Ethel Barrymore Theatre facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Ethel Barrymore Theatre

Address	243 West 47th Street Manhattan, New York City United States
Coordinates	40°45′36″N 73°59′10″W / 40.76000°N 73.98611°W / 40.76000; -73.98611
Owner	The Shubert Organization
Designation	Broadway
Capacity	1,058
Production	Patriots
Construction
Opened	December 20, 1928
Years active	1928–present
Architect	Herbert J. Krapp
New York City Landmark
Designated	November 4, 1987
Reference no.	1313
Designated entity	Facade
New York City Landmark
Designated	November 10, 1987
Reference no.	1314
Designated entity	Auditorium interior

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a famous Broadway playhouse. It is located at 241 West 47th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. This theater opened in 1928. It was designed by Herbert J. Krapp for the Shubert family. The building mixes Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam styles.

The theater is named after the famous actress Ethel Barrymore. It has 1,058 seats and is run by the Shubert Organization. Both the outside (facade) and the inside (auditorium) are protected as New York City landmarks. The outside has special terracotta blocks. The main entrance has two large archways and a smaller door under a big sign called a marquee. Inside, you'll find beautiful plaster designs, a sloped seating area, a large balcony, and a domed ceiling. The theater has been used for plays and musicals since it opened. It is one of the few Broadway theaters that has never been sold or renamed.

Discover the Ethel Barrymore Theatre's Location

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is at 243 West 47th Street. It sits on the north side of the street. This is between Eighth Avenue and Broadway. It is very close to Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The theater's plot of land is about 10,050 square feet. It is 100 feet wide on 47th Street and 100 feet deep.

The Barrymore Theatre shares its block with other theaters. These include the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre to the west. The Longacre Theatre is to the north. The Morgan Stanley Building is to the east. Many other famous buildings are also nearby.

Theater Design and Features

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp. It was built in 1928 for the Shubert brothers. The theater is named after the well-known actress Ethel Barrymore (1879–1959). She was a famous member of the Barrymore family of actors. The theater is managed by the Shubert Organization. The Barrymore has always been used for live plays. It is special because it has never been sold or renamed. It was also the last theater built by the Shubert Organization until 2003.

The Theater's Outside Look (Facade)

A close-up of the main entrance

One of the arched entrances

A detailed look at a decorative wreath

The front of the theater is very balanced. The ground floor is covered in special terracotta blocks. These blocks are painted to look like limestone. The main entrance has two large arched openings. Each arch has four aluminum and glass doors. Above these doors is a big sign called a marquee. It has the name "Barrymore" on it. This marquee is held up by fancy bronze brackets.

On both sides of the doors, there are special areas with bronze sign boards. Above these boards are terracotta wreaths. These wreaths surround round panels with the gold letters "The Barrymore Theater." The upper parts of the building are made of white brick. The middle section has a terracotta screen with a design inspired by Ancient Roman styles. A metal sign with "Barrymore" hangs on the left. The top of the facade curves upwards. A decorative border runs along the very top of the building.

Details of the upper part of the theater

Inside the Auditorium

The auditorium is where the audience sits. It has a main floor (orchestra level), one balcony, and special box seats. The stage is behind a large archway. The inside is decorated with beautiful plaster designs. The auditorium is almost square in shape. The Shubert Organization says it has 1,058 seats. Other sources give slightly different numbers. The seats are divided into different sections. There are 582 seats on the orchestra level. The front of the balcony has 196 seats. The rear balcony has 256 seats, and there are 24 seats in the boxes.

The seats were designed to be very comfortable. The theater's original colors were old-gold and brown. The interior design mixes Elizabethan, Mediterranean, and Adam-style looks.

Seating Areas for the Audience

At the back of the orchestra level, there is a walkway. Two staircases lead from this walkway up to the balcony. They have cool wrought iron railings. The orchestra floor slopes down towards the stage. The side walls have wood panels. There are also lights on the walls.

The balcony hangs over the orchestra level. It is split into front and back sections by an aisle. This aisle connects to exit doors on the side walls. The front of the balcony has detailed patterns. Underneath the balcony, there are plaster panels with crystal light fixtures.

