Mark Hellinger Theatre
The eastern section, containing the building's current main entrance, includes statues flanking the doors, as well as an overhanging marquee.By 1989, a lack of Broadway productions prompted the Nederlanders to lease the theater to the Times Square Church, which bought the building two years later and continues to operate it as of 2024[update].The Mark Hellinger Theatre is at 237 West 51st Street, on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City.[3][6] The Hollywood Theatre's main entrance was originally at 1655 Broadway, with a narrow lobby leading to a grand foyer on 51st Street.[9] The stage house to the west and the auditorium at the center share a facade, with gold brick above a black-granite water table.On the upper stories, the central section (auditorium) contains a large brick panel surrounded by soldier courses.[13][14][15] According to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), the lobby's design is similar to the interior of the 18th-century Basilica of the Fourteen Holy Helpers in Germany.[27] Though the balcony is also raked, its underside is convex, preventing sound-deadening air pockets from accumulating at the orchestra's rear wall.Underneath the front railing of each box is an arch at orchestra level, which contains a pair of console brackets with a cartouche at the center.[59] These changes were to accommodate Hollywood's first theatrical production:[60] Calling All Stars, a musical revue with Martha Raye, which opened in December 1934[61][62] and ran 35 performances.[61][63] In October 1935, the Hollywood hosted the premiere of the Warner Bros. film A Midsummer Night's Dream, starring James Cagney and Olivia de Havilland.[74] The Hollywood Theatre name was restored in August 1937[55] with the screening of The Life of Emile Zola,[75][76] the first premiere at the theater since A Midsummer Night's Dream.[79] In 1940, the theater was again renamed the 51st Street Theatre,[80] presenting a revival of Romeo and Juliet with Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier that May.[94][95] Among the films screened at the Hollywood in the mid-1940s were This Is the Army (1943),[96] Old Acquaintance (1943),[97] The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944),[98] The Corn Is Green (1945),[99] and Night and Day (1946).[83][101] Wealthy producer Anthony Brady Farrell agreed to purchase the Warner Theatre in June 1948 for about $1.5 million;[102][103] the sale was finalized the next month.[113][114] Despite a string of early losses, as well as a weekly expenditure of $4,500 to $5,000 for the Hellinger's maintenance, Farrell was optimistic about the theater's potential to make money.[126][127] Chartock returned in late 1952 with a four-week engagement of Gilbert and Sullivan productions,[126][128] followed by Guthrie McClintic and the Greek National Theater with two plays by Sophocles.[133] The Girl in Pink Tights, the final show of the late composer Sigmund Romberg,[134] premiered in 1954[134][135] and closed after 115 performances.[138][139] The Amish-themed musical Plain and Fancy opened in January 1955[138][140] and was a hit with 461 total performances (some at the Winter Garden Theatre).[142][143] The Hellinger had its greatest success with the musical My Fair Lady, with a score by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe.[148] A year after My Fair Lady opened, Farrell sold the Hellinger to Max and Stanley Stahl, who had already purchased the neighboring building on Broadway.[138][173] Two productions followed in 1969: Jerry Herman's Dear World, featuring Angela Lansbury,[174][175] and Alan Jay Lerner and André Previn's Coco, starring Katharine Hepburn in her only Broadway musical.[179][180] The Hellinger next staged the flop Ari[174][181][182] and the final performances of the long-running off-Broadway production Man of La Mancha in 1971.[203][204] This was followed in 1979 by Sarava, a musical with a score by Mitch Leigh;[205][206] the Joffrey Ballet, with featured artist Rudolf Nureyev;[188][207] and The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall, which closed on its opening night.[208][209][210] The Hellinger finally saw a success in late 1979 when Ann Miller and Mickey Rooney costarred in the burlesque Sugar Babies,[211][212] which ran 1,208 performances over the next three years.[213][225] Michael Bennett negotiated to buy a half-interest in the theater's ownership in 1984,[29][226] the same year that Jerry Weintraub purchased a stake in the operation of the Hellinger.[253] In addition, the Broadway theatrical industry was struggling to stage works, and James M. Nederlander said: "It's a short-term lease—five years is short term for me."[254][252] Had the Nederlanders retained the Hellinger as a legitimate venue, the organization could have rented the theater to a large musical for $1.04 million a year, but it would be far from a consistent income stream.[253] That August, the LPC held a hearing on whether the westernmost 26-foot-wide (7.9 m) section of the theater could be demolished to make way for a hotel developed by Silverstein Properties.[268] In addition to Mackintosh and the Bennett estate, offers were reportedly made by former Canadian impresario Garth Drabinsky, theatrical operator Shubert Organization, and corporate producers Disney and Clear Channel.
Times Square ChurchManhattanNew York CityCoordinatesChurchBroadwayCapacityThomas W. LambNew York City Landmarkchurch building51st StreetMidtown ManhattanBroadway theaterMark HellingerWarner Bros.movie palacefacadeBaroqueNew York City landmarkscornicemarqueerotundafluted columnscoved ceilingVaudevillelegitimateNederlander OrganizationMy Fair LadyTimbuktu!Eighth Avenueland lotfrontage52nd StreetNeil Simon TheatreGallagher's SteakhouseAugust Wilson TheatreBroadway Theatre810 Seventh AvenueAxa Equitable CenterWinter Garden TheatreParamount PlazaCircle in the Square TheatreGershwin TheatreNew York City Subway50th Street stationgrand foyerTimes Squarewater tabletransomterracottacoursesparapetsoldier coursesbracketssetbackrococoRambusch Decorating CompanyArt DecoNew York City Landmarks Preservation CommissionBasilica of the Fourteen Holy Helperscapitalsentablaturecherubscandelabrasconcessegmental archesconsole bracketsbalustradecartouchesprosceniumreliefDamaskexit signsvolutesCorinthianplaster-of-Parisbroken pedimentcinemaAdam stylemantelpieceC. Howard CraneJohn EbersonTheater DistrictTechnicolorHold EverythingWinnie LightnerJoe E. BrownLindy'sMoby DickBoughtThe Mad GeniusLou HoltzArthur George KleinShubert brothersMartha RayeA Midsummer Night's DreamJames CagneyOlivia de HavillandEarl CarrollGeorge AbbottThe Life of Emile ZolaGilbert and SullivanGeorge White's ScandalsAlvin TheatreRomeo and JulietVivien LeighLaurence OlivierBallet Russe de Monte-CarloWassily de BasilOriginal Ballet RusseEddie CantorBanjo EyesCasablancaThis Is the ArmyOld AcquaintanceThe Adventures of Mark TwainThe Corn Is GreenNight and DayLife with FatherPaul HartmanGrace HartmanBert WheelerKenny DelmarTickets, Please!Coronet TheatreHarold Rome