Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre
The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was built for real-estate developer Irwin S. Chanin. It has 1,100 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The facade is designed in a Spanish style  with golden brick, terracotta, and stone and is divided into two sections. The western portion of the facade contains the theater's entrance, with five double-height arched windows and a curved pediment above. The eastern portion is the stage house and is topped by a loggia. The auditorium contains Spanish-style detailing, a large balcony, and an expansive vaulted ceiling. The auditorium's interior features murals by Willy Pogany as well as several box seats. The Royale, Majestic, and Masque (now John Golden) theaters, along with the Lincoln Hotel, were all developed by the Chanin brothers and designed by  Krapp as part of a theater/hotel complex. The Royale was the first of the three theaters to be completed, opening on January 11, 1927. The Shubert family took over the Royale in 1930 but subsequently went into receivership, and producer John Golden leased the theater in 1932. Golden renamed the theater after himself in 1934, but the Shuberts took over in 1936 and leased the theater to CBS Radio. The Royale was restored as a legitimate theater under its original name in 1940. The theater was renamed for longtime Shubert Organization president Bernard B. Jacobs in 2005. Site. The  Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre is on 242 West 45th Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The nearly rectangular land lot covers , with a frontage of on 44th Street and a depth of . The Golden Theatre shares the city block with the Row NYC Hotel to the west. It adjoins six other theaters: the Gerald Schoenfeld and Booth to the east, the Broadhurst and Shubert to the southeast, the Majestic to the south, and the Golden to the west. Other nearby structures include  the Music Box Theatre and Imperial Theatre to the north; the New York Marriott Marquis to the northeast; One Astor Plaza to the east; and Sardi's restaurant, the Hayes Theater, and the St. James Theatre one block south. The Jacobs is part of the largest concentration of Broadway theaters on a single block. The surrounding block of 45th Street is also known as George Abbott Way, and foot traffic on the street increases box-office totals for the theaters there. The Majestic, Masque (Golden), and Royale (Jacobs) theaters and the Lincoln Hotel (Row NYC Hotel) had all been developed  concurrently. The site of all four buildings had previously occupied by twenty brownstone residences. The site was part of the Astor family estate from 1803 to 1922, when it was sold to Henry Claman. The plots collectively measured wide along Eighth Avenue, along 44th Street, and along 45th Street. Design. The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre, originally the Royale Theatre, was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was constructed from 1926 to 1927 for the Chanin brothers. It was part of an entertainment complex along with the Lincoln Hotel and the Majestic and Masque theaters, which were  also designed by Krapp in a Spanish style. The Royale was designed to be the medium-sized theater of the complex, with about 1,200 seats initially. The Chanin Realty and Construction Company constructed all four structures. The Jacobs is operated by the Shubert Organization. Facade. The facade contains two sections. The western section is wider and is symmetrical, containing the auditorium entrance. The eastern section, which contains the stage house, is narrower and taller than the western section. In both sections, the ground floor is clad in rusticated blocks of terracotta above a granite water table. At ground level, the  auditorium entrance includes five pairs of glass and aluminum doors, which lead to the ticket office and auditorium. There are also rectangular aluminum-framed sign boards beside the openings. The entrance is topped by a marquee. Four sets of aluminum doors lead from the stage house portion of the facade. A terracotta cornice runs above the base. The stage door is at 270 West 45th Street (next to the Golden Theatre) and is shared with the Majestic and Golden theaters. The upper stories contain gold-colored, bonded Roman brick. The brick facade was designed to relate to the adjacent theaters  and hotel. On the upper stories, the auditorium section has a set of five arches on the second and third stories. The arches rise above terracotta piers that contain Corinthian-style capitals. Each arch contains iron-framed sash windows with multiple panes, separated by horizontal transom bars. A similar, narrower arcade exists on the neighboring Golden Theatre. A sign with the theater's name is placed between the auditorium and stage sections. The parapet of the auditorium facade contains a terracotta coping. Above the center portion of the facade, there is a rounded pediment with finials and an ornamental lunette . The stage house has five sash windows on each of the second through fifth stories. These windows contain sills made of