On each side of the stage, there are three special box seats. These boxes are raised about 9 feet from the orchestra floor. The box fronts are decorated with three Elizabethan-style plaster bands. These bands show shields, rosettes, and other patterns. Behind the boxes are gold-colored columns. Above these columns is a decorative archway. This archway has a sunburst pattern.

Other Cool Design Features

Next to the box seats is a large arch around the stage. This arch is decorated with wide bands of patterns. The arch is about 24 feet high and 39 feet wide. The stage itself is about 28 feet deep and 81 feet wide. It has special traps and a system to move scenery.

The ceiling rises 49 feet from the orchestra floor. In the middle of the ceiling is a dome. This dome is 36 feet wide. A glass chandelier hangs from the center of the dome. The rest of the dome is divided into sections. These sections have patterns that look like latticework.

Other Inside Spaces

The theater also has a lounge area in the basement. This lounge is about 25 by 50 feet. It used to have separate areas for women and men. The lounge ceiling was decorated with ivory-colored patterns. It had old Elizabethan furniture and special carpets. When the theater first opened, a bronze statue of Ethel Barrymore was displayed there. The basement also had a large dressing room for the chorus.

Ethel Barrymore had her own modern reception and dressing room on the first floor. The second floor had a chorus room and a smaller dressing room. The theater also had three more floors, each with four dressing rooms.

History of the Ethel Barrymore Theatre

The Times Square area became very important for big theater shows between 1900 and the Great Depression. During this time, many theaters were built by the Shubert brothers. They were a major group in the theater world. The Shuberts started in Syracuse, New York. They grew their business into New York City in the early 1900s. By 1925, they controlled a lot of the plays and ticket sales in the U.S. They kept building Broadway theaters in the 1920s.

Building and Early Years

The theater seen from the east

In 1927, the Shubert brothers offered to build a Broadway theater. They would name it after Ethel Barrymore if she agreed to work with them. Barrymore said yes. The Shuberts hired Herbert Krapp to design the theater. Construction began in the spring of 1928. Ethel Barrymore was 48 years old and a very famous actress at the time.

The Barrymore Theatre officially opened on December 20, 1928. The first play was The Kingdom of God. Many important people from New York City attended the opening. Ethel Barrymore received many cheers from the audience. She even gave a speech to thank the Shuberts. The theater received so many gifts related to Ethel Barrymore that the Shuberts thought about creating a library for them.

Ethel Barrymore performed at her theater again in 1929. She starred in The Love Duel. Other plays followed that did not feature Ethel Barrymore. These included Bird in Hand and Death Takes a Holiday. Death Takes a Holiday ran for a good number of performances.

Plays and Musicals Through the Years

In the 1930s, the theater showed comedies like Topaze. Ethel Barrymore appeared in Scarlet Sister Mary in 1930. Her daughter, Ethel Barrymore Colt, made her Broadway debut in that show. The Truth Game was more successful. In 1931, Ethel Barrymore starred in The School for Scandal. Her son, John Drew Colt, also appeared in that play.

The upper part of the theater's facade

In 1932, Ethel Barrymore stopped working with the Shuberts. They then removed her first name from the marquee. Later that year, Fred Astaire starred in the musical Gay Divorce. This was his first time performing without his sister, Adele Astaire.

The theater hosted many plays in the 1930s. These included Design for Living with famous actors Alfred Lunt, Lynn Fontanne, and Noël Coward. In 1936, The Women opened with an all-female cast. It was a big hit, running for 657 performances.

In 1938, the musical Knickerbocker Holiday was presented. The next year, No Time for Comedy starred Katharine Cornell and Laurence Olivier. In 1940, Ethel Barrymore made her last appearance at her theater in An International Incident. The musical Pal Joey opened later that year. It featured Gene Kelly and ran for 270 performances. Another hit was Best Foot Forward in 1941. In 1943, the war drama Tomorrow the World was a success.

In the mid-1940s, many older plays were brought back. These included Pygmalion in 1945. In 1947, Gian Carlo Menotti presented two musical plays: The Telephone and The Medium. Later that year, Tennessee Williams's famous play A Streetcar Named Desire opened. It starred Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy. This play ran for 855 performances.

