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Times Square Theater

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Times Square Theater

The Times Square Theater is a former Broadway and movie theater at 215–217 West 42nd Street, near Times Square, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Built in 1920, it was designed by Eugene De Rosa and developed by brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn. The building, which is no longer an active theater, is owned by the city and state governments of New York and leased to New 42nd Street.

The Times Square Theater was designed simultaneously with the now-demolished Apollo Theatre immediately to the north and west. The theaters shared a symmetrical facade on 42nd Street, which is made of limestone and contains a central colonnade. The Times Square Theater took up most of the facade, though the western section was occupied by the Apollo Theatre's entrance. Inside, the Times Square Theater had a fan-shaped auditorium that could seat 1,155 people. The auditorium was designed in a silver, green, and black color scheme and had a shallow balcony, box seats, and murals. As part of a renovation proposed in 2018, the theater building will be substantially expanded with a glass annex, the original facade will be raised, and some of the interior elements will be preserved.

The Times Square opened on September 30, 1920, with Edgar Selwyn's play The Mirage. The theater mostly hosted legitimate shows in its first decade, but it briefly screened films in 1926 and 1928. Notable shows included The Front Page (1928), Strike Up the Band (1930), and Private Lives (1931). The theater staged its last show in 1933, and the theater became a cinema the next year. The Brandt family operated the Times Square for the next five decades, showing westerns and action films. There were several proposals to redevelop theaters along 42nd Street in the 1980s. New 42nd Street took over the Times Square and several neighboring theaters in 1990, but the theater building was difficult to lease out because of its lack of a rear entrance. Among the unsuccessful bids were those by MTV, Marvel Mania, Livent, Ecko Unltd., and a 4D theater company. Stillman Development International leased the building in 2017 and hired Beyer Blinder Belle to renovate it.

The Times Square Theater is at 215–217 West 42nd Street, on the northern sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, near the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The building occupies a nearly square land lot covering 10,401 ft2 (966.3 m2), with a frontage of 105 ft (32 m) on 42nd Street and a depth of 100.5 ft (30.6 m). The theater is surrounded to the east and north by the Lyric Theatre. It also shares the block with the Hotel Carter building and the Todd Haimes Theatre to the west, as well as the New Victory Theater and 3 Times Square to the east. Other nearby buildings include 255 West 43rd Street, the St. James Theatre, the Hayes Theater to the northwest; 229 West 43rd Street and 1501 Broadway to the north; 5 Times Square and the New Amsterdam Theatre to the southeast; and the Candler Building to the south.

The surrounding area is part of Manhattan's Theater District and contains many Broadway theaters. In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues for legitimate theatre were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. The New Amsterdam, Harris, Liberty, Eltinge, and Lew Fields theaters occupied the south side of the street. The original Lyric and Apollo theaters (combined into the current Lyric Theatre), as well as the Times Square, Victory, Selwyn (now Todd Haimes), and Victoria theaters, occupied the north side. These venues were mostly converted to movie theaters by the 1930s, and many of them had been relegated to showing pornography by the 1970s.

The Times Square Theater, along with the Apollo Theatre immediately to the north and west, was developed by brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn in 1920. Both theaters were built simultaneously and designed by Eugene De Rosa. Architectural Plastering Co. performed the theater's exterior sgraffito work, while L. S. Fischl's Sons was the interior decorator.

The theater's original facade, shared with the former Apollo Theatre, is made of limestone and is symmetrical. The layout is similar to that of the still-extant Music Box Theatre. The westernmost section served as an entrance to the Apollo Theatre, whose auditorium was originally on 43rd Street. There was a marquee overhanging the entrance to the Apollo. Above that was a vertical sign advertising the two theaters. The Apollo's name was placed on the western face of the sign, while the Times Square's name was placed on the eastern face. In addition, there were entrances to the Times Square Theater to the east, separated by rusticated limestone piers. The two theaters' entrances were otherwise identical in design.

At the second floor is a colonnade of six columns between a pair of outer bays. The New York Times described the columns as being in the Doric order. There were originally seven wrought-iron screens, one between each set of columns. The auditorium facade is slightly recessed behind the colonnade, creating a gallery. The outermost bays in the second floor contained sash window panes, flanked by pilasters that support a round arch. The pilasters in the corners of the arches were carved. A cornice ran above the facade. Unlike the four neighboring theaters, the Times Square Theater did not have any access from 43rd Street; its auditorium and stage house were both on 42nd Street. The auditorium was positioned parallel to the street, facing eastward.

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