Ambassador Theater

Completed 1922

Architect Herbert J Krapp

A Shubert-built theater, the facade of the Ambassador is not much to look at, except for the unusual angled entrance. Krapp made a specialty of making theaters fit where they shouldn't. The entrance is part of his solution for this theater, siting the theater diagonally on the property to have room for a standard-sized auditorium. As in much of his theater work, Krapp saved money on the outside to pour plaster, gild and paint into the now-landmarked interior. Plush yet elegant, the Adamesque work evokes a feeling of grandeur as fleeting as a stage set

The Ambassador's premier production was the Anselm Goetzel-William Carey musical The Rose Girl, on February 11, 1921. Through the depression and years following, the theater was used as a movie house, radio and television studios, as well as for some legitimate productions. It was repurchased by the Shubert Organization in 1956 and returned to strictly legitimate use. It was designated a New York City landmark in August 1985

1921 Blossom Time, a Dorothy Donnelly-Sigmund Romberg musical starts a run of 592 performances

1927 Edward G Robinson stars in Bartlett Cormack's The Racket

1939 Danny Kaye, Alfred Drake and Imogene Coca in breakout performances in Strawhat Revue of 1939

1957 Compulsion, Meyer Levin's and Robert Thom's psychological drama stars Dean Stockwell, Roddy McDowell, Howard Da Silva Barbara Loden, and Ida Balin

1966 Rosemary Harris wins a Tony for her performance opposite Robert Preston in James Goldman's The Lion in Winter

1967 You Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running starts a 94 -week run

1968 Jason Robards Jr, Diana Sands and Ron Liebman play in We Bombed in New Haven

1974 Linda Hopkins and Will Holtz wrote Me and Bessie, in which Hopkins stars. It's runs for a surprising 453 performances

1978 Eubie, the revue starring Gregory Hines's performance and Eubie Blake's music is a hit

1980 John Lithgow and Christine Lahti and Division Street can't make it past 21 performances

1996 Bring in 'Da Noise Bring in 'Da Funk starts its Broadway run. It wins Tonys for director George C Wolfe and choreographer Savion Glover

1999 After a 6-month run at the Vivian Beaumont Theater It Ain't Nothing But the Blues starts performances at the Ambassador September 9th