terracotta. At the fifth story, the three center windows are placed within a loggia, which in turn is placed on brackets. The loggia has paired columns with decorative capitals, which support a Spanish tile roof. There is a pyramidal tile roof above the stage house. The Jacobs's loggia complements a similar one on the Golden Theatre. Auditorium. The Jacobs's interior was designed with a red, orange, and gold color scheme. The layout was part of an effort  by Irwin Chanin, one of the developers, to "democratize" the seating arrangement of the theater. The Jacobs was designed with a single balcony rather than the typical two, since Chanin had perceived the second balcony to be distant. The Chanin brothers wanted the three theaters' interior designs to be distinct while still adhering to a Spanish motif, in the belief that beautiful and comfortable theaters would be able to compete against other performing-arts venues. Roman Melzer was credited for the overall design, while Willy Pogany painted murals and Joseph Dujat created plasterwork. By the 2010s, the Jacobs was designed  with a red and gray color palette. The auditorium has an orchestra level, one balcony, boxes, and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The auditorium's width is greater than its depth, and the space is designed with plaster decorations in high relief. According to the Shubert Organization, the auditorium has 1,092 seats, while according to The Broadway League, there are 1,078 seats. The physical seats are divided into 636 seats in the orchestra, 168 at the front of the balcony, 252 at the rear of the balcony, and 16 in the boxes. There are 20 standing-only spots. Below  the orchestra are restrooms and drinking fountains. The Jacobs and the neighboring Schoenfeld are two of the most desired theaters among producers because of their good sightlines from the seating areas. Seating areas. The rear of the orchestra contains a promenade with two columns supporting the balcony level. The orchestra floor is raked. The orchestra and its promenade contain walls with paneled baseboards, above which are rough stucco blocks. The side walls contain doors, above which are exit signs within bracketed panels. The rearmost row has a standing rail behind it. Two staircases lead between the orchestra and the balcony . These staircases have metal railings and elaborate balustrades. In front of the orchestra level is an orchestra pit, which is placed below the stage. The orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible but there are no elevators to the balcony. The balcony level is divided into front and rear sections by an aisle halfway across the depth. The walls consist of paneled stucco blocks. Above the wall is a frieze with rosettes, which forms the wall's cornice. Light fixtures and square panels with arabesques are placed at the front of the balcony's soffit, or underside. Behind this, the center of  the soffit is decorated with a medallion containing a light fixture and acanthus-leaf motifs. The outer portions of the soffit are divided into rhombus-shaped panels, which contain latticework and arabesques surrounded by acanthus-leaf and rope moldings. In front of the balcony are moldings of swags and rosettes. The soffit has been modified with the installation of air-conditioning grilles, while lights have been installed in front of the balcony. On either side of the stage is an elliptically arched wall section with two boxes at the balcony level. The front box on either side is lower than  the rear box. Each wall section is surrounded by a rope molding. In front of each box is a railing with shield motifs; the center motif is flanked by griffins. The underside of each box is decorated with a medallion containing a light fixture, as well as acanthus-leaf motifs. The coved ceilings above the boxes contain Spanish-inspired brass chandeliers. Other design features. Next to the boxes is an elliptical proscenium arch. The archway is surrounded by rope moldings, above which is a wide band, consisting of four-part leaves surrounded by a guilloche motif. The proscenium measures about  high and wide. A sounding board curves onto the ceiling above the proscenium arch. The sounding board has a large decorated latticework panel in the center, which is surrounded by a molding that depicts overlapping leaves. The rest of the sounding board was originally decorated with Spanish-style motifs and is surrounded by moldings on all sides. The depth of the auditorium to the proscenium is , while the depth to the front of the stage is . The ceiling consists of a groin vault that extends over the balcony. The vault is surrounded by a molding with laurel leaves. The ceiling  is divided into ribs, containing laurel-leaf and talon moldings. The center of the ceiling contains a latticework grille with arabesques, marking the convergence of the ribs. In addition, there are two arches along the walls on either side of the vault; they contain a set of murals by Willy Pogany, entitled "Lovers of Spain". These arches each depict a woman in a procession of musicians. The arches are surrounded by molded acanthus leaves and shells, and