Lyric Theatre (New York City, 1998)

The Lyric Theatre is at 214 West 43rd Street, on the southern sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue, at the southern end of Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. The land lot has an area of but the theater has wings extending to 42nd Street, making the total depth of the site . 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 current Lyric Theatre occupies the sites of the Lyric Theatre, built on the eastern half of the site in 1903, and the Apollo Theatre, built to the west in 1920. Both theaters had entrances from 42nd Street, flanking the Times Square Theater, although their auditoriums were on 43rd Street. When the theaters were built, 42nd Street was generally considered an upscale address. The old Lyric was designed by Victor Hugo Koehler and constructed by the Shubert brothers for composer Reginald De Koven. It featured performers such as Fred Astaire, the Marx Brothers, and Douglas Fairbanks until it was converted to a movie theater in 1934. The exterior of the old Lyric still largely survives within the current theater. The interior decorative scheme was relatively plain. The old Lyric contained three levels of seating, topped by a ceiling dome that was surrounded by moldings of lyres and Greek masks. was originally a film and vaudeville theater. The Apollo's facade on 42nd Street was built as part of the Times Square Theater's facade. The old Apollo, decorated in a rose, tan, and blue color scheme with flat decorations, contained 1,194 seats on two levels. There were also four boxes, placed within ornate Palladian arches, as well as an Adam-style proscenium arch that measured wide and high. Both the Lyric and the Apollo were owned by the Brandt Theatres chain by the 1970s; the Brandts renovated both venues as part of a plan to reopen both as legitimate houses. Only the Apollo ultimately reopened, in 1979; it reverted to movies in 1983. The Apollo was then renamed the Academy Theatre and became a nightclub. ==Design==

The current Lyric Theatre was designed by Beyer Blinder Belle (BBB) and Peter H. Kofman for Garth Drabinsky; it opened as the Ford Center in 1998. According to Richard Blinder of BBB, the current theater's design had to conform with preservation guidelines because it was part of a city-owned district controlled by New 42nd Street. As such, the theater incorporates major architectural elements and structures from both the old Lyric's facade and the Apollo's interior. The interior of the old Lyric was too badly deteriorated for most of the individual elements to be restored. but an office wing on 42nd Street was preserved. Facade The new Lyric Theatre retains the ornate facades of Koehler's original Lyric Theatre on 42nd and 43rd Street. Above these windows are busts of W. S. Gilbert, Arthur Sullivan, and Reginald De Koven. The original theater had a sloped tile roof on 43rd Street, as well as a marquee in front of the entrance. The first story of this arch contained a portico with a column on either side, above which was a frieze with the words "The Lyric". The second story contained the actual archway, which was decorated with terracotta. The modern theater's new design elements blend with its historical elements; the design of the lobby was inspired by the old Lyric, while the auditorium was inspired by the old Apollo. BBB initially planned to use a modern decorative scheme that contrasted with the historical design elements, but Richard Blinder said this proposal was "too diagrammatic". The Italian-marble staircase rises from one side of the rotunda and splits into two flights, wrapping around to the mezzanine. The capitals of the rotunda's columns are decorated with gilded guilloche reliefs that depict light bulbs. Both of the former theaters' lobbies to 42nd Street were retained when the Ford Center was built. While the Apollo's lobby to the west kept its bas-relief sculptures and black-and-white marble decorations, the old Lyric's lobby to the east had lost all of its decoration. The lounge also contained coat and parcel checks, dedicated restrooms and telephones, and a snack area. Above the lobby is a space for choreography and a space for rehearsals. There are also three box offices. Two box seats on either side are taken from the original Apollo Theatre. The stage is designed to accommodate large musicals, measuring about deep and about wide. When the theater was built, Drabinsky specified that the fly loft had to be high, and the stage house was to contain dressing rooms for 75 performers. To maximize space within the stage house, its support columns are embedded into the western wall, adjoining the Selwyn (American Airlines) Theatre. Such columns are typically freestanding, but this design added of depth to the stage house. The dressing rooms, as well as various backstage areas, are placed in the basement to free up space for the stage. ==History==

