Todd Haimes Theatre

The Todd Haimes Theatre (previously known as the American Airlines Theatre and originally the Selwyn Theatre) is a

The Todd Haimes Theatre is at 229 West 42nd Street, on the northern sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City.^[1][2] The theater occupies two land lots. The main entrance and lobby are in the New 42nd Street Building on 42nd Street, while the auditorium is on a separate lot to the north on 43rd Street.^[3] The New 42nd Street Building occupies a rectangular lot covering around 7,538 sq ft (700.3 m²), with a frontage of 75 ft (23 m) on 42nd Street^[a] and a depth of 100 ft 5 in (30.61 m).^[1][4] The auditorium is also on a rectangular lot covering 9,708 sq ft (901.9 m²), with a frontage of 96 ft 8 in (29.46 m) on 43rd Street and a depth of 100 feet 5 inches.^[4][5] Originally, the theater had a frontage of 37 ft (11 m) on 42nd Street and 96 feet on 43rd Street, with a depth of 100 feet from both streets.^[6][7]

The theater shares the block with the

The Todd Haimes Theatre was originally named the Selwyn Theatre, designed by George Keister and constructed in 1918 for brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn.^[12] The Selwyn was originally decorated in the Italian Renaissance style.^[13][14] The original design plans are preserved at the Shuger Archives.^[15] The current design dates to a late-1990s renovation, when the New 42nd Street Building (designed by Platt Byard Dovell) was constructed around it.^[16][17] The Todd Haimes is one of three Broadway theaters operated by the nonprofit Roundabout Theatre Company; the others are Studio 54 and the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.^[18][19]

Facade

Original facade

The theater had originally been accessed from the six-story Selwyn Building on 42nd Street,

The new facade on 42nd Street is part of the New 42nd Street Building. Initial plans for the building in 1997 had called for the original terracotta facade of the Selwyn Building to be preserved as a separate structure.^[3][16] The New 42nd Street facade would have been constructed as a glass box with two setbacks, contrasting with the Selwyn's facade, which rose straight from the street. The building's 42nd Street elevation would have been covered with a projecting angular steel-and-glass "armature". Lighting designer Anne Militello had also been hired to design color-changing illumination for the New 42nd Street Building. A marquee and entrance to the Selwyn Theatre, as well as a storefront, would have been placed at the base of the building.^[3] Plans for the facade of the New 42nd Street Building were modified slightly after the Selwyn Building's facade collapsed.^[25]

The 13,000 sq ft (1,200 m²) facade is illuminated by 300 computer-controlled lamps, part of an illumination scheme created by Anne Militello.^[26] The building's 42nd Street elevation is covered in stainless steel bars, which act as brises soleil, screening the southern elevation from sunlight.^[25][27] The steel bars contain uplights that can be illuminated in many colors;^[27][28] these reflect onto a blue background.^[25][27] There are 54 rows of bars in total.^[26] Behind the bars is the building's glass curtain wall, which overlooks the studios inside.^[17][29] The leftmost portion of the second through fourth stories, marking the former site of the Selwyn Building, is left bare.^[25] This section measures 32 by 32 ft (9.8 by 9.8 m) across and consists of translucent and reflective glass panels.^[27] It uses dichroic glass, which can change colors based on the lighting conditions.^[17][27] There is a "light pipe" along the western part of the facade, measuring 175 ft (53 m) tall;^[17][25][30] it was designed by James Carpenter.^[25][27]

The building's illumination scheme allows it to blend in with other structures with billboards on Times Square.^[28][26] Under a zoning ordinance, the developers of new buildings had to install large signs facing Times Square, but New 42nd Street had not wanted to install a large billboard.^[26] Joseph Giovaninni of New York magazine wrote of the design: "The architects may have designed only what is, in the end, a familiar glass box, but with their totally original use of light they infused it with new life."^[25][27] Elaine Louie of The New York Times wrote that the structure "proves that a glass building can have a 21st-century reason for its transparency and not just be a nod to old-fashioned Modernism".^[29]