there are square panels with rosettes on the arches' outer reveals. According to a contemporary account, the arches measured across. History. Times Square  became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression. During the 1900s and 1910s, many theaters in Midtown Manhattan were developed by the Shubert brothers, one of the major theatrical syndicates of the time. The Chanin brothers developed another grouping of theaters in the mid-1920s. Though the Chanins largely specialized in real estate rather than theaters, Irwin Chanin had become interested in theater when he was an impoverished student at the Cooper Union. He subsequently recalled that he had been "humiliated" by having to use a separate door whenever he bought cheap seats in an  upper balcony level. By October 1926, the Chanins had decided to construct and operate a theatrical franchise "in New York and half a dozen other large cities in the United States". Herbert Krapp had already designed the 46th Street, Biltmore, and Mansfield theaters for the Chanins in 1925 and 1926. Development and early years. Chanin operation. The Chanin brothers had acquired the Klaman site in 1925. The Chanins planned to build a hotel on Eighth Avenue and three theaters on the side streets. In March 1926, Krapp filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for the hotel  and theaters, which were projected to cost $4.5 million. Local news media reported that there would be a large theater on 44th Street and a medium-sized theater and a small theater on 45th Street. The brownstones on the site were razed starting in May, and the site was cleared by the next month. That July, the Chanin brothers received a $7.5 million loan for the three developments from S. W. Straus & Co. The three theaters were all named in December 1926. The large theater became the Majestic; the mid-sized theater, the Royale; and the small theater , the Masque. The following month, the Chanins gave A. L. Erlanger exclusive control over bookings at the three new theaters and their five existing houses. The Royale Theatre was the first of the three theaters to open, showing the play "Piggy" on January 11, 1927. The opening of the Majestic, Masque, and Royale signified the westward extension of the traditional Broadway theater district, as well as an expansion of the Chanins' theatrical developments. Each of the Chanin theaters was intended for a different purpose: the 1,800-seat Majestic for "revues and light operas", the 1,200-seat Royale for "musical comedies , and the 800-seat Masque for intimate" plays. By developing a small, medium, and large theater concurrently, the Chanins were able to lower their development costs. Burns Mantle wrote for the "New York Daily News" that the Royale had "a handsome auditorium with a Willy Pogany interior, well proportioned stage, and the established atmosphere of a hospitable and well-run theatre". "Piggy" (renamed mid-run to "I Told You So") had a weak script, but comedian Sam Bernard carried the show for 79 performances. The Royale next hosted "Judy" with Queenie Smith. This was followed by the short-running "Oh , Ernest!", though the Chanins unsuccessfully tried to prevent the producers from relocating prematurely. The Black revue "Rang Tang" also played at the Royale in 1927, as did three Gilbert and Sullivan works: "The Mikado", "Iolanthe", and "The Pirates of Penzance". The Royale's productions in 1928 included "The Madcap", as well as "Sh! The Octopus", its first straight play. Later that year, the Royale had its first major hit, the Mae West play "Diamond Lil". It was followed in 1929 by the flop "Woof, Woof", then by the moderately successful comedy "Kibitzer". In July 1929, the Shubert brothers bought the  Chanin brothers' half-ownership stakes in the Majestic, Masque, and Royale theaters for a combined $1.8 million. In exchange, the Shuberts sold the Century Theatre on the Upper West Side to the Chanins, who redeveloped that site with the Century apartments. Great Depression and ownership changes. The Shuberts obtained the exclusive rights to operate the Royale in 1930. Under Shubert management, the Royale hosted "Second Little Show" in 1930, which was followed by "Lew Leslie's Blackbirds" and "Stepping Sisters". Another Mae West play, "Constant Sinner", was presented at the Royale in 1931, along with numerous unsuccessful productions. After  West unsuccessfully tried to show a revival of "Macbeth", the Royale hosted the Chicago Shakespeare Theater for two weeks in late 1931. By then, the Shuberts were in receivership and were forced to give up the Royale, though they kept the Majestic and Masque. In July 1932, producer John Golden granted the right to lease the Royale for 21 months, despite objections from Lee Shubert. That November, Golden officially signed a 21-month lease with the theater's receiver. At the time, Golden had recently lost the right to operate his eponymous theater on 58th Street. The Royale hosted Golden 's comedy "When Ladies Meet" in late 1932, and the Theatre Guild next hosted two productions: "Both Your Houses" (1933) and "They Shall Not Die" (1934). Otherwise, the Royale's