Stephen Sondheim Theatre facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Stephen Sondheim Theatre

(2011)
Address	124 West 43rd Street Manhattan, New York City United States
Coordinates	40°45′21″N 73°59′06″W / 40.755869°N 73.985°W / 40.755869; -73.985
Public transit	Subway: Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal or 42nd Street–Bryant Park/Fifth Avenue
Operator	Roundabout Theatre Company
Designation	Broadway theatre
Capacity	1,055
Production	& Juliet
Construction
Opened	1918
Rebuilt	2004-2009
Years active	1918-1968; 2001-2004; 2009-2010 (Henry Miller's Theatre) 1998 (as Kit Kat Club) 2010-present (Stephen Sondheim Theatre)
New York City Landmark
Designated	July 14, 1987
Reference no.	1357
Designated entity	Facade

The Stephen Sondheim Theatre is a famous Broadway theater in New York City. You can find it at 124 West 43rd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It used to be called the Henry Miller's Theatre.

This theater is owned by the Durst Organization and managed by the Roundabout Theatre Company. The modern theater, which has 1,055 seats, opened in 2009. It's special because most of it is actually underground! It was designed by Cookfox, who also designed the tall Bank of America Tower that sits above it. The theater kept the beautiful front part (facade) of the original Henry Miller's Theatre, which was built way back in 1918 by an actor and producer named Henry Miller.

The first Henry Miller's Theatre had 950 seats and was designed in a classic style. Its front is so important that it's protected as a city landmark. After Henry Miller passed away in 1926, his son Gilbert took over. The theater was sold in 1966 and then again in 1968. After 1969, it stopped showing plays for a while. From 1978 to 1984, it was a popular discotheque called Xenon, and then other nightclubs in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1998, Henry Miller's Theatre reopened for Broadway shows with a musical called Cabaret. For this show, it was even called the Kit Kat Klub, like the club in the musical! After Cabaret moved, the theater was a nightclub again for a short time. Then, the musical Urinetown played there from 2001 to 2004. After that, the inside of the theater was taken down to build the new, modern one. The new theater opened in 2009, still called Henry Miller's Theatre. But in 2010, on his 80th birthday, it was renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theatre to honor the famous American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

What Does the Theater Look Like?

The Stephen Sondheim Theatre is located at the bottom of the Bank of America Tower. The original theater was designed in a style that looked like old English buildings. The theater is named after Henry Miller, who built it, and since 2010, it's named after Stephen Sondheim. While the front of the building is from 1918, the inside parts like the seating area were rebuilt in 2009.

The Outside Look (Facade)

The front of the theater is made of red brick and white marble. Henry Miller wanted it to look like the perfect "American theater." But the design actually took a lot of ideas from English theaters. Even the decorations were meant to remind people of where American plays first came from.

Unlike many theaters of its time, Henry Miller's Theatre had windows on its front. These windows used to let light into offices. Today, this old front part still exists, but it only serves as the entrance to the new theater, which is mostly underground. This old facade sticks out from the glass wall of the Bank of America Tower.

The main entrance in 1918.

The bottom part of the theater's front has a granite base. Above that is the brick facade. There are five rectangular doorways in the middle. Each doorway has two metal doors set back a bit. Above these doors are stone tops with special urn symbols and flower shapes. When the theater was first built, the three middle doorways led to the ticket area. The far left door went to the balcony, and the far right door went to the gallery (the highest seating area).

There is a large sign, called a marquee, above the three middle doorways. Since September 2010, this marquee proudly shows the words "Stephen Sondheim."

Henry Miller's Theatre was the first Broadway theater built under a new rule from 1916. This rule changed how theaters were designed. Older theaters had open alleys on the sides, but Henry Miller's Theatre hid its alleys behind the ends of its facade. So, the five middle doorways are flanked by two arched gateways with iron gates. These gateways have special stone decorations and iron lanterns on each side.

A closer look at the side parts of the facade.

The rest of the facade is made of red brick. It has two end sections and five vertical sections in the middle. Each section is marked by brick columns with decorated tops. The five middle sections have rectangular windows on the second floor. These windows have stone tops and brick arches, plus iron balconies that curve outwards. On the third floor, there are three arched windows in the center. The end sections have arched brick spaces on the second floor and round decorations on the third floor. Above all this is a decorated band with the name "Henry Miller's Theatre" carved into it. A low wall runs along the top of the facade. Above the theater's front, there's a large billboard attached to the Bank of America Tower.

Inside the Theater

The Original Look

Original theater as seen in 1918

Lounge

Foyer

The inside of the original theater looked like old English rooms. The ticket lobby was a round space with cream-colored walls and special lighting. It had a black and white marble floor. Three doors from the lobby led to a shallow hallway behind the main seating area. Stairs at each end of this hallway went down to the lounge, and another stair went up to the balcony. The lounge had green walls and silk decorations.

