The Belasco Theatre is a Broadway theatre. It is located at 111 West 44th Street.
The Theatre was constructed in 1907 as the Stuyvesant Theatre and renamed after Belasco in 1910. It was built as a showcase for David Belasco's productions and was designed to his specifications, with Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and murals. It was outfitted with the most advanced stagecraft tools available, including extensive lighting rigs, a hydraulics system and vast wing and fly space. Belasco's business office and private apartment were also housed there. As of 2006 the Belasco is still in operation as a Broadway venue.
The first Belasco Theatre in New York City was located at 229 West 42nd Street in the Times Square district. Belasco took over management of the venue and completely remodeled it in 1902, only two years after it was constructed as the Theatre Republic by Oscar Hammerstein. He gave up the theater in 1910 and it was renamed the Republic. Under various different owners, it went through a tumultuous period as a burlesque venue, hosted second-run and, eventually, pornographic films and fell into a period of neglect before being rehabilitated and reopened as the New Victory Theater in 1995.
Belasco Theatres also existed in several other cities. The Los Angeles Belasco was built in 1926, is located at 1050 S. Hill St downtown and has been used as a church in recent years. The Shubert-Belasco Theatre was located in Washington D.C.
See also[]
- David Belasco
External links and references[]
- Official site
- Belasco Theater history
- New Victory Theatre history
- "Los Angeles Exuberant" Charles Lockwood, New York Times, November 3, 1985
- Broadway Theatres: History and architecture, William Morrison, Dover Publications, 1999, ISBN 978-0-486-40244-4
- The Shuberts Present: 100 Years of American Theater, Maryann Chach, Reagan Fletcher, Mark Evan Swartz, Sylvia Wang, Harry N. Abrams, 2001, ISBN 978-0-8109-0614-3