John Golden Theater

Completed 1927

Architect Herbert J Krapp

Krapp designed this Moorish by-way-of-Spain facade for Irwin Chanin side-by-side with the Royale, both theaters back-to-back with the Majestic. The smallest of the trio, Theater Masque was intended for the intimate dramas that started becoming popular at the turn of the century. The landmarked interior is in the neo-Spanish style favored by Chanin

The first show presented at Theater Masque was Puppets of Passion, on February 24, 1927. Management passed to John Golden in 1937, when he renamed the theater for himself. This was the third Broadway theater named "Golden." The impresario failed in his first attempt, citing to his friend Martin Beck that "a theater is only as good as the attraction that can be secured for its use." He didn't credit the fact that his theater was located on 58th Street, far uptown from the hub of Broadway. After the 58th Street theater passed out of his control Golden operated the Royale theater in his name, just prior to taking over the lease on Theater Masque

The Golden was operated as a movie house from the '40s and to the early '50s. It has since been operated as a legitimate Broadway venue, though not as active as other theaters; its small size is suited to more intimate, dramatic plays, rather than the spectacles that have become increasingly popular in recent years

1932 December 4 to be exact. Henry Hull, Margaret Wycherly, Dean Jagger, Ruth Hunter and Sam Byrd open in Tobacco Road. The show goes on to play 3,182 performances, but not at this theater. It immediately transfers to a larger house and is replaced by Osgood Perkins and Sally Bates in the Allan Scott-George Haight comedy Goodbye Again, which has a run of 2,970 less performances

1938 Cedric Hardwicke plays opposite Julie Haydon in Paul Vincent Carroll's drama Shadow and Substance

1941 Patrick Hamilton's Angel Street stars Vincent Price, Judith Evelyn and Leo G Carroll for 1,293 performances

1953 Victor Borge makes people laugh in his long-running one-man show Comedy in Music

1956 Audiences don't understand what they're waiting for in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. E G Marshall and Bert Lahr share the stage

1960 Arthur Penn directs Mike Nichols and Elaine May in the aptly named hit An Evening with Mike Nichols and Elaine May

1962 The British are coming! The British are coming! And this time they conquer. Those wacky guys Dudley Moore, Peter Cook, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett give Broadway a taste of what's under those straight British laces in Beyond the Fringe

1972 David Rabe's Tony-winning drama Sticks and Bones features Elizabeth Wilson, who's performance is also Tony-honored

1975 We've got to include the 16 performance flop PS You're Cat Is Dead when the cast is headed by such established Broadway names as Keir Dullea, Tony Musante and Jennifer Warren

1977 Mike Nichols directs D L Coburn's Pulitzer Prize winner The Gin Game. Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy star. Tandy earns a Tony

1980 One of the small musical shows that have made the Golden home, A Day in Hollywood and a Night in the Ukraine enjoys 588 performances. Tommy Tune and Thommie Walsh are recognized by Tony for their choreography, as is featured musical actress Priscilla Lopez

1981 Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart starts its Broadway run with Mary Beth Hurt heading a cast that includes Lizabeth McKay, Julie Nesbitt, Steven Burleigh and Peter MacNicol

1983 Kathy Bates contemplates suicide and becomes a star in 'night Mother. New York audiences are mesmerized by her and Anne Pitoniak's performances. Marsha Norman's gripping drama wins a Pulitzer Prize

1984 David Mamet. Joe Montegna. Robert Prosky. Glengarry Glen Ross. Pulitzer Prize

1992 The James Lapine-William Finn musical Falsettos dances its way to Tonys for Lapine and Finn. Heading the cast are Michael Rupert and Stephen Bogardus

1995 Terrence McNally's 2-character drama Master Class stars Zoe Caldwell and Audra McDonald. McDonald earns her 2nd Tony, McNally his 3rd and Caldwell her 4th

1998 Warren Leight's drama Side Man wins the Tony as best play. Frank Wood takes home hardware for his best featured actor performance