Al Hirschfeld Theater

Completed 1924

Architect C Albert Lansburgh

Though literally steps from the Royale, Plymouth and Booth theaters, West Coast impresario Martin Beck could understandably have thought of the west of 8th Avenue location as a liability; New Yorkers are notorious for not crossing the street. To attract audiences Beck set out to construct the most opulent theater in the area. Soaring heights, a curving balcony, fluted columns and Albert Herter-designed Moorish-inspired Byzantine plaster details with lavish paint and gilt work define this landmarked interior

The premier show at the Martin Beck was a production of Madame Pompadour. The theater has continually operated as a legitimate Broadway venue

1926 Florence Reed stars in the drama The Shanghai Gesture

1929 Do they really come to see Eugene O'Neill's drama Dynamo? It only survives for 66 performances. It might just be star Claudette Colbert's legs they want after all

1931 Some shows we list just because of the names. This one is power-packed: Lee Strasberg and Cheryl Crawford direct Paul Green's The House of Connelly. Sharing the stage are Franchot Tone, Stella Adler, Morris Carnovsky and Clifford Odets

1934 William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Katharine Cornell. Basil Rathbone. More? George Macready. Still more? Brian Aherne. Just one more? Orson Welles

1935 Burgess Meredith heads the cast in Maxwell Anderson's drama Winterset. Also on stage are Margo, Richard Bennett and Eduardo Cianneli

1937 Burgess Meredith and Maxwell Anderson again, this time with Anderson's High Tor. Peggy Aschcroft makes her Broadway debut and Hume Cronyn supports

1940 High drama in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine, with Paul Lukas, Mady Christians, Lucille Watso, George Colouris and Ann Blythe

1942 Savor it: Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in S N Behrman's comedy The Pirate

1946 There are two reasons for this entry. First, Eugene O'Neill and his 4 1/2 hour drama The Iceman Cometh, which is revived on Broadway and off for the next half century and more. The second is Dudley Digges, whom we haven't done justice to in these pages. After a 40-year career on Broadway, mostly in solid supporting roles, this is his last show

1948 Robert Morley and Peggy Ashcroft star in the Morley-Noel Langley drama Edward My Son

1950 Joshua Logan wrote directed and co-produced The Wisteria Tree. It stars Helen Hayes, Peggy Conklin, Walter Abel and Ossie Davis

1951 Tony-winning The Rose Tattoo features Tennessee William's words and Tony-winning performances by Maureen Stapleton and Eli Wallach

1952 Robert Whitehead directs Helen Hayes, Brandon De Wilde, Irwin Corey, Fred Gwynne and Ernest Borgnine in Mary Chase's comedy Mrs. McThing

1953 It might look like we're listing two Tony winners for one year, but keep in mind that the Tony season goes from June through the following May, so…Arthur Miller's The Crucible, opens Jan 22nd, stars Arthur Kennedy, Madeleine Sherwood, Walter Hampden, Beatrice Straight, E G Marshall and Fred Stewart. Besides outstanding play, Straight earns a Tony as featured dramatic actress for the 1952 season

1953 John Patrick's Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning comedy Teahouse of the August Moon, opens Oct 15th. It stars David Wayne, John Forsythe and Paul Ford. Individually, Wayne earns a Tony as best actor

1956 It's the names that make us do it. Charles Laughton directs himself and Burgess Meredith and Cornelia Otis Skinner and Glynnis Johns and Eli Wallach in George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara

1956 Sometimes it doesn't go so well the first time out. Lillian Hellman's book, Leonard Bernstein's music, Richard Wilber's Lyrics. Throw in Tyrone Guthrie's direction and Barbara Cook's stage presence…and Candide flops

1959 Tennessee Williams's Sweet Bird of Youth, as directed by Elia Kazan, features Geraldine Page, Paul Newman, Sidney Blackmer, Rip Torn, Diana Hyland and Bruce Dern

1960 Ya' gotta' put on a happy face, you're going to see Dick van Dyke and Chita Rivera in Bye Bye Birdie. The Michael Stewart-Charles Strouse-Lee Adams musical also features Paul Lynde, Kaye Medford, Lee Gautier and Charles Nelson Reilly. The show wins a Tony for best musical, van Dyke as musical actor, and Gower Champion scores as director and Choreographer

1961 Molly Picon comes uptown from the Lower East Side to appear with Robert Weede and Mimi Benzel in Jerry Herman's first Broadway show Milk and Honey

1965 Glenda Jackson, Ian Richardson and Patrick Magee star in Peter Weiss' The Persecution and Prosecution of Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade. The show takes the Tony for best play, Magee for featured actor and Peter Brook for direction

1966 Edward Albee's Pulitzer Prize winner A Delicate Balance stars Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Rosemary Murphy and Tony's featured actress Marian Seldes

1977 Frank Langella is on the boards in Dracula for 925 performances

1984 This Terrence McNally-John Kander-Fred Ebb show is supposed to be America's answer to the invasion of the British musical. The Rink stars Liza Minelli and Chita Rivera. It closes after 179 times around, though Rivera earns a best musical actress Tony

1987 Into the Woods is part of the answer. James Lapine and Stephen Sondheim team for this musical that stars Bernadette Peters and Joanna Gleason. Tonys go to Lapine, Sondheim and Gleason

1989 The straight play opened in 1930 and did pretty well. This Robert Wright-George Forrest-Maury Yeaston Grand Hotel: The Musical is a smash. Directed and choreographed by Tommy Tune, the shows stars David Carroll, Liliane Montevecchi and Michael Jeter. Jeter and Tune earn Tonys

1992 Nathan Lane and Faith Prince star in this Tony-winning revival of Guys and Dolls that runs for 1,144 performances. Prince and director Jerry Zaks win Tonys

1995 Ahhh! this is nice. Carol Burnett and Philip Bosco delight audiences in Ken Ludwig's comedy Moon Over Buffalo

1999 A revival of Kiss Me Kate starring Brian Stokes Mitchell, Marin Mazzie, Michael Berresse and Amy Spanger opens Nov 18th