Interior

Auditorium

The Todd Haimes Theatre has a fan-shaped layout,^[23][31] which led one critic to observe that "a whisper in the farthest part of the stage may be heard at the most remote seat".^[14] While the theater originally had 1,180 seats,^[13][32][31] it has had 740 seats since the late 1990s.^[32][33] The modern theater has wider seats than the original Selwyn, necessitating the reduction in the number of seats.^[34] The original upholstery was replaced with vinyl in the mid-20th century, then changed to dark red in the late 1990s.^[32] The Selwyn was originally decorated in old Italian blue and antique gold.^[7][23][35] The theater had also contained Alps-green and Pavanazzo marbles,^[7] as well as murals and gold-leaf ornamentation.^[15][21] In the mid-20th century, the theater was repainted in red and cream.^[15] It was later renovated to feature a dark red color scheme, with hues of blue and green from the murals.^[36]

The orchestra level seats are arranged in 14 rows.

The first floor of the Selwyn Building was almost entirely occupied by the theater's lobby, lounges, and restrooms, while the other five floors were used as offices.^[7] The lounges and lobby were decorated in the same way as the auditorium,^[7] with ornate foyers, lounges, and restrooms.^[23] The Selwyn Theatre's design had several innovations, including separate smoking rooms for men and women, as well as a shower and telephone in each dressing room.^[13][14] The theater was retrofitted with a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system when it was rebuilt.^[34][42]

When the theater was rebuilt in the 1990s, new spaces were constructed both above and below the original theater. A 13 ft-deep (4.0 m) basement was built beneath the existing auditorium.^[15] It contains classrooms, lounges, restrooms, storage space, and technical rooms.^[15][39] The Todd Haimes' dressing and wardrobe room, mechanical spaces, green room, and public restrooms are in a mechanical core within the New 42nd Street Building.^[35][34] Three elevators and two staircases were built when the theater was reconstructed. One of the elevators is housed within an old fire escape shaft.^[15] On the 42nd Street side of the New 42nd Street Building, a 15 ft-deep (4.6 m) space was added for backstage areas.^[42]

Two stories were built above the roof, with reception, kitchen/dining, and bar areas; they are supported by the four columns in the auditorium.^[15] The additional stories are placed on a separate structure that does not touch the roof of the auditorium.^[42][39] The upper stories contain a subscribers' lobby facing 43rd Street, as well as a smaller private lounge for large donors.^[37] The subscribers' lobby, covering 3,500 sq ft (330 m²)^[37][43] or 4,000 sq ft (370 m²),^[39] was originally named for snack company Nabisco, which had paid $500,000 for naming rights.^[33] This lobby consists of a foyer with a carpeted floor, as well as a main area with a gold-and-blue ceiling and gilded wall mirrors.^[39] The Wall Street Journal reported in 2015 that the subscribers' lobby was often unused, since many subscribers instead gathered in the ground-floor lobby during intermissions.^[39]

The private lounge is immediately above the subscribers' lobby.^[33][39] It was originally intended for donors who contributed over $1,500 annually to the Roundabout Theatre Company.^[33] It is known as the Langworthy Lounge, after donor Norma S. Langworthy. The space can fit 40 people seated for a dinner or 70 people standing for a cocktail reception.^[44]

Other spaces

The building also contains 84,000 sq ft (7,800 m²) of rehearsal and performing space for New 42nd Street.

