Broadhurst Theater

Completed 1918

Architect Herbert J Krapp

Built back-to-back, the Broadhurst and its companion the Plymouth were meant to evoke the style of the neighboring Henry B Herts designed Shubert and Booth theaters using less expensive patterned brick and terra cotta materials on the facades. This is a typical Krapp-designed theater: minimal ornamentation, single balcony, wide space and excellent sightlines are signatures of Krapp's work during this period. It was built by the Shuberts in partnership with impresario George Broadhurst to be a showplace for the British-born playwright's work. Broadhurst was an experienced theater manager, with interests in other theaters in Milwaukee, Baltimore and San Francisco. Broadhurst had a string of successes on Broadway starting in 1907, but his creative flame dimmed and his last show was produced in 1924

Broadhurst's first production at his new theater, on September 27, 1917, was a drama entitled Misalliance. Ever since, the theater has remained a legitimate Broadway venue

1918 Ladies First isn't a Gershwin musical, but George and Ira's 'The Real American Folk Song' is included. It's the first time one of their co-written tunes has been heard on the Great White Way.

1924 Beggar on Horseback, a George S Kaufman-Marc Connelly collaboration, stars Roland Young

1925 George Abbott and Philip Dunning authored Broadway, which runs for 603 performances

1928 The Ray Henderson-Buddy De Sylva-Lew Brown musical Hold Everything includes 'You're the Cream in My Coffee.' The cast includes Ona Munson, Betty Compton, Jack Whiting and Bert Lahr

1929 Leslie Howard produced and stars in Philip Barry's Animal Kingdom. It features Ilka Chase and Frances Fuller

1933 Sidney Kingsley's Men in White wins the Pulitzer Prize. Winning over audiences are Margaret Baker, Phoebe Brand, Luther Adler and Morris Carnovsky

1935 What a fine cast! Robert E Sherwood's classic, The Petrified Forest, features producer Leslie Howard, Humphrey Bogart and Peggy Conklin on stage

1935 Helen Hayes and Vincent Price make a 517-performance run in Lawrence Houseman's Victoria Regina

1939 Let's have a little fun with Abbott & Costello and Carmen Miranda in The Streets of Paris

1942 One great play, two great actors. Thomas Job's Uncle Harry takes to the boards 430 times with Joseph Schildkraut and Eva Le Gallienne in the lead

1944 Agatha Christie makes the leap to Broadway with Ten Little Indians

1946 Anita Loos' Happy Birthday is a smash comedy hit. At the first Tony presentations, star Helen Hayes is recognized for outstanding actress in a play

1949 Jean and Walter Kerr wrote the book for Touch and Go. Peggy Cass and Louis Nye star

1951 We've got to include a flop when we like the title. And we like saying Flahooley. Yip Harburg went on to write some great music. Barbara Cook and Yma Sumac became stars. The show Fla-opped with audiences

1954 Jerome Chodorov and Joseph Fields have another hit. This time McDonald Carey and Kitty Carlisle star in Anniversary Waltz

1956 Rosalind Russell defines the role of a loving aunt in the Jerome Lawrence-Robert E Lee comedy Auntie Mame. Peggy Cass takes home a Tony for featured actress in a play

1958 France Nuyen and William Shatner are in Paul Osborn's The World of Suzie Wong

1959 This is going to take some time: George Abbott and Jerome Weidman write the book. Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick write the score. Abbott directs. Peter Gennaro choreographs. Hal Prince produces. Howard Da Silva, Patricia Wilson, Nathaniel Fry and Ellen Hanley perform. Tom Bosley debuts. Abbott wins a Tony. Bosley wins a Tony. The show wins a Tony and the Pulitzer. The show is Fiorello!

1963 110 in the Shade makes a 330-performance run with Robert Horton, Stephen Douglas, Will Geer, Leslie Ann Warren and Gretchen in the cast. Inga Swenson makes her Broadway debut

1966 If you want to see a hit, just come to the Cabaret, with Jill Haworth, Joel Grey, Jack Gilford, Lotte Lenya, Peg Murray and Bert Convy. John Kander and Fred Ebb win Tonys for the score, Harold Prince for direction, Ronald Field for choreography. Grey and Murray take home Tonys for featured actor and actress. Cabaret plays 1,165 times.

1967 Playwright Eugene O'Neill did not think More Stately Mansions should be performed. He was right, but with a cast that includes Arthur Hill, Ingrid Bergman and Colleen Dewhurst, it deserves a mention

1969 Woody Allen, Tony Roberts and Diane Keaton. Sounds like a big-screen formula we all know, but this time it's Allen's Play It Again Sam, on the boards for 453 shows

1972 Alan Arkin directs Jack Albertson and Sam Levene in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys

1976 Ooh! Ooh! It's Kate Hepburn in Enid Bagnold's drama A Matter of Gravity. Christopher Reeves plays opposite

1976 Larry Gelbart's drama Sly Fox is directed by Arthur Penn. In the cast are George C Scott, Trish van Devere, Jack Gilford, Gretchen Wyler and Hector Elizondo

1978 Ann Reinking and Wayne Cilento star in director and choreographer Bob Fosse's Dancin'. It's 1,774 performances good

1980 Peter Shaffer's Amadeus settles in for a 1,181 performance run. Ian McKellen, Tim Curry and Jane Seymour star. It's Tonys for best play, McKellen's performance and Peter Hall's direction

1983 Hinton Battle gives a Tony-winning performance in The Tap Dance Kid. Alfonso Ribeiro is the kid

1984 Remarkable. Remarkable. Remarkable. Dustin Hoffman is Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Hoffman and Miller, with Robert Whitehead, co-produced this revival. John Malkevich and Kate Reid give strong cast support

1986 Linda Lavin and John Randolph win Tonys for their performances in Neil Simon's comedy Broadway Bound. Jason Alexander and Phyllis Newman ain't bad either

1988 It's Neil Simon again, this time with Rumors. Ron Liebman, Joyce Van Patten, Jessica Walter and Ken Howard are on the boards. Also Andre Gregory and Lisa Banes. Oh yeah! Christine Baranski wins a featured actress Tony

1990 The Broadhurst would have been dark again within a week of Aspects of Love opening, but because it was an Andrew Lloyd Webber show, people bought it way in advance. It lasted for 377 tortured performances

1993 A Terrence McNally-John Kander-Fred Ebb Tony-winning musical, The Kiss of the Spider Woman also produces Tony-winning performances by Chita Rivera, Brent Carver and Anthony Crivello

1995 Say it slowly: Shakespeare, The Tempest; Patrick Stewart, Prospero. Sounds right

1996 Sarah Jessica Parker stars in this revival of the Jay Thompson-Marshal Barer-Dean Fuller-Mary Rodgers musical Once Upon a Mattress

1999 Fosse the dance revue featuring retrospective of dance numbers created by Bob Fosse, includes selections from Cabaret, Chicago, Sweet Charity, All That Jazz, Pippin, Dancin' and Big Deal