001, the theater had 948 seats. The entire theater is wheelchair-accessible via an elevator at the rear of the auditorium. Because MTC did not want the auditorium's sound to be amplified, the auditorium has carpets only in the aisles, and the seats have hard backs. On average, the new seats are wide and have of legroom.
The Friedman and Rodgers were the Chanins' only two Broadway theaters that Krapp designed in the Adam style. His other four theaters for the family (the Brooks Atkinson, Majestic, John Golden, and Bernard B. Jacobs) were designed in a Spanish style. Since its renovation, the interior has been decorated in a cream and brown color scheme, with red and blue highlights.
Seating areas The rear (south) end of the orchestra contains a promenade. The orchestra is raked; the angle of the rake was increased in the 2000s by excavating the front of the orchestra and raising the rear. The rear wall was moved forward by compared to its original position, creating space for the lobby behind it. Prior to the renovation, the front doors opened directly into the orchestra, and there was no lobby. This was in part because the original seating capacity was small compared to other Broadway theaters, making the Biltmore relatively unprofitable and prompting subsequent owners to extend the orchestra seating backward. The modern orchestra is several steps up from the lobby. There is an aisle through the center of the orchestra; it had to be retained during the renovation, despite MTC's desire for center seats with unobstructed views.
The orchestra's rear and side walls are curved and are covered in paneled wainscoting.; The center of the orchestra's rear wall contains doors that connect with the lobby. Fire exit doors at either end lead to alleys. Staircases to the balcony are placed within doorways on either side of the lobby doors. The outside edges of the staircases contain plaster walls with rectangular panels, which are delineated by molded bands; the walls contain iron brackets with wooden handrails. The inside edges of the staircases have iron balustrades with wooden railings, as well as ornamented newel posts. The two staircases were rebuilt during the 2000s renovation, since they were necessary to reduce congestion.
The balcony is raked, with a large central seating area and two smaller sections on the sides. There are decorative iron railings surrounding the staircases from the orchestra to the balcony. A technical booth was installed on the rear wall, and lighting sconces were originally placed on the walls. Before its renovation, the balcony level was divided into front and rear sections by an aisle halfway across its depth. In the 2000s, the balcony was rebuilt on a corrugated steel-framed deck atop a concrete slab. The modern balcony has vomitories on either side, which lead down to a vaulted passageway. The side walls of the balcony have pairs of engaged pilasters, above which is a wide frieze containing panels with shields. In front of the balcony are medallions with golden silhouettes, as well as panels. The balcony has low-relief plasterwork panels on its underside, which originally had medallions with small overhanging chandeliers.
On either side of the proscenium is a wall section with a false box. At orchestra level, the wall sections on each side are paneled and contain doorways.; The modern walls contain paneling in front of the original cast stone; the left-hand doorway leads to the dressing room. Console brackets support the false boxes at balcony level, which contain rectangular openings with triangular Adam-style pediments above them. The box openings are surrounded by panels with motifs of musical instruments.; On either side of each box opening are fluted pilasters and columns, topped by capitals in a modified Ionic style. Above the boxes are lunettes with cameo motifs, as well as archways. The spandrels above the corners of each arch have relief panels. During the renovations, lighting booms were installed in front of the boxes, and draperies were placed behind the booms to draw attention away from the boom.
Other design features Next to the false boxes is a proscenium arch. The archway is surrounded by a rope molding, and there is a cartouche above the middle of the proscenium. The spandrels above the arch's corners contain Adam-style ornamentation. The stage extends behind the proscenium. When the theater was renovated, the stage was lowered significantly to accommodate MTC's productions, which were more intimate compared to other Broadway theatrical productions. The stage lighting was designed by Fisher Dachs Associates and was intended to be sufficient for about 90 percent of MTC's productions. The diagonal orientation of the theater complicated the installation of the new rigging, which was typically placed perpendicularly to the proscenium. Of the Friedman's 40 line sets, 39 are aligned with the proscenium and the other is aligned to the rear wall. A red house curtain and a fire curtain were also installed.