At the beginning of January 1917, the Selwyn brothers announced their intention to build a theater on 240–248 West 43rd Street, with an entrance on 42nd Street.^[57][58] The theater was planned to have 1,100 seats and, according to The New York Times, "novel features" such as rehearsal rooms and a women's lounge.^[57] In May 1918, the Selwyns filed plans with the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings for their theater, to be designed by George Keister.^[59][60] In addition, Keister designed a renovation for the existing three-story building on 42nd Street, owned by Mary L. Cassidy, into an office structure.^[59][61] Crosby Gaige would oversee the theater and office building's construction.^[62] The project was expected to cost $200,000 in total,^[59][60] and the theater would be known as the Selwyn.^[55][56] At the time, it was one of three theaters being erected on the block of 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, which already had nine theaters.^[63]

By September 1917, the site of the Selwyn Theatre was being cleared.^[55][56] The Selwyn brothers had announced two additional theaters on an adjoining site to the east, later the Apollo (42nd Street) and Times Square theaters.^[55][56][62] In February 1918, the Selwyn brothers agreed to give the exclusive booking rights for their plays to the Shubert family. Thereafter, the Shuberts held a partial interest in the three theaters that the Selwyns were constructing.^[64][65] The gangster Arnold Rothstein reportedly provided some financing for the project.^[66] Work was halted temporarily in early 1918 due to legal issues and material shortages.^[67] Construction of the office building resumed that April,^[67][68] at which point the auditorium had been completed.^[68] The same month, the Selwyns announced that the theater's first production would be a play written by Jane Cowl.^[69][70] By that July, the Selwyn brothers' company Selwyn & Co. indicated it would relocate its offices to the new building.^[71][72] Edgar Selwyn's wife Margaret Mayo also had an office in the building.^[73]

The theater informally opened for media tours on October 1, 1918,^[14] and Cowl's Information Please opened at the theater the next day.^[12][74][75] To mark the theater's official opening, the Selwyn brothers decorated the stage curtain with World War I Allied nations' flags, and they played the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", before the first performance.^[23] Information Please flopped with 46 performances.^[31][76][77] This was followed the same November by The Crowded Hour, in which Cowl also starred.^[78][79] Because of the theater's acoustic qualities, Selwyn & Co. announced in December 1918 that it would host concerts in the Selwyn on Sundays.^[80][81] The first such concert took place on December 30, 1918.^[82][83] This was followed in 1919 by Rudolf Friml and Otto Harbach's musical Tumble In^[31][84][85] and Eugene Walter's play The Challenge.^[86][87] The first hit at the theater was George V. Hobart's musical Buddies,^[77] which opened in October 1919^[88] and ran for 269 performances over the next eight months.^[77][89]

1920s and early 1930s

French impresario André Charlot hosted his popular Charlot Revue at the Selwyn during early 1924.^[110][111] It was followed immediately afterward by the musical Kid Boots, which had transferred from the Earl Carroll^[112] and ran for 489 total performances.^[113] The Selwyn housed several flops in early 1925,^[107][113] including The Gorilla.^[107] Charlot hosted another edition of his revue later that year,^[114][115] which continued for 138 performances.^[107][113] The Shubert brothers also negotiated to operate the Selwyn, but that deal was canceled in September 1925 because the Selwyn brothers felt they could manage the theater themselves.^[116] The hypnotist Fakir Rahman Bey performed at the Selwyn in May 1926,^[107][117] and the comedy The Man from Toronto had a short run the same year.^[107] George White took over the Selwyn's operation that July.^[118] Afterward, the theater hosted the musical Castles in the Air, which opened that September^[119][120] and ran for 160 performances.^[121] That October, Arch Selwyn assumed responsibility for the theater's bookings for one year.^[122] The play The Constant Nymph also opened at the Selwyn in 1926;^[31][123] despite a successful West End run,^[113] it stayed on Broadway for a relatively short 148 performances.^[124][123]

The theater's bookings in 1927 consisted of several short runs, such as The Mating Season, The Manhatters, The Garden of Eden, and Nightstick.