Planning Preservation attempts The City at 42nd Street plan was announced in December 1979 as part of a proposal to restore West 42nd Street around Times Square. Under the plan, the old Apollo Theatre would continue to be used as a legitimate theater, operated by Brandt Theatres. The Lyric Theatre's facade would be restored, but the interior would be modified. Mayor Ed Koch wavered in his support of the plan, criticizing it as a "Disneyland on 42nd Street". Subsequently, Hugh Hardy conducted a report on 42nd Street's theaters in 1980. His report, in conjunction with a movement opposing the demolition of the nearby Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters, motivated the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to survey fifty of Midtown Manhattan's extant theaters in the early 1980s. The LPC started to consider protecting theaters, including the Apollo and Lyric theaters, as landmarks in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. While the LPC granted landmark status to many Broadway theaters starting in 1987, it deferred decisions on the exterior and interior of the Lyric Theatre, as well as the interior of the Apollo Theatre. Further discussion of the landmark designations was delayed for several decades. In late 2015, the LPC hosted public hearings on whether to designate the Apollo, the Lyric, and five other theaters as landmarks. The LPC rejected the designations in February 2016 because the theaters were already subject to historic-preservation regulations set by the state government. Redevelopment proposals The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, then proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. The plan centered around four towers that were to be built at 42nd Street's intersections with Broadway and Seventh Avenue, developed by Park Tower Realty and the Prudential Insurance Company of America. It was delayed for several years due to lawsuits and disputes concerning the towers. From 1987 to 1989, Park Tower and Prudential hired Robert A. M. Stern to conduct a study on the Apollo, Lyric, Selwyn (later American Airlines), Times Square, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street. Stern devised three alternatives for the five theaters. City and state officials announced plans for the five theaters, along with the Liberty Theatre on the south side of 42nd Street, in September 1988. Stern presented a model of his plan the next month. The plan called for restoring the Apollo Theatre as a legitimate venue and converting the Lyric Theatre's heavily modified interior to a 2,500-seat auditorium. The UDC opened a request for proposals for six of the theaters that October. The Liberty and Victory were to be converted into performing-arts venues for nonprofit organizations, while the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square were to be converted to commercial use. By the end of the year, the plans were threatened by a lack of money. In early 1989, several dozen nonprofit theater companies submitted plans to the UDC for the takeover of six theaters. Most of the bids were for the Liberty and Victory, but the Selwyn, Apollo, Lyric, and Times Square theaters received 13 bids between them. That year, The Durst Organization acquired the leases to eight theaters in Times Square, including the Apollo and Lyric. It subsequently announced plans to renovate the eight theaters in February 1990. The New York state government acquired the theater sites that April via eminent domain. The city had planned to buy out the theaters' leases but withdrew after the 42nd Street Company indicated it would lease the theaters to another developer. Although Durst protested the move, a New York Supreme Court judge ruled that the sites could be acquired by condemnation. A nonprofit organization, New 42nd Street, was formed in September 1990 to restore six of the theaters and find uses for them. Government officials hoped that development of the theaters would finally allow the construction of the four towers around 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue. In 1992, New 42nd Street received a $18.2 million grant for restoring the six theaters. By the next year, there were proposals to open an information center in either the Apollo or the Lyric. After Disney committed to restoring the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1994, most of the other theaters around 42nd Street were quickly leased. Lease and construction Garth Drabinsky, president of Canadian company Livent, toured the Apollo and Lyric in January 1994. However, the negotiations with MTV fell through. Livent signed a long-term lease for the Apollo and Lyric theaters in July 1995. Livent planned to combine the theaters into a single 1,850-seat house for large musicals, using architectural elements of both theaters. The proposed large theater, a continuation of Stern's late-1980s plan for the site, would be the second-largest Broadway venue behind the Gershwin Theatre. Meanwhile, the original Lyric Theatre's marquee on 42nd Street was removed in 1995 during the reconstruction of the New Victory Theater. Even though the LPC had not designated the Apollo or Lyric theaters as landmarks, parts of the buildings were still subject to preservation guidelines. Livent's new theater would not require public subsidies, According to the New York Daily News, this was the first corporate sponsorship of a Broadway theater "in most theatergoers' memory", as Broadway theaters were typically named for actors or theater operators rather than companies. Work progressed quickly so the theater could be finished by the end of 1997. The steel skeleton was being erected by February 1997 and the prefabricated facade panels were shipped from Canada after the roof was installed in June. The decorative details from the previous theaters were being installed by that August. Summarizing the reactions from architectural and theatrical critics, The New York Times characterized the Ford Center as "a nearly universally