productions during this time were largely flops. After the Royale hosted the comedy "Every Thursday", Golden renewed his lease in September 1934 and renamed the Royale for himself. The first productions at the renamed theater included "Small Miracle" and "Rain from Heaven". The Irish group Abbey Theatre Players started hosting repertory productions in November 1934, changing the shows every week. This was followed in 1935 by "The Bishop Misbehaves" and  A Touch of Brimstone. Afterward, the Golden (Royale) hosted several short-lived productions in 1936, among them "Three Wise Fools", "Ghosts", and "Double Dummy". The Broadway theater industry declined during the Great Depression, and the Majestic, Masque, and Golden (Royale) were auctioned in November 1936 to satisfy a $2 million mortgage against the theaters. A representative of the Shubert family bought the rights to operate the theaters for $700,000, but the Bankers Securities Corporation retained a half interest. John Golden, undeterred by the auction proceeding, moved his production to the Masque and renamed that theater after himself. The  Shuberts leased the former Royale to CBS Radio the following month, and CBS started operating the studio in January 1937 as CBS Radio Theatre No. 1. At the time, CBS had converted several theaters around Times Square into broadcast studios. The studio closed in May 1940 due to a lack of programming, and the theater reverted to the Shuberts. The Magoro Operating Corporation, on behalf of the Shuberts, took over the Royale in October 1940 after CBS's lease ended, and the theater assumed its previous name. Shubert operation. 1940s to 1970s. The Royale Theatre reopened on October 21, 1940 , with "Du Barry Was a Lady". The Royale subsequently hosted several productions relocated from other theaters, including "Flight to the West" and "The Corn Is Green" in 1941. Some of the subsequent productions were hits with several hundred performances, including "Counsellor-at-Law" in 1942, as well as "Ramshackle Inn" with ZaSu Pitts; "School for Brides" with Roscoe Karns; and "Catherine Was Great" with Mae West in 1944. Less successful were the 1945 productions of "Good Night, Ladies" and "Strange Fruit", which both ran for less than a hundred performances before ending. In addition, the Shubert brothers bought the Majestic , John Golden (Masque), and Royale theaters from the Bankers Securities Corporation in 1945, giving the family full ownership of these theaters. The productions in 1946 included "The Magnificent Yankee", featuring Louis Calhern and Dorothy Gish; "The Glass Menagerie"; "The Front Page"; and "Fatal Weakness", featuring Ina Claire. Subsequently, "The Importance of Being Earnest", "Love for Love", and "Medea" were all produced in 1947. The comedy "Light Up the Sky" ran over 200 performances in 1948, and "The Madwoman of Chaillot" played the Royale the next year. The following decade began with productions of "The Devil's Disciple" and "The Lady 's Not for Burning" in 1950, as well as a relocated production of "Darkness at Noon" in 1951. Following that was "Borscht Capades" and a series of short-lived productions. The Royale then hosted "New Faces of 1952", which turned out to be the last popular Broadway revue for several years due to the growing popularity of television. "The Immoralist" played at the Royale in 1954, as did "The Boy Friend", the latter of which featured Julie Andrews's Broadway debut. The same year saw the shortest production at the Royale on record: a single performance of "The Starcross Story , which had premiered just before The Immortalist". In 1955, the Royale featured "The Matchmaker", which was adapted from a flop but had 486 performances. Other popular productions during the decade were "The Tunnel of Love" in 1957 and "The Entertainer" in 1958. Following a screening of the film "Gigi" in May 1958, the Royale again hosted theatrical productions that November with "La Plume de Ma Tante", which ran over 800 performances. In the early 1960s, the Royale hosted numerous productions including "Becket in" 1960, "From the Second City" in 1961, "The Night of the Iguana" in 1961, and "Lord Pengo  in 1962. The Royale additionally presented a four-week engagement of the Karmon Israeli Dancers in May 1963. Following were The Rehearsal" in 1963 and "The Chinese Prime Minister", "The Subject Was Roses", and "Hughie" in 1964. For much of the rest of the decade, the Royale was taken up by "Cactus Flower", which premiered in 1965 and ran for 1,234 performances. "Man in the Glass Booth", which premiered in 1968, was the Royale's last major production of the 1960s. The Royale hosted "Child's Play" in 1970 and "Moonchildren" in 1972. From 1972 to 1980, the Royale hosted  the musical "Grease." The production became the longest-running show on Broadway, and the set was peeling by the time "Grease" stopped playing at the Royale. 