The Selwyn hosted the revue Three's a Crowd with Clifton Webb in October 1930,^[139][140] which lasted 272 performances.^[128][141] The Selwyn brothers received a $650,000 loan for the office building and theater in 1931.^[6] At the onset of the Great Depression, many Broadway theaters were impacted by declining attendance.^[142] The Selwyn Theatre was among the venues that suffered, hosting 11 consecutive flops from 1931 to 1933.^[143] The Dry Dock Savings Bank, which had given the Selwyn brothers a mortgage loan on the theater, had stipulated that it would not foreclose on the mortgage as long as the brothers could produce a hit. Arch Selwyn hired Crosby Gaige to produce several shows, but none of them lasted for very long; one play, Ragged Army, ran for just two days.^[128]

Movie theater and decline

Early use and attempted live-show revival

The theater was leased in April 1934 to the Anru Amusement Corporation,^[128][144] which started operating the Selwyn as a movie house the following month.^[128][145] The Selwyn brothers never again hosted a show at the theater.^[128] Arch Selwyn filed for bankruptcy shortly afterward; one of his debts was secured by a mortgage on the theater and office building.^[146][147] The theater was placed for sale at a foreclosure auction,^[148][149] and Dry Dock Savings Bank bought the theater in August 1934 for $610,000.^[150][151] Later the same year, Joseph Fitzula renovated the Selwyn Building.^[152] Among the office building's tenants at the time was the National Shakespearean Studio of Dramatic Art.^[153] The Brandt family bought the Selwyn Theatre and offices in 1937, subject to an existing first mortgage loan of $620,000.^[154][155] The theater operated under a "grindhouse" format, with films running continuously.^[128][156] This was part of a decline in the Broadway theater industry in the mid-20th century; from 1931 to 1950, the number of legitimate theaters decreased from 68 to 30.^[157][158] The box seats were removed when the Selwyn became a movie theater.^[142]

In August 1949, George Brandt suggested running live shows in their 42nd Street theaters,[165] though his father William was initially against it.^[166][167] Even so, the Brandts announced the same December that they would stage a live show at the Selwyn, The Respectful Prostitute, the first such show in 15 years.^{[128][168][169]} There were five performances on most days and four on Sundays,^[165][169] presented in conjunction with the film Flame of Youth. Two casts were hired, rotating between performances.^[169][170] To accommodate the mixed format, the plays had to be less than an hour long, though the Brandts had difficulty finding such short plays.^[171] Though ticket prices ranged from 38 cents in the morning to $1.10 on Sunday nights, the theater earned $24,000 during The Respectful Prostitute's first week, compared to $8,000 weekly before the new policy was implemented.^[165] Ninety percent of the audience members had never seen a play before.^[165][171] The Respectful Prostitute closed in February 1950^[172] and was followed by a dramatization of the film Ladies' Night in a Turkish Bath.^[165][173] This show ran for four weeks before going on tour.^[167][174]

1950s to 1970s

The Selwyn returned to showing movies exclusively in early 1950, after two months of alternating films and live shows.^[166][167] Though the stage-and-film format had the potential to be lucrative, there were not enough plays that fit the Brandts' criteria.^[166] William Brandt said in 1953 that any of his 42nd Street theaters could be converted to a legitimate house within 24 hours' notice, but producers did not take up his offer.^[175] By the late 1950s, the Selwyn was classified as a "move-over house", displaying features immediately after they ran at the Lyric, one of the street's two first-run theaters (the other being the New Amsterdam). As a move-over house, the Selwyn charged less than the first-run theaters but more than the "reissue houses" that screened old films. The Selwyn and the other 42nd Street theaters operated from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with three shifts of workers. The ten theaters on the block attracted about five million visitors a year between them.^[176]

The 42nd Street Company was established in 1961 to operate the Brandts' seven theaters on 42nd Street.^[177][178] By the early 1960s, the surrounding block had decayed, but many of the old theater buildings from the block's heyday remained, including the Selwyn.^[179] Martin Levine and Richard Brandt took over the 42nd Street Company in 1972.^[177][178] The Selwyn still operated as a move-over house, screening films that had previously played at the Lyric. The other five theaters showed a variety of genres, though Levine said none of the company's 42nd Street theaters showed hardcore porn. The Brandts' theaters had a combined annual gross of about $2 million and operated nearly the entire day.^[180] However, the area was in decline; the Brandts' theaters only had three million visitors by 1977, about half of the number in 1963.^[181] The Brandts' movie theaters on 42nd Street continued to operate through the mid-1980s, at which point the Selwyn was primarily screening successful mainstream films, interspersed with double bills of exploitation films.^[182]

Restoration

The 42nd Street Development Corporation had been formed in 1976 to discuss plans for redeveloping Times Square.

