Winter Garden Theatre
The
Winter Garden Theatre is a
Broadway theatre. It is located at 1634
Broadway between 50th and 51st Street in
New York City.
Owned by the
Shubert family, the theatre was built on the site of the second
American Horse Exchange in 1910-11. Instead of demolishing the Exchange, the Shuberts hired architect
William Albert Swasey to convert the building for use as a theatre. The venue was completely remodeled and renovated in 1922 by
Herbert J. Krapp.
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Winter Garden Theatre, February 2003 |
The Winter Garden opened on March 10, 1911 with an early
Jerome Kern musical,
La Belle Paree. It is probably best known as the home to one of
Broadway's longest-running musicals,
Cats, which opened on
October 7,
1981 and closed after 7,485 performances on
September 10,
2000.
The Winter Garden also housed the
Ziegfield Follies of 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957, and has been home to some of Broadway's greatest musicals, including
Jerry Herman's
Mame,
Jule Styne's
Gypsy and
Funny Girl,
Stephen Sondheim's
Pacific Overtures and
Follies,
Leonard Bernstein's
Wonderful Town and
West Side Story, and
Mary Rodgers's
Once Upon a Mattress. Since 2001, it has been the home of the musical
Mamma Mia, based on songs by
ABBA.
In
2002, it was renamed the "Cadillac Winter Garden Theatre" under an agreement between the
Shubert Organization, which owns the theater, and
General Motors.
At least three other Broadway theatres at other locations had previously borne the name Winter Garden Theatre:
#
Tripler Hall at 624 Broadway was built in 1850 and immediately renamed
Jenny Lind Hall. It became
Metropolitan Hall in 1851,
Laura Keene's Variety House in 1854,
Burton's New Theatre in 1856, and the Winter Garden Theatre in 1859.
Edwin Booth appeared there in several
Shakespeare plays, and was manager of the theatre from 1863 to 1867, when fire raced through the Winter Garden, resulting in its demolition.#The
Olympia Theatre: Roof Garden at 1514-16 Broadway near 44th Street opened in November, 1895 and was renamed the Winter Garden Theatre that same year. It was rechristened the
Cherry Blossom Grove in 1900, the
New York Roof in 1905, and as the
Jardin de Paris hosted the
Ziegfeld Follies of 1907, 1908, 1909, 1910, and 1911. It was demolished in 1935.#The
New York Winter Garden Theatre housed the revival of
Florodora in 1902.
*
Broadway Theatre Guide*
Official website*
"At this Theatre" on Playbill.com*
info on NYTheatre.com
