Bernard B. Jacobs Theater (formerly the Royale Theater)
Completed 1927
Architect Herbert J Krapp
Krapp designed this Moorish by-way-of-Spain facade for Irwin Chanin side-by-side with Theater Masque, both theaters back-to-back with the Majestic. A mid-sized theater, the Royale was intended for popular dramas and small musicals. The landmarked interior is typical of the neo-Spanish style favored by Chanin and which Krapp executed so well. The vaulted ceiling includes muralists Willy Pogany's Lovers of Spain
The premiere production at the Royale, on New Year's Day 1927, was (believe it or not) a show entitled Piggy, of which we can't find anything else about. The Shuberts took control of the Royale, along with the Majestic and Masque theaters from the Chanins in 1929. During the late '30s CBS used the Royale as a radio studio; the Shuberts returned the theater to legitimate use in 1941
1928 The Royale's first hit of any note is Diamond Lil, with the incorrigible Mae West in the title role
1932 Rachel Crother's When Ladies Meet features Spring Byington and Selena Royle. Walter Abel is the man in the drama's middle
1933 Maxwell Anderson's Pulitzer Prize winning drama Both Your Houses stars Morris Carnovsky, Mary Phillips, Jerome Cowan and Sheppard Studwick
1948 Virginia Field, Sam Levene and Barry Nelson share the stage in the Moss Hart comedy Light Up the Sky
1950 Affairs of State, a Louis Verneuil comedy, stars Celeste Holm for 610 performances
1952 The New Faces of 1952 revue introduces June Carroll, Robert Clary, Virginia de Luce, Alice Ghostly, Eartha Kitt, Carol Lawrence and Paul Lynde
1954 Julie Andrews make her Broadway debut in the Sandy Wilson show The Boy Friend
1955 Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker stars Ruth Gordon and Loring Smith. Robert Morse takes his first bow on Broadway
1958 Even the best can't make a hit of the John Osborne drama The Entertainer. Laurence Olivier and Joan Plowright try, but don't make it past 97 shows
1961 Margaret Leighton wins a Tony for her performance in Tennessee William's Night of the Iguanas. She shares the stage with Patrick O'Neil and Bette Davis
1964 Frank Conroy's The Subject Was Roses runs for 832 performances and wins a Pulitzer Prize. The show stars Martin Sheen; featured actor Frank Albertson takes home a Tony
1965 Terrence McNally, who's shows are all over Broadway in the '80s and '90s, tries his hand on the Great White Way for the first time with a comedy, And Things that Go Bump in the Night. Sixteen bumps and he's out
1965 Lauren Bacall, Barry Nelson and Brenda Vaccaro star in Abe Burrow's Cactus Flower. The hit runs for 1,234 performances
1970 Robert Marasco's drama, Child's Play, stars Fritz Weaver, Ken Howard and Pat Hingle. Weaver and Howard win Tonys for their performances; Joseph Hardy wins a Tony for direction
1972 James Woods. Edward Hermann. Christopher Guest. Jill Eikenberry. Robert Prosky. Moonchildren. 12 performances
1982 Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice team up to bring Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat to 824 audiences
1985 Bernadette Peters wins a Tony for her performance in Andrew Lloyd Weber's Song and Dance. She stars opposite Christopher d'Amboise
1989 Ken Ludwig's comedy Lend Me a Tenor earns Tonys for star Phillip Bosco and director Jerry Zaks. On stage with Bosco are veteran Broadway actors Victor Garber and Tovah Feldshuh
1992 Judd Hirsch earns a Tony for his moving performance in Herb Gardner's drama Conversations with My Father. Sharing the stage with Mr. Hirsch are Tony Shalhoub, David Marguiles and Marilyn Sokol
1993 Okay, you decide. Pretend you're playwright Robert Schenkkan. Your drama The Kentucky Cycle is on Broadway starring Stacy Keach. It's in 2 parts and 6 hours long. It's only on the boards for 34 performances and loses $2 million. You win a Pulitzer Prize. Good? Bad?
1994 A getting-rarer Broadway hit drama. An Inspector Calls stars Rosemary Harris, Philip Bosco, Kenneth Cranham and Jane Adams. It has a run of 454 performances and along the way picks up a Tony as best revival and individual awards for Adams and director Stephen Daldry
1996 The David Hare drama Skylight stars Lisa Williams and Michael Gambon, making his Broadway debut
