St. James Theatre
Broadway theater in Manhattan, New York / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style and was constructed for A. L. Erlanger. It has 1,709 seats across three levels and is operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.
Erlanger's Theatre | |
Address | 246 West 44th Street Manhattan, New York United States |
---|---|
Coordinates | 40°45′29″N 73°59′17″W |
Owner | Jujamcyn Theaters |
Type | Broadway |
Capacity | 1,710 |
Production | Spamalot |
Construction | |
Opened | 1927 |
Architect | Warren and Wetmore |
Website | |
www | |
Designated | December 15, 1987[1] |
Reference no. | 1374[1] |
Designated entity | Facade |
Designated | December 15, 1987[2] |
Reference no. | 1375[2] |
Designated entity | Auditorium interior |
The facade is made largely of stucco, except for the ground story, which is clad in cast stone above a granite water table. The ground story has several recessed openings to the lobby, auditorium, and upper-story offices. Above that are two marquees and a double-story cast-iron loggia, masking the fire escapes from the auditorium. The top story contains windows from the offices there. The auditorium is decorated largely with murals and ornamental plasterwork. The theater has a sloped orchestra level, two balcony levels, and a flat ceiling with a carved sounding board. The first balcony level contains box seats near the front of the auditorium, above which are murals. In addition, there are several lounges and passageways throughout the theater.
Erlanger had proposed a theater on the site as early as 1921, but two proposals failed to materialize. Erlanger's Theatre opened on September 26, 1927, with the musical The Merry Malones. Erlanger died in 1930, and the theater then passed to Lodewick Vroom in 1932; Vroom renamed it after St James's Theatre in London. The Shubert family acquired the St. James in 1941 but were forced to sell it in 1956 following an antitrust suit. William L. McKnight bought the theater and renovated it in 1958, with Jujamcyn taking over the venue's operation. The theater was further renovated in 1985, 1999, and 2016. The theater has housed several long-running musicals in its history, including original productions of Oklahoma!, The King and I, Hello, Dolly!, The Who's Tommy, and The Producers.
The St. James Theatre is on 246 West 44th Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.[3][4] The land lot is nearly rectangular, with a protrusion on the eastern end. The lot covers 12,858 square feet (1,194.5 m2), with a frontage of 124.5 feet (37.9 m) on 44th Street and a depth of 100.42 feet (31 m).[4]
The St. James Theatre shares the city block with the Hayes Theater, Sardi's restaurant, and 1501 Broadway to the east, as well as 255 West 43rd Street and 229 West 43rd Street to the south. Across 44th Street are the Row NYC Hotel to the northwest, the Majestic and Broadhurst theaters to the north, and the Shubert Theatre and One Astor Plaza to the northeast. Other nearby structures include the John Golden, Bernard B. Jacobs, Gerald Schoenfeld, and Booth theaters to the north, as well as the former Hotel Carter, Todd Haimes Theatre, and Lyric Theatre to the south.[4] The St. James was developed on the site of several old three-story row houses.[5] There were six residences, each with a brownstone front.[6] The original Sardi's restaurant was one of the buildings that was razed to make way for the St. James.[7]
The St. James Theatre was designed by Warren and Wetmore in the Georgian Revival style,[8][9] with Beaux-Arts inspirations.[10] It was built for producer Abraham L. Erlanger and opened in 1927 as Erlanger's Theatre.[3][5] The theater was erected by the Thompson–Starrett Co.[11] The St. James is operated by Jujamcyn Theaters.[12][13]
Facade
The facade is symmetrically arranged and is shorter than its width.[10] In general, the facade is plain in design.[14] The facade is made largely of stucco.[14][15] The ground story is clad in cast stone above a granite water table. Part of the eastern wall is also visible from the street and is clad in stucco over brick.[16] The St. James has a relatively simple facade, in contrast to nearby theaters like the Hayes or Shubert, but similar to the Majestic and Broadhurst.[5] This led The New York Times to call it "probably the least ornate of all the theatres recently added to the Times Square district".[17][18]
