Todd Haimes Theatre

The Todd Haimes Theatre is at 229 West 42nd Street, on the northern 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 theater occupies two land lots. The main entrance and lobby are in the New 42nd Street Building on 42nd Street, while the auditorium is on a separate lot to the north on 43rd Street. The New 42nd Street Building occupies a rectangular lot covering around , with a frontage of on 42nd Street and a depth of . The auditorium is also on a rectangular lot covering , with a frontage of on 43rd Street and a depth of 100 feet 5 inches. Originally, the theater had a frontage of on 42nd Street and 96 feet on 43rd Street, with a depth of 100 feet from both streets. The theater shares the block with the Hotel Carter building to the west, as well as the Lyric, Times Square, and New Victory theaters and 3 Times Square to the east. Other nearby buildings include 255 West 43rd Street, the St. James Theatre, and 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. 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. These venues were mostly converted to movie theaters by the 1930s, and many of them had been relegated to showing pornography by the 1970s. == Design ==

The Todd Haimes Theatre was originally named the Selwyn Theatre, designed by George Keister and constructed in 1918 for brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn. The Selwyn was originally decorated in the Italian Renaissance style. The original design plans are preserved at the Shuger Archives. The Todd Haimes is one of three Broadway theaters operated by the nonprofit Roundabout Theatre Company; the others are Studio 54 and the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Facade Original facade The theater had originally been accessed from the six-story Selwyn Building on 42nd Street, The building's 42nd Street elevation was made of brick with terracotta trim. The 43rd Street elevation of the theater retains its original facade. Like the original Selwyn Building, it has brick, terracotta, and stonework. The stage door is also on 43rd Street. Current facade The new facade on 42nd Street is part of the New 42nd Street Building. Initial plans for the building in 1997 had called for the original terracotta facade of the Selwyn Building to be preserved as a separate structure. The facade is illuminated by 300 computer-controlled lamps, part of an illumination scheme created by Anne Militello. The building's 42nd Street elevation is covered in stainless steel bars, which act as brises soleil, screening the southern elevation from sunlight. The steel bars contain uplights that can be illuminated in many colors; these reflect onto a blue background. The leftmost portion of the second through fourth stories, marking the former site of the Selwyn Building, is left bare. it was designed by James Carpenter. it has had 740 seats since the late 1990s. The modern theater has wider seats than the original Selwyn, necessitating the reduction in the number of seats. The original upholstery was replaced with vinyl in the mid-20th century, then changed to dark red in the late 1990s. The theater had also contained Alps-green and Pavanazzo marbles, The orchestra level seats are arranged in 14 rows. The orchestra is more steeply raked than in the original design, and it contains two layers of sound insulation under the back rows. Two side aisles divide the orchestra seating into three sections. The orchestra and balcony were connected by stairs with carved yellow marble balustrades. The walls were wainscoted in blue-veined marble. At mezzanine level, there are box seats within arched openings on either side of the auditorium; The murals were painted over in the mid-20th century before EverGreene Architectural Arts restored them in the late 1990s. The murals on house right were restored using historical photographs, as no trace existed of the murals there. The stage measures deep and wide. A red house curtain When the theater was rebuilt in the 1990s, new spaces were constructed both above and below the original theater. A basement was built beneath the existing auditorium. or , As part of a 2025 renovation, a multi-use space was added to the fifth floor. Other spaces The building also contains of rehearsal and performing space for New 42nd Street. The New 42nd Street Studios, as the rehearsal rooms are called, span five stories. The studios contain ceilings, sprung floors, and full-height mirrors. The other stories were designed with lower ceilings. on the second floor. The Duke on 42nd Street is housed within an enclosure measuring across and high. The building's ground level contains of retail space next to the Todd Haimes Theatre's lobby. ==History==

Times Square became the epicenter for large-scale theater productions between 1900 and the Great Depression. Manhattan's theater district had begun to shift from Union Square and Madison Square during the first decade of the 20th century. From 1901 to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan. George Keister had designed several of these Broadway theaters, including the Selwyn, Astor, Belasco, and Earl Carroll theaters, in addition to other commissions such as Harlem's Apollo Theater. The Selwyn brothers, meanwhile, developed several Broadway theaters on 42nd Street. Original Broadway run Construction and opening At the beginning of January 1917, the Selwyn brothers announced their intention to build a theater on 240–248 West 43rd Street, with an entrance on 42nd Street. The theater was planned to have 1,100 seats and, according to The New York Times, "novel features" such as rehearsal rooms and a women's lounge. In addition, Keister designed a renovation for the existing three-story building on 42nd Street, owned by Mary L. Cassidy, into an office structure. Crosby Gaige would oversee the theater and office building's construction. The project was expected to cost $200,000 in total, By