The original seating area had 950 seats. It was shaped like a half-circle and felt very "intimate," meaning cozy and close to the stage. The main floor had 404 seats. The theater also had two balcony levels. The higher one was called the "gallery." Henry Miller wanted two balconies because he remembered only being able to afford balcony seats when he was young. The lower balcony had special "boxes" for seating. The gallery level, where Miller's office was, even had an elevator. The auditorium had gray walls, hand-painted panels, and bright plaster decorations. Lights came from chandeliers and lights in the boxes.

The original seating area.

In front of the stage was a wooden area for the orchestra, separated by a curved screen. Music came from openings at the top of this screen. The stage was about 33 feet wide and had an amber curtain. Above the curtain was a special decoration with symbols of comedy and tragedy. The left side of the stage was where stage directions were given, and the right side had the dressing rooms. A special system above the stage helped move scenery without needing a large fly system. Lights above the stage were controlled by a switchboard.

The New Design (2009)

From 2004 to 2009, the old theater was replaced with a new one that has 1,055 seats. This new theater was designed by Cookfox. The builders had to dig about 70 feet below the street because the new seating area couldn't be taller than the old facade. This makes it one of only two Broadway theaters that are mostly underground.

The ground-level entrance has a mezzanine (a middle floor), and the main seating area is below that. The ground level also has a bar and a cafe. There's an upper mezzanine with a restaurant. Two-thirds of the seats and another lobby bar are on the main seating level. The new interior still has some cool pieces from the original building. These include the old emergency exit doors and a plaster decoration from the original seating area.

The inside of the new theater was designed to be very eco-friendly. It meets special "LEED Gold" standards for green buildings. This means it uses things like recycled wall panels, marble from local areas, and water-saving toilets. This makes the Stephen Sondheim Theatre the first Broadway theater to meet these high environmental standards.

The design of the rebuilt theater was also influenced by many groups. For example, the women's restroom has 22 stalls, which is three times more than required by building rules! The men's restroom has 10 stalls. Also, the Stephen Sondheim Theatre is fully accessible for people with disabilities. It has 20 special viewing spots, a drinking fountain, and a restroom for disabled guests.

A Look Back: The Theater's History

Times Square became the main place for big theater shows between 1900 and the Great Depression. New York City's theater area started to move from other parts of Manhattan in the early 1900s. From 1901 to 1920, 43 new theaters were built around Broadway, including Henry Miller's Theatre.

The Original Theater's Story

Henry Miller had always dreamed of running his own theater. In 1916, he announced he would build a theater at 124-130 West 43rd Street, right next to the existing theater district. He leased the land from Elizabeth Milbank Anderson. Paul Allen and the firm Ingalls & Hoffman were hired to design it.

Early Years of Henry Miller's Theatre

A close-up of the top of the facade, showing the name "Henry Miller's Theatre."

Henry Miller's Theatre first opened its doors on April 1, 1918. The first play was The Fountain of Youth, and Henry Miller himself starred in it. Critics praised the new theater, calling it "ideal" and "in the perfection of good taste." However, The Fountain of Youth was not a success. Most of the early shows were not popular.

Then, Mis' Nelly of N'Orleans opened in 1919 and ran for 127 performances, which was a good run. The musical La La Lucille, which opened in May 1919, was also a hit. Henry Miller starred in eight shows at his theater during his lifetime. Famous actors like Leslie Howard and Noël Coward made their Broadway debuts here in the 1920s. Other stars like Alfred Lunt and Helen Hayes also performed. In 1921, Elizabeth Milbank Anderson passed away, and the land lease was transferred.

Gilbert Miller Takes Over

Henry Miller died in 1926, and his son, Gilbert, took over running the theater. Gilbert had to deal with some legal issues, but he eventually bought out a partner's interest. He also paid a portion of the profits from each show to a fund set up by Elizabeth Milbank Anderson. Popular plays during this time included The Play's The Thing (1926) and Journey's End (1929).

The Henry Miller's Theatre was most successful from the 1930s to the 1950s. In the early 1930s, it hosted plays like The Good Fairy (1931) with Helen Hayes. Other notable plays included The Late Christopher Bean (1932) and Personal Appearance (1934). The theater briefly hosted Our Town in 1938. In the early 1940s, it showed Ladies in Retirement (1940) and Harriet (1943) with Helen Hayes again. By 1943, the theater had hosted 83 plays and one musical. Later in the 1940s, Dear Ruth (1944) and Born Yesterday (1948-1950) were big hits.

In the 1950s, the Henry Miller presented The Cocktail Party (1950) with Alec Guinness. The Moon Is Blue (1951) and Oh, Men! Oh, Women! (1953) were also popular. Witness for the Prosecution ran until 1956. Other famous shows included Hotel Paradiso (1957) with Bert Lahr and Angela Lansbury. In the early 1960s, The World of Carl Sandburg (1960) with Bette Davis and Under the Yum Yum Tree (1960) were performed. Enter Laughing (1963) had a long run of 416 performances. After that, many shows didn't last very long.