praised building that, with musical theater houses in short supply, Broadway and New York City needed". The editorial board of Architecture magazine said the Ford Center was one of several "glorious recent examples of preservation's virtues". A critic for The Journal News wrote that the Ford Center "shows that you can not only open a new theater, but you can also open a new theater that looks as good as an old one". Conversely, Herbert Muschamp of the Times said the Ford Center "offers an architectural glimpse through the rearview mirror". By that November, less than a year after the Ford Center opened, Livent had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Broadway producers attributed the bankruptcy proceedings in part to the costs of the Ford Center's construction and of Livent's frequent full-page advertisements in The New York Times. subsequently, several firms sought to buy Livent or its theaters. In August 1999, SFX Entertainment bought Livent's assets, including the Ford Center. The theater also hosted events such as a 52nd-birthday fundraiser for Hillary Clinton, then the First Lady of the United States, in 1999. Ragtime closed in early 2000, after 861 performances, due to extremely high operating costs. 2000s SFX, and with it the Ford Center, was subsequently acquired by Clear Channel Entertainment in 2000. The Ford Center's first new production of the 2000s was a revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Jesus Christ Superstar, which opened in April 2000. Superstar ran for 161 performances through that September. Ultimately, the musical 42nd Street was revived at the Ford in May 2001. During 42nd Street run, on September 23, 2001, the theater hosted a special performance of the musical Dreamgirls. Though 42nd Street was profitable during its run at the Ford, the show's producers announced in October 2004 that the show would close due a lack of money. The musical ended at the beginning of 2005 with 1,524 performances. The name change happened in advance of the U.S. premiere of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Chitty only lasted through the end of the year, with 285 performances; but it closed after three months, and ran for only 85 performances. Young Frankenstein opened at the Hilton in November 2007; it was one of the few shows to continue operating through the 2007 Broadway stagehand strike, which occurred shortly after the opening. The musical, which ran for 485 performances through January 2009, The musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark was booked for the theater shortly afterward, although previews were not expected to start until early 2010, leaving the Hilton unused for an entire year. This delay was because the Hilton required extensive renovations for Spider-Man. Further issues arose in August 2009 when Spider-Man ran out of money, causing work at the Hilton to be halted, though construction quickly resumed. The opening of Spider-Man was postponed further by financing and technical issues, as well as the need to rewrite the show. The Hilton Theatre ultimately remained dark for nearly two years due to continued complications with Spider-Man. 2010s to present In August 2010, under an agreement with Foxwoods Resort Casino and Live Nation, the theater was renamed the Foxwoods Theatre for three years. According to the casino's chief marketing officer, the casino had been especially interested in the theater because of the upcoming show. and Spider-Man officially opened on June 14, 2011, after seven months of previews. In May 2013, during the run of Spider-Man, British theater operator Ambassador Theatre Group (now ATG Entertainment) paid $60 million to lease the Foxwoods from New 42nd Street for up to 60 years. That November, Spider-Man announced it would close at a net loss; the musical ended at the beginning of 2014 with 1,066 performances. The theater reopened that October with a revival of the musical On the Town, which only ran at the theater through September 2015. The dance-and-musical production Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games had a limited run during late 2015, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was booked for the Lyric in December 2016, and ATG asked Cirque du Soleil to relocate so the theater could be renovated. When Paramour closed in April 2017, it had run for 366 performances. The changes included the relocation of the main entrance from 42nd to 43rd Street. A large black wing was added on the 43rd Street facade, while a depiction of a child in a nest was added on 42nd Street. The Lyric was decorated with motifs from the Harry Potter franchise and was reduced to 1,622 seats, bringing the theater's capacity closer to that of other large Broadway theaters such as the Majestic, St. James, and Broadway. and it ran until all Broadway theaters temporarily closed on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lyric reopened on November 12, 2021, with performances of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, the run time of which had been shortened during the theater's closure. ATG and Jujamcyn Theaters agreed to merge in early 2023; the combined company would operate seven Broadway theaters, including the Lyric. ==Stage productions==

Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. ==Box office records==

In 2012, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark achieved the box office record for the Foxwoods Theatre (and the record for the highest single-week gross of any show in Broadway history, at that time). The production grossed $2,941,794 over nine performances for the week ending January 1, 2012. During its third week of previews, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child had the highest single-week gross reported by a non-musical play in Broadway history, grossing $2,138,859 over eight performances for the week ending April 8, 2018. , Cursed Child largest single gross is $2,718,487 over eight performances for the week ending December 31, 2023. ==See also==