September 1917, the site of the Selwyn Theatre was being cleared. The gangster Arnold Rothstein reportedly provided some financing for the project. Work was halted temporarily in early 1918 due to legal issues and material shortages. Construction of the office building resumed that April, at which point the auditorium had been completed. By that July, the Selwyn brothers' company Selwyn & Co. indicated it would relocate its offices to the new building. Edgar Selwyn's wife Margaret Mayo also had an office in the building. The theater informally opened for media tours on October 1, 1918, To mark the theater's official opening, the Selwyn brothers decorated the stage curtain with World War I Allied nations' flags, and they played the United States' national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner", before the first performance. This was followed the same November by The Crowded Hour, in which Cowl also starred. Because of the theater's acoustic qualities, Selwyn & Co. announced in December 1918 that it would host concerts in the Selwyn on Sundays. The first such concert took place on December 30, 1918. This was followed in 1919 by Rudolf Friml and Otto Harbach's musical Tumble In and Eugene Walter's play The Challenge. The first hit at the theater was George V. Hobart's musical Buddies, and ran for 269 performances over the next eight months. This was followed the next year by the revue Snapshots of 1921, as well as W. Somerset Maugham's comedy The Circle, the latter of which was the theater's first non-musical hit. The theater also hosted films around this time, including a Greek war film. In 1922, the Selwyn brothers purchased the site of the Selwyn Building on 42nd Street from Mary Cassidy. Most of the Selwyn's productions in 1922 and early 1923 were not hits. The musical The Blue Kitten opened in January 1922 with Joseph Cawthorn and Lillian Lorraine, The theater hosted three short-lived productions in early 1923. The next hit was the Marc Connelly and George S. Kaufman musical Helen of Troy, New York, and ran for several months before moving to the Times Square Theater. and ran for nearly 300 performances. and ran for 489 total performances. The Selwyn housed several flops in early 1925, which continued for 138 performances. The hypnotist Fakir Rahman Bey performed at the Selwyn in May 1926, and the comedy The Man from Toronto had a short run the same year. Afterward, the theater hosted the musical Castles in the Air, which opened that September and ran for 160 performances. The play The Constant Nymph also opened at the Selwyn in 1926; despite a successful West End run, and ran for nearly a year. In addition to legitimate bookings, the Selwyn hosted events such as a debate about Benito Mussolini. Under Arch Selwyn, the theater became known for hosting revues. for 158 performances. More successful was Cole Porter's Wake Up and Dream, which opened that December which lasted 272 performances. The Selwyn Theatre was among the venues that suffered, hosting 11 consecutive flops from 1931 to 1933. The Dry Dock Savings Bank, which had given the Selwyn brothers a mortgage loan on the theater, had stipulated that it would not foreclose on the mortgage as long as the brothers could produce a hit. Arch Selwyn hired Crosby Gaige to produce several shows, but none of them lasted for very long; one play, Ragged Army, ran for just two days. which started operating the Selwyn as a movie house the following month. The Selwyn brothers never again hosted a show at the theater. The theater was placed for sale at a foreclosure auction, and Dry Dock Savings Bank bought the theater in August 1934 for $610,000. Later the same year, Joseph Fitzula renovated the Selwyn Building. Among the office building's tenants at the time was the National Shakespearean Studio of Dramatic Art. The Brandt family bought the Selwyn Theatre and offices in 1937, subject to an existing first mortgage loan of $620,000. The theater operated under a "grindhouse" format, with films running continuously. This was part of a decline in the Broadway theater industry in the mid-20th century; from 1931 to 1950, the number of legitimate theaters decreased from 68 to 30. The box seats were removed when the Selwyn became a movie theater. By then, the ten theaters along 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues were all showing movies; this led Variety to call the block the "biggest movie center of the world". The Brandt theaters included the Selwyn, Apollo, Times Square, Lyric, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, as well as the Eltinge and Liberty theaters on the south side. Several producers offered to stage legitimate productions in these theaters, but none of the offers were successful. William Brandt indicated in 1946 that he might replace the theaters on the north side of 42nd Street with a skyscraper. By then, there was a shortage of new films in the theaters along 42nd Street, which led to decreased attendance. though his father William was initially against it. Even so, the Brandts announced the same December that they would stage a live show at the Selwyn, The Respectful Prostitute, the first such show in 15 years. There were five performances on most days and four on Sundays, To accommodate the mixed format, the plays had to be less than an hour long, though the Brandts had difficulty finding such short plays. Though ticket prices ranged from 38 cents in the morning to $1.10 on Sunday nights, the theater earned $24,000 during ''The Respectful Prostitute's'' first week, compared to $8,000 weekly before the new policy was implemented. 