From the 1950s to the 1970s

Look Homeward, Angel being performed in 1958

In 1950, the opera The Consul was performed. Later that year, Bell, Book and Candle starred Rex Harrison and Lilli Palmer. Another hit in 1951 was The Fourposter with Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn. In 1953, Tea and Sympathy ran for 712 performances. In 1956, New Faces of 1956 featured Maggie Smith in her first Broadway role. Look Homeward, Angel premiered in 1957.

A Raisin in the Sun opened in March 1959. It ran for seven months. When Ethel Barrymore passed away in June 1959, the theater's lights were dimmed in her honor. Other plays in the early 1960s included Critic's Choice with Henry Fonda. In 1966, Wait Until Dark was a hit. In 1969, a popular revival of The Front Page was staged.

The 1970s saw many award-winning shows. In 1971, Melvin Van Peebles's musical Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death was performed. In 1974, Noël Coward in Two Keys starred Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn. American Buffalo opened in 1977. The play Romantic Comedy with Mia Farrow and Anthony Perkins was a hit in 1979. During this time, the Barrymore Theatre started offering electronic headsets for visitors who had trouble hearing.

The 1980s and 1990s

The stage door

The Barrymore continued to host popular shows in the early 1980s. These included The West Side Waltz with Katharine Hepburn in 1981. Hume Cronyn returned in 1982 with his own play, Foxfire. The musical Baby ran for 241 performances in 1983. In 1984, Hurlyburly was a success. Social Security ran for 385 performances through 1987. The musical Joe Turner's Come and Gone opened in 1988. In the late 1980s, the Shuberts renovated the Barrymore.

The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission decided to protect the Barrymore as a landmark. The theater's outside was named a landmark in November 1987. The inside was named a landmark a few days later. This was part of a bigger effort to protect Broadway theaters. The Shuberts and other theater owners tried to stop these designations. However, the landmark status was upheld in 1992.

In 1990, Lettice and Lovage opened with Maggie Smith. In 1992, a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire starred Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange. The Sisters Rosensweig moved to the Barrymore in 1993. It had 556 Broadway performances. In 1996, a revival of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband ran for 306 performances. The musical The Life transferred to the Barrymore in 1997. In 1999, the musical Putting It Together was performed.

From the 2000s to Today

A sign board next to the theater

In 2000, The Real Thing and The Tale of the Allergist's Wife were performed. The Tale of the Allergist's Wife ran for 777 performances. In 2003, the Shuberts agreed to make their theaters more accessible for people with disabilities. The Barrymore Theatre was renovated for $9 million in 2004. A revival of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie was staged in 2005. In 2006, a revival of Stephen Sondheim's Company ran for 247 performances. The theater's outside was renovated again in 2008.

The Barrymore hosted three plays by David Mamet in the late 2000s. These included November and Speed-the-Plow in 2008. Race was performed in 2009. In 2011, Arcadia was staged. The theater hosted Death of a Salesman and Chaplin in 2012. In 2014, a revival of A Raisin in the Sun was performed.

The play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time opened in late 2014. It ran for almost two years. In 2017, the Barrymore hosted The Present and Six Degrees of Separation. Later in 2017, the musical The Band's Visit opened. It ran until early 2019.

The play The Inheritance opened in November 2019. The theater closed on March 12, 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on September 4, 2021, with a limited run of Waitress. The musical Paradise Square ran in 2022. The play The Piano Lesson opened in October 2022. In April 2023, Peter Pan Goes Wrong was performed. The magic show El Mago Pop had a limited run in August 2023. The musical Harmony opened in October 2023. The play Patriots opened in April 2024.

Famous Shows at the Barrymore

Here are some of the notable productions that have been performed at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, listed by the year they first opened.

1920s to 1990s

2000s to Present

Box Office Success

Waitress once held the record for ticket sales at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. It earned $197,878 from tickets on September 3, 2021. This broke the old record set by the play Betrayal. However, in August 2023, the magic show El Mago Pop broke this record. It made $2.717 million in just one week!

See also

• List of New York City Designated Landmarks in Manhattan from 14th to 59th Streets
• List of Broadway theaters