Login
Login

Shubert Theatre (New Haven)

{{Short description|Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut}}

{{Infobox venue

| name = Shubert Theatre

| image = Shubert Theatre (New Haven) (54106346114).jpg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| caption = (2024)

| image_map =

| map_caption =

| pushpin_map =

| pushpin_map_caption =

| address = 247 College Street

| city = New Haven, Connecticut

| country = United States

| designation =

| coordinates = {{coord|41|18|23.5|N|72|55|44.6|W|display=inline,title}}

| architect = Albert Swazey

| owner = {{ubl

|(1914–1941) The Shubert Organization

|(1941–1978) Morris Nunes and Maurice Bailey{{cite news |last=Arnott |first=Christopher |date=December 2014 |title=The Shubert at 100 |url=https://yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/3985-shubert-theater |work= |location= |access-date=8 August 2021}}

|(1983–2013) City of New Haven

|(2013–present) CAPA

}}

| tenant =

| operator = CAPA

| capacity = 1,600

| type =

| opened = {{start date and age|1914}}

| reopened = 1983

| yearsactive =

| rebuilt =

| closed = 1978

| demolished =

| othernames = The Shubert

| production =

| currentuse = Theatre and entertainment venue

| website = {{URL|http://www.shubert.com}}

}}

The Shubert Theatre is a 1,600-seat theatre located at 247 College Street in New Haven, Connecticut. It is currently operated as a non-profit organization by the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA).

History

Originally opened in 1914 by The Shubert Organization, it was designed by Albert Swazey, a New York architect and built by the H.E. Murdock Construction Company.

The theater struggled financially in the 1970's and closed in 1976. The theater building was subsequently acquired by the City of New Haven, and the interior was restored. The Adams Hotel, which was located between the historic theater building and College Street, was demolished to build a modern lobby addition. The theatre reopened under city ownership in 1983, operated by the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA).{{cite web|url=https://www.shubert.com/about/history|title=History|publisher=The Shubert New Haven|accessdate=January 28, 2023}}

Notable productions

For decades, the Shubert was used as a tryout venue for plays and musicals that, if successful, would then move on to Broadway — sometimes with an intermediate stop in Boston or Philadelphia.{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Alvin |title=THE VIEW FROM: THE SHUBERT THEATER IN NEW HAVEN; 60 Miles From Broadway, History Trod the Boards |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/06/nyregion/view-shubert-theater-new-haven-60-miles-broadway-history-trod-boards.html |access-date=17 December 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=May 6, 1990}} It has hosted more than 600 out-of-town tryouts, including more than 300 world premieres and more than 50 American premieres. In recent decades, however, the Shubert has been more likely to host shows after their Broadway run rather than before.

Plays that fail to make it to Broadway are the origin of the phrase "bombed in New Haven," which inspired the Joseph Heller play We Bombed in New Haven.{{cite news |last1=Scully |first1=Vincent |title=They bombed in New Haven |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/01/24/archives/model-city-by-fred-powledge-illustrated-350-pp-new-york-simon.html |access-date=17 December 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=January 24, 1971}}{{cite news |last1=Cavanaugh |first1=Jack |title=TENNIS; Edberg Is Bombed in New Haven |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/19/sports/tennis-edberg-is-bombed-in-new-haven.html |access-date=17 December 2024 |work=The New York Times |date=August 19, 1993}}

Notable actors and other performers who played the Shubert include Marlon Brando, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, Julie Andrews, the Marx Brothers, Sidney Poitier, Humphrey Bogart, Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, Clark Gable, Gene Kelly, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty, Shirley MacLaine, Andy Griffith, Jane Fonda, James Earl Jones, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Buddy Rich, Liza Minnelli, Robert Guillaume, John Travolta, Anna Pavlova, Martha Graham, Beverly Sills, Efrem Zimbalist, Mandy Patinkin, Harry Belafonte, Ruby Dee, Ethel Merman, Carol Burnett, Yul Brynner, Zero Mostel, James Garner, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Jessica Tandy, Lee Remick, Nancy Reagan, Mary Martin, Rex Harrison, Julie Harris, Nanette Fabray, Vaslav Nijinsky, Ray Walston, Alfred Drake, Barbara Cook, Celeste Holm, Ezio Pinza, Gertrude Lawrence, John Raitt, Judy Holliday, Lisa Kirk, Sophie Tucker, and William Gaxton.{{cite web |title=History {{!}} Shubert Theatre New Haven |url=https://www.shubert.com/about/history |website=www.shubert.com |access-date=17 December 2024 |language=en}}

Pre-Broadway engagements at the Shubert:

Notes and references

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.shubert.com/ Shubert Theatre - Operated by CAPA (Connecticut Association for the Performing Arts)]
  • [https://www.shubert.com/about/history CAPA:History of the Shubert Theatre]

{{CAPA}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Theatres in Connecticut

Category:Tourist attractions in New Haven, Connecticut

Category:Concert halls in the United States

Category:Buildings and structures in New Haven, Connecticut

Category:Economy of New Haven, Connecticut