Neil Simon Theatre
250 West 52nd Street | also 244 West 52nd Street | Times Square | built 1927
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1927
Herbert Krapp gives the Alvin a neo-Georgian front, among the most elaborate of his designs
Herbert J. Krapp designed the Alvin as one of five theaters of his among the seven that opened in 1927, but unlike the others it was built for an individual producer rather than for the Shubert or Chanin chains. The Landmarks Commission describes a neo-Georgian facade with Adamesque detailing and an asymmetrical composition that separates the stage house from the auditorium. The style was more often used for houses than playhouses, and the report ranks the design among Krapp's most elaborate.
- 1927
The Alvin Theatre opens with the Gershwins' Funny Face, starring Fred and Adele Astaire
Developers Alexander Pincus and M. L. Goldstone built the theater to a design by Herbert Krapp, and producers Alex Aarons and Vinton Freedley leased it, taking the name Alvin from their first names. It opened on November 22, 1927, with George and Ira Gershwin's Funny Face, starring Fred and Adele Astaire, which ran 250 performances. Aarons and Freedley bought the building and land in April 1930.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1930
Ethel Merman dominates Girl Crazy at the Alvin in her first major role
Aarons and Freedley's production of the Gershwins' Girl Crazy played the Alvin for 272 performances across 1930 and 1931. The Landmarks Commission's report calls it Ethel Merman's first major role and says she dominated the show with her singing of I Got Rhythm. The report lists her as starring at the Alvin again in Anything Goes in 1934-35 and Red, Hot and Blue in 1936-37.
- 1933
Aarons and Freedley end their partnership, and the Pincus family takes over the Alvin's bookings
Alex Aarons and Vinton Freedley, who had commissioned the Alvin, ended their nine-year partnership in 1933, probably because of Depression losses, according to the Landmarks Commission. Control of the theater went back to its original owner, A. H. Pincus, together with his nephews Norman and Irvin Pincus. They mostly booked other producers' shows, including Theater Guild productions moved over from the Guild Theater across the street, and began making their own in 1938.
- 1935
The original production of Porgy and Bess opens at the Alvin
In October 1935 the Gershwins' American folk opera Porgy and Bess received its first Broadway production at the Alvin, closing after 124 performances. Its later revivals were more successful. Among the Alvin's other long runs of the decade were Cole Porter's Anything Goes in 1934, with Ethel Merman, and Rodgers and Hart's The Boys from Syracuse in 1938.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1948
Henry Fonda stars in Mister Roberts, which runs 1,157 performances at the Alvin
After the Pincus family sold the Alvin in 1946, the theater kept drawing award-winning shows. Mister Roberts, starring Tony winner Henry Fonda, ran 1,157 performances there between 1948 and 1950. The Landmarks Commission's report also notes that Jose Ferrer won a Tony for Cyrano de Bergerac at the Alvin in 1946 and that Ingrid Bergman took the title part in Joan of Lorraine the same year.
“Mister Roberts featured another Tony Award winner, Henry Fonda, when it ran for 1,157 performances between 1948 and 1950.”
- 1960
Lucille Ball makes her only Broadway appearance in Wildcat after a blizzard delays the opening
Wildcat opened at the Alvin on December 16, 1960, after trucks carrying its sets and costumes were stranded on the New Jersey Turnpike by a blizzard and the opening had to be postponed. Audiences came expecting Lucille Ball's Lucy Ricardo persona, and she began clowning to match. She collapsed on stage on April 22, 1961, played her last performance on May 24, and the show closed on June 3 after 171 performances.
“Wildcat was Ball's only appearance in a Broadway production.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1965
Liza Minnelli, 19, opens in Flora the Red Menace and wins a Tony Award
Flora the Red Menace opened at the Alvin on May 11, 1965, with 19-year-old Liza Minnelli in the title role. Her performance earned her the Tony Award as best actress in a musical, and she remains its youngest winner. The show itself fared worse: New York critics were not enthusiastic, and it closed on July 24 after 87 performances, having lost almost all of its $400,000 investment.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1970
Sondheim and Furth's Company premieres at the Alvin
Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's musical Company premiered at the Alvin in 1970, staying about two years for a little over 700 performances. It followed The Great White Hope, the 1968 drama with James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander that ran 557 performances. By 1974 the theater's owner had defaulted on its mortgage, and the Bowery Savings Bank took the building in foreclosure.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1983
The Nederlanders rename the Alvin for playwright Neil Simon
The Nederlander Organization, which acquired the Alvin in 1975, renamed it for playwright Neil Simon on June 29, 1983, shortly after his Brighton Beach Memoirs opened there. The change was not linked to that play: the Nederlanders had offered the honor in 1982, and Simon had turned it down. Some in the theater world thought the Gershwins should have been honored instead.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1985
The Landmarks Commission designates the Neil Simon's facade and interior over the owners' objections
In August 1985 the Landmarks Preservation Commission protected the exteriors of three theaters, the Neil Simon, the Ambassador and the Virginia (now the August Wilson), and the interiors of the first two, though all three owners objected. The Board of Estimate approved the designations in December. The commission had begun to consider protecting the Neil Simon in 1982.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2002
Hairspray opens at the Neil Simon in 2002 and runs until early 2009
Before Hairspray arrived, the theater's capacity was raised from 1,328 seats to a possible 1,467. The musical opened in August 2002, set a house record for the theater, and finally closed at the start of 2009. More recently MJ the Musical topped the Neil Simon's weekly box-office record repeatedly during 2022.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Neil Simon TheatreWikipedia
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