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Booth Theatre
Booth Theatre (48295953591).jpg
Address 222 West 45th Street
New York City, New York
United States
Coordinates 40°45′31″N 73°59′13″W / 40.758473°N 73.987024°W / 40.758473; -73.987024
Owner The Shubert Organization
Designation Broadway theatre
Capacity 800
Construction
Opened October 16, 1913
Architect Henry B. Herts
Edwin Booth's Theatre, 23rd St., between 5th and 6th Ave, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views - cropped
Booth's Theatre, on the southeast corner of 23rd Street and 6th Avenue, was demolished in 1965.
Booth Theatre Shubert Theatre NYC 2007
Booth Theatre (right) and Shubert Theatre (left), back-to-back in Shubert Alley

The Booth Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 222 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Architect Henry B. Herts designed the Booth and its companion Shubert Theatre as a back-to-back pair sharing a Venetian Renaissance-style façade.

Named in honor of famed 19th-century American actor Edwin Booth, brother of John Wilkes Booth, the theater's 783-seat auditorium was intended to provide an intimate setting for dramatic and comedic plays. It opened on October 16, 1913, with Arnold Bennett's play "The Great Adventure."

The venue was the second New York City theatre to bear this name. The first, Booth's Theatre, was originally owned by Edwin Booth, and built by the architectural partnership Renwick & Sands between 1867 and 1869 on the corner of 23rd Street and 6th Avenue (see picture, below).

The Booth Theatre appeared in The West Wing episode Posse Comitatus as venue for a fictitious charity performance of War of the Roses which President Jed Bartlet attended during the assassination of the Qumari Defence Minister Abdul ibn Shareef.

The box-office record was broken in 2013 by Bette Midler in I'll Eat You Last: A Chat with Sue Mengers with a gross of $753,217 in just seven performances. Midler then broke her own record the week following with a gross of $865,144. The revival of The Elephant Man, starring Bradley Cooper, topped Midler's record by grossing $1,058,547 for an eight-performance week ending December 28, 2014. The current record is held by the 2018 revival of The Boys in the Band. The production grossed $1,152,649 over eight performances for the week ending August 12, 2018.

The theatre has been closed as of March 12, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It does not plan on opening until January 3, 2021.

Images for kids

  • "TIMES SQUARE" map in 1916 with "HOTEL ASTOR" "BOOTH THEATRE" "SHUBERT THEATRE" "RIALTO THEATRE" "LYRIC THEATRE" THE LITTLE THEATRE" "TIMES ANNEX" "ST. LUKES" LUTHERN CHURCH, from- Bromley Manhattan Plate 071 publ. 1916 (cropped)

    Drawing of the theater's site in 1916. The Shubert and Booth theaters are at upper left.

  • Booth Theatre on Broadway (7645533870)

    Cartouche above the Booth Theatre's entrance

  • Arch 1913 p 169

    View of the auditorium's left wall from the stage. The walls contain wood paneling that rises to about two-thirds of the auditorium's height. The top third of the balcony walls contains elliptical arches with casement windows. The left boxes and balcony hang over the orchestra.

  • Arch 1913 p 317

    View of the boxes on the right side of the auditorium

  • Arch 1913 p 315

    Early view of the theater

  • Booth Theatre on Broadway (7645535000)

    Canopy

  • The Booth Theatre (14881290018)

    View from across 45th Street

  • Booth Teatre 222 W45 St BMidler morning sun jeh

    The facade as seen from across 45th Street in the morning

  • The Glass Menagerie at Booth Theatre (10540820846)

    The Glass Menagerie at the Booth Theatre in 2013

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Teatro Booth para niños

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