Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and
the Great Depression. During the 1900s and 1910s, many theaters in Midtown Manhattan were developed by the
Shubert brothers, one of the major theatrical syndicates of the time. Meanwhile, Sam H. Harris was a producer and Irving Berlin was a songwriter. Prior to the development of the Music Box Theatre, Harris had partnered with
George Cohan in the development of several theaters and productions in the 1900s and 1910s.
Development and early years Venue for revues According to one account, the name for the Music Box Theatre arose from a conversation between Sam H. Harris and Irving Berlin in 1919. Harris had suggested building a theater, to which Berlin suggested the name "Music Box". Harris liked the name and suggested that Berlin could write a song for the new theater. They then announced plans to build the Music Box Theatre on the site. By that May, Crane had prepared plans for the theater. and he subsequently ended his long-running partnership with
George M. Cohan.
Hassard Short was named as the first general stage director, spending over $240,000 on the first show. the theater overran its original budget by about $300,000. The Music Box was one of the only Broadway theaters to be built for specific producers' work. The Music Box Theatre opened on September 22, 1921, with performances of
Music Box Revue. The new theater was praised by both architectural and theatrical critics, and several architectural publications printed pictures of the theater. These included the
American Architect and the Architectural Review, which called the theater's design "remarkable" both in design and layout. In his autobiography, producer
Moss Hart said that the Music Box was "everybody's dream of a theatre", enhancing the quality of the productions staged there. Film executive
Joseph M. Schenck originally was a partner in the Music Box Theatre with Berlin and Harris, The inaugural edition in 1921 starred Bernard and Berlin. ''
Earl Carroll's Vanities'' was also staged in 1924, becoming the second production to be presented at the Music Box. Its producer,
Earl Carroll, was briefly jailed in November 1924 after showing "obscene" photos outside the Music Box.
1920s and 1930s hit shows The comedy
The Cradle Snatchers, with
Humphrey Bogart, was the first play to be staged at the Music Box, opening in 1925. More generally, of the productions staged in the Music Box in its first decade, only two
flops with less than 100 performances were staged, both of which ran immediately after
The Cradle Snatchers closed. while the second was
Mozart that November. This was followed by the comedy
Chicago, which premiered in late 1926 with
Francine Larrimore and
Charles Bickford, By the end of 1927, Hassard Short had given up his stake in managing the Music Box. The play
Paris Bound also premiered in 1927, followed the next year by the similarly named
Paris with
Irène Bordoni. The Music Box staged the French play
Topaze with
Frank Morgan in 1930, followed by the comedy
The Third Little Show with
Ernest Truex and
Beatrice Lillie in 1931. The theater largely hosted works by Moss Hart and
George S. Kaufman, produced either individually or in partnership, during the 1930s. Immediately following
Topaze was Hart and Kaufman's first-ever collaboration,
Once in a Lifetime, which premiered in late 1930. Kaufman and
Morrie Ryskind collaborated in 1931 for
Of Thee I Sing, the first
Pulitzer Prize-winning musical, which ran 232 performances. which with 400 performances was lengthy for a
Great Depression-era musical. These were
Rain,
Ceiling Zero,
If This Be Treason, a theatrical version of
Pride and Prejudice, and finally Kaufman and Katharine Dayton's collaboration
First Lady. Kaufman and Ferber collaborated again in the 1936 production
Stage Door. as well as a Kaufman-directed adaptation of the
John Steinbeck novel
Of Mice and Men. and the original
Sing Out the News. The productions in 1939 began with the
Noël Coward revue
Set to Music, following which was
From Vienna, produced by the Refugee Artists Group. The last hit of the 1930s was Hart and Kaufman's
The Man Who Came to Dinner, which had 739 performances through 1941.