Another plan, called the City at 42nd Street, was announced in December 1979 as part of a proposal to restore West 42nd Street around Times Square.^[189][190] Under the plan, the Selwyn would have been preserved, and some of the other theaters would have been modified.^[189][191] Mayor Ed Koch wavered in his support of the plan, criticizing it as a "Disneyland on 42nd Street".^[192][193] Subsequently, Hugh Hardy conducted a report on 42nd Street's theaters in 1980. His report, in conjunction with a movement opposing the demolition of the nearby Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters, motivated the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to survey fifty of Midtown Manhattan's extant theaters in the early 1980s.^[194]

The LPC started to consider protecting theaters, including the Selwyn Theatre,^[195] with discussions continuing over the next several years.^[196] While the LPC granted landmark status to many Broadway theaters starting in 1987, it deferred decisions on the exterior and interior of the Selwyn Theatre.^[197] Further discussion of the landmark designations was delayed for several decades.^[198] In late 2015, the LPC hosted public hearings on whether to designate the Selwyn (by then American Airlines) and six other theaters as landmarks.^[199] The LPC rejected the designations in February 2016, as the theaters were already subject to historic-preservation regulations set by the state government.^[200]

Redevelopment proposals

The

In early 1989, several dozen nonprofit theater companies submitted plans to the UDC for the takeover of six theaters.[224]^[225] Most of the bids were for the Liberty and Victory, but the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square theaters received 13 bids between them.^[226] That year, The Durst Organization acquired the leases to eight theaters in Times Square, including the Selwyn. It subsequently announced plans to renovate the eight theaters in February 1990.^[227][228] The New York state government acquired the theater sites that April via eminent domain.^{[224][229][230]} The city had planned to buy out the theaters' leases^[231] but withdrew after the 42nd Street Company indicated it would lease the theaters to another developer.^[232] Although Durst protested the move, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the condemnation could occur.^[233] By then, the Selwyn was derelict; its marquee had the text "Enjoy a movie on 42d Street and bring the family."^[11]

A nonprofit organization,

The Wooster Group brought a limited production of Eugene O'Neill's The Hairy Ape to the Selwyn in April 1997^[249][250] for an eight-week run.^[251] By that time, the buildings to the west were being demolished to make way for the E-Walk project, requiring motion detectors to be installed on the Selwyn Building.^[252] Roundabout committed to renovating the Selwyn in September 1997. At the time, Roundabout had raised about half of the $10–12 million required for the Selwyn's restoration.^[253] Roundabout did not receive any of New 42nd Street's $18.2 million grant, as the latter had already announced plans for its new building.^[3] The development of the New 42nd Street Building forced the closure of the Grand Luncheonette in the Selwyn's lobby in October 1997; the restaurant had operated in Times Square for 58 years.^[254][255]

In late December 1997, E-Walk contractors noticed cracks on the Selwyn Building's facade but failed to notify the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) of any potential problems.^[16][20] The Selwyn Building collapsed during a heavy rainstorm on December 30, 1997.^{[20][256][257]} The collapse destroyed several pieces of memorabilia in the Times Square visitor center, including pinball machines and sex-store advertisements.^{[25][258][259]} The building had been vacant at the time, but police cordoned the area off because the collapse had occurred just before the Times Square Ball drop.^[258][259] The Times Square visitor center was subsequently relocated to the Embassy Theatre.^[260] In August 1998, the DOB found that the Big Apple Wrecking and Construction Corporation, a contractor for the E-Walk project, was liable for the Selwyn Building's collapse. Big Apple had failed to underpin the building's foundation when it was excavating the E-Walk site, which contributed to the collapse. The DOB could only penalize Big Apple by issuing fines of several thousand dollars.^[261]

