Playbill’s Inside the Theatre captures the dazzling architecture and unseen details of the world’s most famous theatres, taking you inside all 41 of Broadway's currently-operating houses.
The Longacre opened in 1913, designed by Henry Herts for producer H. H. Frazee. The theatre takes its name from Longacre Square, the area since renamed Times Square in honor of its former tenant The New York Times. The Longacre survived a dark period during the Depression and a stint as a television studio in the 1950s, and it remains active today following a full renovation in 2007.
Flip through photos of the theatre below:
Longacre Theatre
Longacre Theatre box office
Designed by architect Henry Hearts, the theatre was created to specialized in the staging of musical comedies while still feeling intimate to the audience despite its 1,400 seating capacity, now reduced to 1,095.
Even though it was created to specialize in musical comedies, it opened with a farce called Are You a Crook, starring Marguerite Clark. The show would only run a dozen performances – Frazee fared much better with musical shows.
Longacre Theatre auditorium
In 1944, the theatre was leased as a radio and television studio. It would be a reopen as a legitimate theatre 9 years later in 1953 with a production of The Ladies of the Corridor, by Dorothy Parker and Arnaud d’Usseau.
The stage has also seen performances from iconic actors including Matthew Broderick, Ellen Burstyn, Al Pacino, and more.
Longacre Theatre auditorium
Longacre Theatre auditorium
Longacre Theatre auditorium
Longacre Theatre auditorium
Longacre Theatre auditorium
Longacre Theatre auditorium
Longacre Theatre lounge
The Longacre Theatre is currently home to a The Bronx Tale.