The ground story has numerous recessed doorways.[10] The doorway at the far west (on the right, as viewed from the front) is a metal stage door.[10][12] The entrance to the box office lobby is immediately adjacent to the stage door.[12][16] The lobby entrance consists of three aluminum and glass double doors, above which is a transom panel with signs.[16] East of the lobby entrance is a sign board, as well as a service door accessed by two granite steps. The center of the ground-story facade has four metal doors from the auditorium. The eastern section has a glass-and-metal double door to Jujamcyn's upper-story offices, as well as additional service doors. A pair of marquees, with signs facing west and east, is suspended above the western and central sections of the facade.[lower-alpha 1] A stone band course runs above the base.[19]
The 44th Street facade has quoins at the extreme west and east ends on the upper stories.[19] The center of the facade has a projecting double-height loggia of wrought iron, which conceals the fire escape.[5][9][14] The bottom of the loggia contains stone panels, beneath which is a metal base that curves onto the marquee below it. The loggia has three arches are separated by Ionic-style columns. The arches contain wrought-iron grilles, above which are cartouches flanked by foliate decoration. The spandrels above the arches' corners contain wrought-iron foliate decoration and winged animals. A wrought-iron frieze runs above the loggia, and finials are placed on the loggia's roof. On either side of the loggia are two vertical signs with the letters "St. James", which face west and east. These signs have corbels at their bottoms and lanterns on top.[19] At the time of the theater's construction, one observer said that the blank facade was "most appropriate" for the backdrop of an electric sign.[17][20]
The attic has five rectangular windows between two circular windows.[5] Three of the rectangular windows have decorative surrounds that are scrolled at the bottom and eared at the top; they alternate with the other two windows, which have no surrounds. The two circular windows contain surrounds with foliate ornament. The attic is topped by a frieze with circular bellflower decorations, vertical niches, and masks depicting comedy and tragedy. Above that is the cornice, which is simple in design. The cornice, frieze, and quoins are also visible on the eastern wall (facing the Hayes Theater).[19]
Auditorium
The auditorium has an orchestra level, two balconies, boxes, and a stage behind the proscenium arch. The space is designed with plaster decorations in relief, as well as paintings designed to resemble reliefs.[21] Playbill cites the theater as having 1,684 seats,[12] while The Broadway League cites 1,709 seats.[13] Originally, Erlanger's Theatre had 1,600 seats, a comparatively large capacity as the theater was primarily meant to host musicals.[22] The presence of two balconies ran counter to most other theatrical designs of the time, which only had one balcony.[14]
Unlike similar Broadway theaters, the St. James's interior was designed in a simple style without much plasterwork. One contemporary publication described the auditorium as having a "residential rather than theatrical" character.[23] The lack of plasterwork contrasts with the ornate plaster decorations in theaters developed by the Shubert family,[14] as well as those designed by Herbert J. Krapp.[24] Instead, Warren and Wetmore placed emphasis on the interior layout and color scheme.[24][23] As designed, the theater had coral-colored surfaces with antique gold highlights.[9][15] The interior design scheme was overseen by John B. Smeraldi.[9][23] One source described the walls as being "marble and plaster finished in coral lacquer and gold", while the chairs had coral tapestries with gold and blue highlights.[15] After a 1958 renovation, the interior was decorated in charcoal and gold.[25][26]
Seating areas
The orchestra level is wheelchair-accessible via the main doors,[27] and it contains the theater's wheelchair-accessible restrooms.[12][27] The rear or western end of the orchestra contains a shallow promenade. A stair with ornate metal railings leads up from the orchestra promenade to the balcony level. The orchestra level is raked, sloping down toward an orchestra pit in front of the stage,[21] which can fit 40 people.[15] The orchestra's side walls were originally designed to resemble ashlar blocks.[24] The current configuration of the orchestra level dates to a renovation in 1958, during which the orchestra's rear wall was relocated, enlarging the lobby and shrinking the promenade.[28]