1940s to 1970s The Music Box Theater underwent several changes in operation during the 1940s. Sam Harris died in July 1941, and his ownership stake in the theater went to his widow Kathleen Marin, pursuant to his will. Additionally, independent producers began to lease the Music Box. The theater also pivoted away from hosting revues and musicals because of its relatively low seating capacity; instead, it mainly hosted small dramas. The
burlesque revue
Star and Garter opened in 1942, eventually running 609 performances. which featured
Marlon Brando in his Broadway debut. The same year, Marin sold her one-third ownership stake in the Music Box Theatre to Harris and the Shuberts. In 1952, the Music Box staged a transfer of the hit
The Male Animal. all of which had over 400 performances. First among these was
Picnic, which opened in 1953. as well as
Separate Tables in 1956. The next year saw the opening of the comedy
The Beauty Part with
Bert Lahr, The Music Box staged a more successful production,
Dear Me, the Sky Is Falling with
Gertrude Berg, the next year. The theater's most successful play of the 1960s was the comedy
Any Wednesday, which opened in 1964 and ran for 983 performances. it became the theater's longest-running production with 1,222 performances. It was followed the same year by the comparatively more successful
Absurd Person Singular. and it hosted a range of
Stephen Sondheim songs in the musical
Side by Side by Sondheim the next year.
Deathtrap was ultimately transferred four years later and ran 1,793 total performances. and had 599 performances with
Geraldine Page and
Amanda Plummer. The Music Box hosted a revival of
Hay Fever in 1985, In 1987, the Music Box staged
Sweet Sue with
Mary Tyler Moore, and
Spoils of War in 1988, as well as
Welcome to the Club in 1989. The decade ended with the hit
A Few Good Men. Irving Berlin continued to co-own the theater until he died in 1989 at the age of 101; in his final years, Berlin would contact the Shuberts to ask them about the theater's receipts. The
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) had started to consider protecting the Music Box as a landmark in 1982, with discussions continuing over the next several years. The LPC designated the Music Box's facade and interior as a landmark on December 8, 1987. This was part of the commission's wide-ranging effort in 1987 to grant landmark status to Broadway theaters. The
New York City Board of Estimate ratified the designations in March 1988. The Shuberts, the
Nederlanders, and
Jujamcyn collectively sued the LPC in June 1988 to overturn the landmark designations of 22 theaters, including the Music Box, on the merit that the designations severely limited the extent to which the theaters could be modified. The lawsuit was escalated to the
New York Supreme Court and the
Supreme Court of the United States, but these designations were ultimately upheld in 1992. In the 1990s, the Music Box continued to have many relatively short runs. and
Park Your Car in Harvard Yard opened the same year with
Judith Ivey and
Jason Robards. The next year, the Music Box staged
A Small Family Business, which ran for a little over one month. and running 893 performances over the next two years. The musical
Swinging on a Star opened in 1995. Subsequently,
Barrymore ran 238 performances in 1997, and
The Diary of Anne Frank opened later that year, running through the next year with 221 performances. Finally, the Music Box staged
Closer in 1999, with 173 performances.
2000s to present The Music Box's tendency for short production runs continued into the 2000s. and a more successful production came later that year with
The Dinner Party, which ran 364 performances. As part of a settlement with the
United States Department of Justice in 2003, the Shuberts agreed to improve disabled access at their 16 landmarked Broadway theaters, including the Music Box. The Music Box hosted
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof in 2003 and
Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance in 2004, as well as
Antony Sher's solo
Primo and the musical
In My Life in 2005. These were followed in 2006 by
Festen and
The Vertical Hour. Meanwhile, the Shubert Organization and Berlin's estate continued to operate the theater jointly. The unusual arrangement, which led to jokes that the Shuberts owned sixteen and a half theaters, continued until 2007, when the Berlin estate sold its interest to the Shuberts. Further productions in the mid-2010s included
The Heidi Chronicles and
King Charles III in 2015, as well as
Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed in 2016. The theater
closed on March 12, 2020, due to the
COVID-19 pandemic; it reopened on December 11, 2021, with performances of
Dear Evan Hansen. The theater also hosted a memorial service to the late Shubert chairman
Philip J. Smith in March 2022. Due to poor ticket sales,
Dear Evan Hansen closed in September 2022. The next month, the theater hosted a limited run of
Gabriel Byrne's solo show
Walking with Ghosts. The musical
Suffs opened at the theater in April 2024, Afterward, the play
Giant opened at the theater in March 2026. ==Notable productions==