1980s and 1990s. In February 1980, "Whose Life is it Anyway?" opened at the Royale, with Mary Tyler Moore playing what had previously been a male starring role. This was followed the same year by "A Day in Hollywood / A Night in the Ukraine", a double bill with 588 performances. The Royale then hosted "Duet for One" with Anne Bancroft and Max von Sydow for a month, followed by "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor  Dreamcoat", which also ran for over a year. Besides Broadway productions, the Royale also held college commencements. In the mid-1980s, the Royale had some brief runs, including "The Human Comedy" in 1984 and "Home Front" and "Pack of Lies" in 1985. The Royale next presented the two-act show "Song and Dance" in 1985, which ran for 474 performances. This was followed by a four-performance revival of the play "Broadway" in 1987 to celebrate George Abbott's 100th birthday. Other flops included "Roza" in 1987 and the New York Shakespeare Festival's off-Broadway production "Serious Money" in 1988 . The decade ended with two hits: "Speed-the-Plow", which opened in 1988 and played 287 performances, and "Lend Me a Tenor", which ran for over a year following its opening in 1989. During the 1980s, the Shuberts renovated the Royale as part of a restoration program for their Broadway theaters. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had started considering protecting the Royale as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. The LPC designated the Royale's facade and interior as a landmark in December 1987. This was part of the LPC's  wide-ranging effort in 1987 to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters. The New York City Board of Estimate ratified the designations in March 1988. The Shuberts, the Nederlanders, and Jujamcyn collectively sued the LPC in June 1988 to overturn the landmark designations of 22 theaters, including the Royale, on the merit that the designations severely limited the extent to which the theaters could be modified. The lawsuit was escalated to the New York Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the United States, but these designations were ultimately upheld in 1992. The first hit at the Royale in the  1990s was the 1992 play "Conversations with My Father", which ran for over a year. London's Royal National Theatre presented "An Inspector Calls" in 1994, which ran 454 performances. The National Actors Theatre was the next occupant of the Royale, presenting a revival of "Inherit the Wind". The Royal National Theatre also produced "Skylight" at the Royale in 1996, and "Triumph of Love" premiered in 1997. The play "Art" opened in 1998, running through the following year with 600 performances. The Royale's final production of the 1990s was a revival of "The Price" in 1999. 2000s to present . The Royale hosted a revival of the play "Copenhagen" in 2000, which ran 326 performances. The theater then staged "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and John Leguizamo's solo show "Sexaholix" in 2001, as well as "The Elephant Man" and Jackie Mason's solo comedy "Prune Danish" the next year. As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2003, the Shuberts agreed to improve disabled access at their 16 landmarked Broadway theaters, including the Royale. Also in 2003, the Royale hosted the short-lived revivals "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" and ""Master Harold" ...and the Boys", as well as the more successful "Anna in the Tropics". The next year, the Royale held the productions "A Raisin in the Sun" and "'night, Mother". In September 2004, the Shubert Organization's board of directors voted to rename the Royale for its longtime president Bernard B. Jacobs, as well as the neighboring Plymouth for then-current president Gerald Schoenfeld. The two theaters were officially renamed with a marquee replacement ceremony on May 9, 2005. While Jacobs's family was "thrilled", the renaming was controversial among producers and theatrical fans, despite the longstanding tradition of renaming Broadway  houses after their producers. The play "Glengarry Glen Ross" opened just before the renaming and had 137 performances. This was followed in 2006 by the short-running drama "Three Days of Rain" and Martin Short's biographical revue "Fame Becomes Me"; the Jacobs also hosted a memorial for Lloyd Richards the same year. Further productions of the late 2000s included "Frost/Nixon" and "Rock 'n' Roll" in 2007; "The Country Girl" and "13" in 2008; and "God of Carnage" in 2009. The Jacobs hosted "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson" in 2010, as well as "That Championship Season" and "The Mountaintop" in  2011. The musical "Once" opened at the Jacobs in 2012 and was a hit, running for nearly three years. "Once" was followed by the comedy "It's Only a Play" in 2015. The Jacobs hosted two musicals over the following two years: "The Color Purple" (2015) and "Bandstand" (2017). Following were the dramas "The Iceman Cometh" and "The Ferryman" in 2018, as well as "Betrayal" in 2019. The theater closed on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened on November 15, 2021, with previews of "Company". Box office record. "Once" achieved the box office record for the  Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre. The production grossed $1,447,598 over nine performances, for the week ending December 30, 2012.