1950s to 1970s The Selwyn returned to showing movies exclusively in early 1950, after two months of alternating films and live shows. By the late 1950s, the Selwyn was classified as a "move-over house", displaying features immediately after they ran at the Lyric, one of the street's two first-run theaters (the other being the New Amsterdam). As a move-over house, the Selwyn charged less than the first-run theaters but more than the "reissue houses" that screened old films. The Selwyn and the other 42nd Street theaters operated from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m., with three shifts of workers. The ten theaters on the block attracted about five million visitors a year between them. The 42nd Street Company was established in 1961 to operate the Brandts' seven theaters on 42nd Street. By the early 1960s, the surrounding block had decayed, but many of the old theater buildings from the block's heyday remained, including the Selwyn. Martin Levine and Richard Brandt took over the 42nd Street Company in 1972. However, the area was in decline; the Brandts' theaters only had three million visitors by 1977, about half of the number in 1963. The Brandts' movie theaters on 42nd Street continued to operate through the mid-1980s, at which point the Selwyn was primarily screening successful mainstream films, interspersed with double bills of exploitation films. Restoration The 42nd Street Development Corporation had been formed in 1976 to discuss plans for redeveloping Times Square. The same year, the City University of New York's Graduate Center hosted an exhibition with photographs of the Selwyn and other theaters to advocate for the area's restoration. Another plan, in 1978, called for restoring the Selwyn, Apollo, and Harris for opera and dance, rather than for theatrical purposes. Other nearby buildings would have been razed to create a park. The Brandt family's Brandt Organization converted the Apollo to legitimate use in 1979; the company also planned to convert the Lyric and Selwyn, but there were few bookings for either theater. Preservation attempts Another plan, called the City at 42nd Street, was announced in December 1979 as part of a proposal to restore West 42nd Street around Times Square. Under the plan, the Selwyn would have been preserved, and some of the other theaters would have been 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 Selwyn Theatre, 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 Selwyn 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 Selwyn (by then American Airlines) and six other theaters as landmarks. The LPC rejected the designations in February 2016, as 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. The Brandt family planned to submit a bid to redevelop some of the theaters they owned on 42nd Street. In June 1982, the Brandts' five theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, including the Selwyn, were added to the redevelopment plan. In August 1984, the UDC granted Jujamcyn Theaters the right to operate the Selwyn, Apollo, and Lyric theaters; as part of the same project, the Times Square Theatre would have become retail space. In response, Brandt and Cine Theater Corp. sued the UDC, claiming that the moves shut out independent theatrical operators, but a state court dismissed the lawsuit. Michael J. Lazar would have renovated the four theaters for Jujamcyn, but the city and state removed him from the project in 1986 following a parking scandal. The Brandts also leased all their movie theaters on 42nd Street, including the Selwyn, to the Cine 42nd Street Corporation in 1986. From 1987 to 1989, Park Tower and Prudential hired Robert A. M. Stern to conduct a study on the Apollo, Lyric, Selwyn, 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 reducing the size of the Selwyn Theatre to accommodate "intimate drama", as well as replacing the Selwyn Building with a structure containing rehearsal studios. 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 Selwyn. 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. 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 condemnation could occur. By then, the Selwyn was derelict; its marquee had the text "Enjoy a movie on 42d Street and bring the family." 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 $18.2 million for restoring the six theaters as part of an agreement with Prudential and Park Tower. Artists Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel placed an art installation in the empty theater the next year. By 1994, the Warner Music Group considered leasing the Selwyn as a recording studio. The Times Square Business Improvement District opened a visitor center in the Selwyn's lobby in April 1996, and Jujamcyn again considered leasing the theater at that time. Though Jujamcyn was a for-profit operator, the New York City government had specified that the Selwyn operate as a nonprofit venue. There was still no long-term plan for the Selwyn, even as plans had been announced for all the other theaters on the block. Roundabout lease and building collapse The Roundabout Theatre Company had submitted a bid for one of the six theaters on 42nd Street, but its artistic director Todd Haimes initially rejected the area as being too rundown. Two months later, amid a rapid increase in the valuation of real estate along Times Square, the Criterion Center's owner notified Haimes that Roundabout's lease would be terminated in March 1999. The impending eviction prompted the company to intensify its search for a permanent home. Haimes wanted a theater that contained at least 500 seats, as well as fly space and wings. for an eight-week run. By that time, the buildings to the west were being demolished to make way for the E-Walk project, requiring motion detectors to be installed on the Selwyn Building. Roundabout committed to renovating the Selwyn in September 1997. At the time, Roundabout had raised about half of the $10–12 million required for the Selwyn's restoration. Roundabout did not receive any of New 42nd Street's $18.2 million grant, as the latter had already announced plans for its new building. In late December 1997, E-Walk contractors noticed cracks on the Selwyn Building's facade but failed