Redesign and funding

The collapse of the Selwyn Building had forced New 42nd Street to redesign its proposed building.^[262] According to New 42nd Street president Cora Cahan, the original plans "had been more than 75 percent drawn".^[263] The New York State Council on the Arts, which had pledged funding for the Selwyn's restoration, instead allocated the money toward a new design for the New 42nd Street Building.^[264] In September 1998, the Doris Duke Foundation donated $3.5 million to New 42nd Street.^[49][265] The project also received $11.9 million from the developers of the 42nd Street Redevelopment's four large towers; $4 million from the city government; and $1 million from the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust.^[266] The next month, the organization announced that it had finalized plans for its building and would start construction immediately. The ten-story building was to cost $22.9 million and was planned to be completed by the end of the next year.^[267]

In February 1999, Roundabout announced that it would raise $17 million for the theater.^{[34][268][269]} At the time, $10 million had been raised.^[34][268] Roundabout hoped to raise the remaining funds by selling off "gift opportunities".^[269] Donors could pay $5,000 for a plaque affixed to one of the orchestra-level seats; $75,000 for a bathroom; $375,000 for the orchestra pit; and $10 million for naming rights to the entire theater.^[269] Roundabout was still negotiating with performers' unions over the operation of the rebuilt theater.^[270] Roundabout hired Robert Ascione and Karlsberger Architecture to redesign the theater.^[15][35] In addition, Francesca Russo was the restoration architect, while Tony Walton was the scenic designer.^[15] The Selwyn was reduced to 740 seats as part of the renovation.^[33]

After being evicted from the Criterion Center in March 1999, Roundabout had to rent temporary space for several months.^[271][272] In May 1999, the Tony Awards' administration committee ruled that the Selwyn counted as a Broadway theater, so productions there would be eligible for the Tonys.^[273] By that September, Roundabout had raised $15 million of a $21.5 million endowment for the theater.^[37] The Selwyn was renamed in March 2000 after American Airlines (AA),^[274][275] which would pay $850,000 annually over at least ten years.^[276] AA's name would be placed on the marquee as well as all advertisements and tickets.^[274][275] At the time, Broadway theaters were typically named for actors or theater operators rather than companies.^[16][274] The renaming was the most controversial part of the renovation.^[43][167] In total, the existing theater cost $25 million to renovate,^[43] while the new building cost $29.6 million.^[30][29]

Roundabout operation

2000s

A revival of Uncle Vanya was originally scheduled as the renovated theater's first production,^[277][278] but Roundabout instead booked a revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner in late 1999.^[279] New 42nd Street opened the studios in its new building on June 20, 2000.^[30][47] The American Airlines Theatre informally reopened on June 30, 2000,^[280] even though the subscribers' lobby was incomplete at the time.^[42] At the time, Roundabout had 46,000 subscribers; this was nearly three times the 17,000 subscribers it had in 1983.^[43][33] The theater formally reopened on July 27, 2000.^[167] Typically, the American Airlines hosted two to five Broadway productions per season due to Roundabout's subscription format; most shows ran for fewer than 100 performances. In the first decade of the 21st century, the theater had the most new productions of any Broadway venue, since all productions had limited runs regardless of their success.^[281] Actors at the theater were originally paid a lower rate than those at for-profit Broadway theaters, but this was changed in 2002 following negotiations with the Actors' Equity Association.^[282]