Changes in the Late 1960s to 1980s

The theater in 2007.

In 1966, Gilbert Miller's wife offered the theater for sale. The Nederlanders bought it for $500,000, promising to keep the "Henry Miller" name. A new marquee sign was put up around this time. In 1968, the theater was leased to Circle in the Square, an off-off-Broadway group. It was called "Circle in the Square on Broadway" and planned to show movies. But they only ran two shows, both of which were not successful.

The Nederlanders sold the Henry Miller to Seymour Durst in 1968. Durst wanted to rebuild the whole city block, but his plans didn't happen for many years. After Circle in the Square left, the theater was leased to a movie exhibitor. The play But, Seriously in 1969 was the last multi-day play there for almost 30 years. The theater was renamed the Park-Miller and started showing movies in 1970. Later, it became Avon-on-the Hudson. The Durst Organization took over again in 1977 and fixed it up.

In June 1978, the old Henry Miller's Theatre reopened as a discotheque called Xenon. It was a very popular dance club. Xenon closed around 1983 or 1984. In August 1985, it reopened as a nightclub called Shout. This club played music from the 1950s and 60s. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) began discussing protecting the Henry Miller as a city landmark in 1982. The LPC officially made the Henry Miller's exterior a city landmark on December 8, 1987. This was part of a bigger effort to protect Broadway theaters.

The 1990s and 2000s

A view of a side section on the facade.

The Shout nightclub closed by 1991, and the theater reopened as the City nightclub. This club closed before 1994. In September 1994, it was announced that a new nightclub called Club Expo would open there. It was decorated with futuristic elements.

Club Expo was renovated in late 1997 and reopened in March 1998 as the Kit Kat Club. This club was named after the Berlin nightclub in the musical Cabaret. The Roundabout Theatre Company staged a popular revival of Cabaret there. After the show, the place became a popular nightclub with dancing. In July 1998, a construction accident nearby forced the show to move temporarily to Studio 54. In November, the show moved to Studio 54 permanently. The Kit Kat Klub's operators sued the Durst Organization and Roundabout, saying they broke their contract. The club's lease was ended.

A show called Rolling on the TOBA opened at the Kit Kat Klub in March 1999. It faced delays because of legal issues. TOBA later moved to another theater. After a long legal fight, a court ordered the Kit Kat Klub to leave the theater in August 1999. The Henry Miller continued as a nightclub and private party venue until it closed in April 2000.

By December 2000, The New York Times described the Henry Miller as being in bad shape. Around that time, it was renamed the Henry Miller and renovated with 640 seats and new air conditioning. By late 2003, the Durst Organization planned to build a new skyscraper, the Bank of America Tower, on the site. The original theater had to be closed and taken down for this construction. The old theater closed in January 2004.

The Current Theater

The new entrance sign.

Because the theater's facade was a landmark, the builders had to be very careful not to damage it. The new theater also had to be built underground because it couldn't be taller than the old facade. The landmark facade was temporarily held up by a steel frame while the tower was built. The inside of the old theater was taken apart by hand. Some of the old seats even ended up in a bowling alley in Pennsylvania!

In 2007, Roundabout announced they would operate the new theater. By mid-2008, the scaffolding around the facade was being removed. In May 2009, Roundabout said Henry Miller's Theatre would reopen that September with a musical called Bye Bye Birdie. The theater officially reopened with a preview of Bye Bye Birdie on September 10, 2009. Another show, All About Me, also played there in early 2010.

& Juliet at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in July 2023.

On March 22, 2010, which was the 80th birthday of American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim, Roundabout announced that Henry Miller's Theatre would be renamed in his honor. The new Stephen Sondheim Theatre sign was officially lit up on September 15, 2010. The first show at the newly named theater was The Pee-wee Herman Show. Then, a revival of Anything Goes opened in 2011 and ran for a year.

The Trip to Bountiful opened in 2013, followed by Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which ran from 2014 to 2019. Slava's Snowshow also played there at the end of 2019. On March 12, 2020, the theater closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Stephen Sondheim reopened on October 21, 2021, with performances of Mrs. Doubtfire, which ran until May 2022. The musical & Juliet then opened at the Stephen Sondheim in November 2022.

Famous Shows at the Theater

Here are some of the well-known Broadway shows that have played at this theater. They are listed by the year they first opened. This list only includes Broadway plays and musicals.

Shows at Henry Miller's Theatre

Shows at Stephen Sondheim Theatre

Box Office Records

The musical & Juliet set a new record for the theater's box office. It earned $1,639,788 in just one week (nine performances) ending January 1, 2023. Before this, the record was held by Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, which made $1,546,950 in 2014.

See also

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