The Gershwin Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 222 West 51st Street in midtown-Manhattan in the Paramount Plaza building. The theatre is named after brothers George Gershwin, a composer, and Ira Gershwin, a lyricist. It has the largest seating capacity of any Broadway theatre with 1,933 seats, host to large musical productions. The Gershwin has been home to the blockbuster musical Wicked since 2003.
History and architecture
Designed in an modernist Art Nouveau style by set designerRalph Alswang, it is situated on the lower levels of a towering office complex built at an estimated cost of $12.5 million on the site of the historical Capitol Theatre. Escalators lead from the street level through-block passageway entrance to the expansive lobby, home to The American Theatre Hall of Fame. With a 65-foot wide adjustable proscenium arch and 80-foot wide stage, it is one of the largest Broadway stages, ideal for very large musical productions. A large orchestra with stadium seating, and mezzanine fill the expansive auditorium. It opened as the Uris Theatre on November 28, 1972 with the musical Via Galactica starring Raul Julia. It proved to be an inauspicious start for the venue, with the first show to lose a million dollars closing after only seven performances. From 1974–76 it served as a concert hall for limited engagements by a number of legendary pop music and jazz performers, before it began to host large musical productions with Porgy and Bess in 1976. The venue was host to the Tony Awards in 1984, 92, 93, and 1999. During the 37th Tony Awards ceremony held June 5, 1983, the theatre was rechristened to honor the Gershwins. The Gershwin was heavily modified for the Broadway production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Starlight Express in 1987, a massive production costing over $8 million. Starlight would go on to run nearly 800 performances at the Gershwin. 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.
Wicked set a box office record for the Gershwin Theatre. The production grossed $3,201,333 over nine performances for the week ending December 29, 2013. This was also the highest one-week box office gross income made by any show in Broadway history, until that time.
