Imperial Theatre

The Imperial Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 249 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in Midtown Manhattan. The theater has a capacity of 1,417.

This article is about the Broadway theatre. For other uses, see Imperial Theater.
Imperial Theatre
Imperial Theatre, May 2012
Address249 West 45th Street
Manhattan, New York City
United States
Coordinates40°45′32″N 73°59′16″W
OwnerThe Shubert Organization
TypeBroadway, Musical Theatre
Capacity1,417
ProductionAin't Too Proud
Construction
OpenedDecember 25, 1923
ArchitectHerbert J. Krapp

History

The Shubert Organization's fiftieth venue in New York City, it was constructed in 1923 to replace their outdated Lyric Theatre. Designed by Herbert J. Krapp to accommodate musical theatre productions, it opened on December 25, 1923 with the Oscar Hammerstein II-Vincent Youmans production Mary Jane McKane. Since then, it has hosted numerous important musicals, including Annie Get Your Gun (1946), Fiddler on the Roof (1964), Dreamgirls (1981), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1985), Les Misérables (1990), and Billy Elliot the Musical (2008).

Among the famed 20th-century composers and lyricists whose works were housed here are Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, Irving Berlin, Harold Rome, Frank Loesser, Lionel Bart, Bob Merrill, Stephen Sondheim, Jule Styne, E.Y. Harburg, Harold Arlen, and George and Ira Gershwin. Performers who have graced the stage include Ethel Merman, Gertrude Lawrence, John Gielgud, Clifton Webb, Montgomery Clift, Mary Boland, Ray Bolger, Desi Arnaz, Lucie Arnaz, Mike Tyson, Mary Martin, Zero Mostel, Danny Kaye, Davy Jones, Jerry Orbach, Shelley Winters, Bernadette Peters, Ben Vereen, George Rose, Hugh Jackman, John Lithgow, Nikki M. James, Matthew Broderick, and Josh Groban. It is also the venue of the first Ms. Globe Pageant in 1951.

The theatre was closed on March 12, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The theater reopened on October 16, 2021 with performances of Ain't Too Proud.

Notable productions

Box office record

The musical Ain't Too Proud achieved the box office record for the Imperial Theatre. The production grossed $1,865,016.90 over eight performances for the week ending December 29, 2019, beating the previous record of $1,663,895 set by Billy Elliot on the week ending January 3, 2010.[1]

References
  1. , Production Gross, Playbill.com
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