The balcony levels can only be accessed by steps.[27] The first balcony level (also known as the mezzanine) is raked and is divided into front and rear sections by an aisle halfway across its depth.[29] The first balcony is much deeper than in similar theaters,[15] reaching over what originally was the tenth row of orchestra seats.[20][24] The second balcony is also raked but is recessed.[15][29] The front of the mezzanine level is curved outward, with molded decorations, and connects with the boxes on either side. An entablature runs near the top of the auditorium, starting from the front of the second balcony level and extending above the boxes and proscenium arch. The undersides of the balcony levels are simple in design and made of plaster.[30] The fronts of both balcony levels have light boxes, and the second balcony also has a technical booth on its rear wall.[31] The side walls were originally designed with murals,[9][24] which were painted by Paul Arndt and depicted romantic themes.[15] The murals were covered up during subsequent modifications to the theater.[26][32]
On either side of the proscenium is a curved wall section with one box at the mezzanine level.[29] Originally, one of the boxes was known as the President's box, while the other was called the Governor's box.[15][24] The fronts of the boxes curve outward and contain plaster moldings.[21] Beside each box are pilasters, which support the entablature above the boxes. There are oval niches on the walls in front of each box, which have busts depicting women.[30] There are also golden urns behind the boxes, next to the mezzanine seating.[24] Draperies were originally hung above the boxes, but they were removed in subsequent renovations.[14] Also above the boxes are lunettes with murals.[24]
Other design features
Next to the boxes is the proscenium, which contains a flat-arched opening surrounded by an elliptical arch. The top corners of the proscenium opening are concave, protruding slightly inward.[29] The proscenium opening is surrounded by an ovolo molding.[30] A mural is placed above the flat-arched opening, beneath the elliptical arch. It shows cupids playing golf while Satan stands amid a "ruined temple of love".[15] The proscenium's original curtain was made of asbestos and was designed by Smeraldi.[9][23] On either side of the flat arch, there are depictions of court jesters pulling the curtains open.[15]
A sounding board curves onto the ceiling above the boxes, in front of the proscenium arch.[29] The sounding board contains molded bands of interlocked leaves and ribbons, which divide it into two sections. The front section (nearer the proscenium) is divided into rectangular-paneled sections with urn, leaf, and swag motifs. The rear section (nearer the balconies) rises from the lunettes above each arch, with a panel at the center, which depicts a musical instrument. The rest of the sounding board's rear section is filled with squares containing rosettes. These squares are laid diagonally in a diamond pattern, which is intended to simulate a coffered ceiling.[30] The ceiling itself is flat, curving downward toward the rear of the second balcony.[29] The center of the ceiling has a plasterwork centerpiece, containing motifs of instruments and swags, as well as a hanging chandelier.[30] The centerpiece is surrounded by grilles, which originally served as ventilation openings.[15][30]
Other interior spaces
The lobby, to the west of the orchestra promenade, extends across the width of the auditorium. The lobby is divided into outer and inner sections, with the box office in the lobby's outer section.[9][15] The lobby's inner section originally contained a 17th-century Flemish tapestry on the west wall and a green-and-white marble table, which were the only furnishings in the room. The inner lobby had black-and-white terrazzo marble tiles surrounded by a band of black marble and black-and-white squares. The room also had gray-stone walls with black-and-gold marble decorations, as well as a polychrome-and-gold ceiling with lights. Three black-and-gold marble doorways led to the auditorium. The south portion of the inner lobby had a gray marble staircase with a polychrome-and-gold balustrade and an ebony-wood railing.[15] The lobby was enlarged and modified during a 1958 renovation.[28]
The theater was designed with a ladies' lounge in the basement and a men's lounge on the mezzanine.[33] The ladies' lounge had Adam style decorations and a rose-and-gold color scheme; it included a marble shelf with a mirror, as well as ceiling vents. The mezzanine lounge had a gray-green color scheme and was indirectly lit by lamps hidden behind silk curtains. The lounge was 50 feet (15 m) long and was connected with restrooms, telephone booths, and a writing room via a gray-green corridor. Additionally, a men's club room was placed in the basement and was decorated in a Tudor style, with a large fireplace and plaster walls.[15]
Backstage, the dressing rooms could accommodate 150 cast members; the stars had their own suites with baths. The musicians had their own quarters, which connected to the orchestra pit.[15] Jujamcyn Theaters' corporate offices are also at 246 West 44th Street, the St. James Theatre building.[34][35]