LECTURE: Behind the Bright Lights – the Great Broadway Theaters

Sponsored by the Manor Club in Pelham Manor, NY – click here for more information. Open to the general public; free for members, $5 for non-members (payable at the door).

With three-quarters of a century of history behind them, the 40 surviving Broadway theaters stand as stunning works of art in themselves, as well as monuments to the lively history of American theater. Many were built as lavish headquarters for Broadway’s great impresarios, who spared no expense in their decor. The Belasco Theater, designed for self-styled “Bishop of Broadway” David Belasco, boasts Tiffany glass, paneled wooden ceilings, and murals by the New York Ashcan School artist Everett Shinn. The Georgian facade of the Little Theater, built for aristocratic New England producer Winthrop Ames, suggests a Colonial New England manor house, into the intimate drawing room of which Ames cordially invited his audience. Other great Broadway houses include the recreation of the Petit Trianon in Versailles built for producer John Cort, the pseudo-Florentine palace built for the Theater Guild, and the delicately sculpted Music Box built by Irving Berlin for his Music Box Revues.