The reopened theater featured the plays

In 2010, Roundabout and AA agreed to renew their naming-rights contract.[294] The theater hosted the plays Mrs. Warren's Profession and The Importance of Being Earnest in the 2010–2011 season,^[24][283][c] with the latter production being extended due to its popularity.^[295] This was followed by the plays Man and Boy, The Road to Mecca, and Don't Dress for Dinner in 2011–2012; Cyrano de Bergerac, Picnic, and The Big Knife in 2012–2013; and The Winslow Boy and Machinal in 2013–2014.^[24][283][c] The musical Violet, whose limited run spanned 128 performances, was also performed during the 2013–2014 season.^[296] During the 2014–2015 season,^[c] the theater hosted the play The Real Thing^[297] and the musical On the Twentieth Century, the latter of which had 144 performances.^[298]

The American Airlines hosted a mixture of revivals and original plays in the late 2010s,^[24][283] including Old Times, Noises Off, and Long Day's Journey into Night in the 2015–2016 season^[299] and The Cherry Orchard, The Price, and Marvin's Room in the 2016–2017 season.^[300] Next, the theater hosted the play Time and the Conways, John Lithgow's solo Stories by Heart, and the play Travesties in 2017–2018.^[301] The theater staged Bernhardt/Hamlet, True West, and All My Sons for the 2018–2019 season.^[302] Only two plays were performed in the 2019–2020 season: The Rose Tattoo and A Soldier's Play.^[24][283][c] The American Airlines' regular season was cut short when the theater closed on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[303] It reopened with previews of the play Trouble in Mind on October 29, 2021.^[304] The 2021–2022 season had three shows: Trouble in Mind, the play Birthday Candles, and the musical 1776.^[305] These shows had originally been delayed to early 2021,^[306] but they were pushed further due to the extension of COVID-19 restrictions.^[305] A one-year-long renovation of the penthouse lobby was also announced in 2021.^[307] The play Fat Ham opened at the American Airlines during the 2022–2023 season.^[308]

After Todd Haimes died in April 2023, Roundabout announced in June 2023 that the American Airlines would be renamed the Todd Haimes Theatre in the following year.

Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. This list only includes Broadway shows; it does not include films screened at the theater. No productions were hosted at the theater between 1950 and 2000.[283]^[24]

Selwyn Theatre

American Airlines Theatre and Todd Haimes Theatre

I Need That achieved the box office record for the Todd Haimes Theatre. The production grossed $905,467 over eight performances for the week ending December 31, 2023,[378] breaking the previous record of $638,811 set by True West on the week ending March 17, 2019.^[379]

See also

• List of Broadway theaters

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

• Belasco Theater (PDF) (Report). New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. November 4, 1987.
• Bloom, Ken (2007). The Routledge Guide to Broadway (1st ed.). New York: Routledge.
  ISBN 978-0-415-97380-9
  .
• Botto, Louis; Mitchell, Brian Stokes (2002). At This Theatre: 100 Years of Broadway Shows, Stories and Stars. New York; Milwaukee, WI: Applause Theatre & Cinema Books/Playbill.
  ISBN 978-1-55783-566-6
  .
• Henderson, Mary C.; Greene, Alexis (2008). The story of 42nd Street: the theaters, shows, characters, and scandals of the world's most notorious street. New York: Back Stage Books.
  OCLC 190860159
  .
• Lampert-Greaux, Ellen (July 2000). "Historic preservation: Roundabout restores the Selwyn to its former glory". Entertainment Design. Vol. 34, no. 7. pp. 30–31.
  ProQuest 209648105
  .
• Luna, Ian (2003). New New York: Architecture of a City. New York: Rizzoli.
  OCLC 972013228
  .
• Morrison, William (1999). Broadway Theatres: History and Architecture. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.
  ISBN 0-486-40244-4
  .
• Stern, Robert A. M.; Fishman, David; Tilove, Jacob (2006). New York 2000: Architecture and Urbanism Between the Bicentennial and the Millennium. New York: Monacelli Press.
  OL 22741487M
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Selwyn Theatre, Manhattan and New 42nd Street Building.

• Official website
• The Selwyn at the New 42nd Street
• Todd Haimes Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database