to notify the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) of any potential problems. The collapse destroyed several pieces of memorabilia in the Times Square visitor center, including pinball machines and sex-store advertisements. The building had been vacant at the time, but police cordoned the area off because the collapse had occurred just before the Times Square Ball drop. In August 1998, the DOB found that the Big Apple Wrecking and Construction Corporation, a contractor for the E-Walk project, was liable for the Selwyn Building's collapse. Big Apple had failed to underpin the building's foundation when it was excavating the E-Walk site, which contributed to the collapse. The DOB could only penalize Big Apple by issuing fines of several thousand dollars. Redesign and funding The collapse of the Selwyn Building had forced New 42nd Street to redesign its proposed building. According to New 42nd Street president Cora Cahan, the original plans "had been more than 75 percent drawn". The New York State Council on the Arts, which had pledged funding for the Selwyn's restoration, instead allocated the money toward a new design for the New 42nd Street Building. In September 1998, the Doris Duke Foundation donated $3.5 million to New 42nd Street. The project also received $11.9 million from the developers of the 42nd Street Redevelopment's four large towers; $4 million from the city government; and $1 million from the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust. The next month, the organization announced that it had finalized plans for its building and would start construction immediately. The ten-story building was to cost $22.9 million and was planned to be completed by the end of the next year. In February 1999, Roundabout announced that it would raise $17 million for the theater. At the time, $10 million had been raised. Roundabout hired Robert Ascione and Karlsberger Architecture to redesign the theater. In May 1999, the Tony Awards' administration committee ruled that the Selwyn counted as a Broadway theater, so productions there would be eligible for the Tonys. By that September, Roundabout had raised $15 million of a $21.5 million endowment for the theater. which would pay $850,000 annually over at least ten years. AA's name would be placed on the marquee as well as all advertisements and tickets. but Roundabout instead booked a revival of The Man Who Came to Dinner in late 1999. New 42nd Street opened the studios in its new building on June 20, 2000. even though the subscribers' lobby was incomplete at the time. Actors at the theater were originally paid a lower rate than those at for-profit Broadway theaters, but this was changed in 2002 following negotiations with the Actors' Equity Association. The reopened theater featured the plays The Man Who Came to Dinner and Betrayal in 2000; Design for Living, Major Barbara, and The Women in 2001; and An Almost Holy Picture and The Man Who Had All the Luck in 2002. During mid-2002, on evenings when The Man Who Had All the Luck did not perform, Mario Cantone hosted a stand-up comedy show at the theater. The 2003–2004 season saw revivals of the plays The Caretaker, Twentieth Century, and After the Fall. That season also saw a revival of the play The Constant Wife. The theater was then occupied by the plays Heartbreak House, Prelude to a Kiss, and Old Acquaintance during the 2006–2007 season, as well as Pygmalion, The 39 Steps, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses in the 2007–2008 season. The American Airlines' 2008–2009 season saw more revivals of plays, namely A Man for All Seasons, Hedda Gabler, and The Philanthropist. Roundabout presented the plays After Miss Julie and Present Laughter and the musical Everyday Rapture in the 2009–2010 season. The theater hosted the plays ''Mrs. Warren's Profession and The Importance of Being Earnest in the 2010–2011 season, This was followed by the plays Man and Boy, The Road to Mecca, and Don't Dress for Dinner in 2011–2012; Cyrano de Bergerac, Picnic, and The Big Knife in 2012–2013; and The Winslow Boy and Machinal in 2013–2014. and The Cherry Orchard, The Price, and Marvin's Room in the 2016–2017 season. Next, the theater hosted the play Time and the Conways'', John Lithgow's solo Stories by Heart, and the play Travesties in 2017–2018. The theater staged Bernhardt/Hamlet, True West, and All My Sons for the 2018–2019 season. Only two plays were performed in the 2019–2020 season: The Rose Tattoo and ''A Soldier's Play. It reopened with previews of the play Trouble in Mind'' on October 29, 2021. 2020s to present The 2021–2022 season had three shows: Trouble in Mind, the play Birthday Candles, and the musical 1776. These shows had originally been delayed to early 2021, but they were pushed further due to the extension of COVID-19 restrictions. The play Fat Ham opened at the American Airlines during the 2022–2023 season. The theater's new marquee was unveiled on January 31, 2024. During the 2023–2024 season, the theater hosted the play I Need That The project began in August 2025 and included restoring the interior, elevators, mechanical systems, and restrooms, as well as replacing the seats and making accessibility upgrades. The theater reopened in March 2026, and the play Fallen Angels was then staged at the Todd Haimes that April. ==Notable productions==

Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. This list only includes Broadway shows; it does not include films screened at the theater. No productions were hosted at the theater between 1950 and 2000. Selwyn Theatre American Airlines Theatre and Todd Haimes Theatre ==Box office record==

I Need That achieved the box office record for the Todd Haimes Theatre. The production grossed $905,467 over eight performances for the week ending December 31, 2023, breaking the previous record of $638,811 set by True West on the week ending March 17, 2019. == See also ==