Theatre Row (New York City)
{{Short description|Entertainment district in Manhattan, New York}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox venue
| name = Theatre Row Entertainment District
| image = File:Theatre Row NYC Building Photo from an angle.jpg
| caption = The Theatre Row Building is one of several theatres that make up the district theatre entrances
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| pushpin_map = United States Manhattan#New York#USA
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| address = West 42nd Street Between Ninth and Eleventh Avenues
| city = New York City
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| coordinates = {{coord|40.758599|-73.993397|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
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| type = Off-Broadway
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Theatre Row is an entertainment district of Off Broadway theatres on 42nd Street in the Midtown and Hell's Kitchen neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, west of Ninth Avenue. The space originally referred to a 1977 redevelopment project to convert adult entertainment venues into theatres between Ninth and Tenth Avenues on the south side of 42nd Street. However with the success of the district the name is often used to describe any theatre on either side of the street from Ninth Avenue to the Hudson River as more theatres have been built along the street.
From east to west, theatres along Theatre Row are:{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/21/theater/upscale-march-of-theater-row-a-centerpiece-of-redevelopment.html|title=Upscale March Of Theater Row; A Centerpiece of Redevelopment|last=McKinley|first=Jesse|date=November 21, 2002|work=The New York Times|access-date=June 23, 2018}}{{Cite news|last=Zinoman|first=Jason|date=January 2, 2004|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/02/movies/on-stage-and-off.html|title=On Stage And Off|work=The New York Times|access-date=November 19, 2022}}
- Laurie Beechman Theatre
- Theatre Row Building
- Playwrights Horizons
- Stage 42 (formerly the Little Shubert Theatre)
- Pershing Square Signature Center
- Castillo Theatre
- Pearl Theatre
Original 1977 theatres
Theatre Row was first established in 1977 in conjunction with the 42nd Street Development Corporation in an effort to convert adult entertainment venues into Off Broadway theatres. The first theatres involved in 1977 were:{{cite book|title=Arts Money: Raising It, Saving It, and Earning It|last=Jeffri|first=Joan|publisher=University of Minnesota Press|date=1989|isbn=9781452901398|page=164|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSGu4H-N_WIC&q=Lion+Theatre+West+42nd&pg=PA164}}
- Black Theatre Alliance
- Harlem Children's Theatre
- INTAR Theatre (now on 52nd Street)
- Lion Theatre (now commemorated by a theatre in the Theatre Row Building)
- Nat Horne Musical Theatre
- Playwrights Horizons
- Harold Clurman Theatre (now commemorated by a theatre in the Theatre Row Building)
- South Street Theatre
History of theatres
- Laurie Beechman Theatre
Originally opened by Steve Olsen in 1978 as a restaurant known as the West Bank Cafe.{{Cite web |date=2011-07-14 |title=The West Bank Café |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714175206/http://www.newyorkrestaurantinsider.com/july2007-west-bank.asp |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=web.archive.org}} Later in 1983, Steve Olsen created a downstairs theatre and named the restaurant as the West Bank Cafe Downstairs Theater Bar. After Laurie Beechman's passing in 1998, the theater was later renamed to Laurie Beechman Theatre honoring the late Broadway & Cabaret icon. Currently, the dinner theater is owned by Broadway Theater producers Tom and Michael D'Angora.{{Cite web |last=Green |first=Kendall |date=2025-01-26 |title=Iconic Theater District restaurant reopens, welcoming Broadway fans again |url=https://www.fox5ny.com/news/iconic-theater-district-restaurant-reopens-welcoming-broadway-fans-again |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=FOX 5 NY |language=en-US}} Renovated by David Rockwell in 2025, the theater's "design concept celebrates the space's rich and diverse history."{{Cite web |last=Wild |first=Stephi |title=David Rockwell Will Renovate the Laurie Beechman Theatre |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/David-Rockwell-Will-Renovate-the-Laurie-Beechman-Theatre-20250307 |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=BroadwayWorld.com |language=en}}
Further reading
- Bianco, Anthony (2004). Ghosts of 42nd Street: A History of America's Most Infamous Block. New York: HarperCollins Books, {{ISBN|0-688-17089-7}}.
References
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Category:Neighborhoods in Manhattan
Category:Entertainment districts in New York (state)
Category:Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan
Category:42nd Street (Manhattan)
Category:1977 establishments in New York City
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