Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
261 West 47th Street | Times Square | built 1926
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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.
- 1925
Irwin Chanin's Biltmore Theater opens with an unusual horseshoe-shaped auditorium and a single aisle
The Biltmore was the second Broadway house built by Irwin Chanin, following the 46th Street theater a block away and just before the Mansfield across the street. Together they turned residential 47th Street into part of the theater district. Architect Herbert J. Krapp set the auditorium slightly askew to the site in a horseshoe shape with one aisle, topped by a domed ceiling with a crystal chandelier and rich plasterwork in the Adam style. It opened on December 7, 1925.
“…its auditorium, set slightly askew to the site, is in a horseshoe shape, with a single aisle.”
- 1928
Police raid Mae West's Pleasure Man after two performances at the Biltmore
Mae West's play Pleasure Man ran just two performances here, on October 1 and 2, 1928, before police raided it for showing five female impersonators in its closing scene. The 1927 Wales Padlock Law barred any portrayal of "sex perversion" on the New York stage and stayed in force until 1967. Even so, the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project notes that gay and lesbian characters did reach Broadway at the Biltmore over the decades.
Source: NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
- 1936
The WPA's Living Newspaper takes over the Biltmore, and its first show, Ethiopia, never opens
In December 1935 the Works Progress Administration leased the Biltmore for the Federal Theatre Project's Living Newspaper, which staged current events as drama. The first planned production, Ethiopia, was never staged for audiences, since Washington ordered that no head of state could be impersonated on stage. The second, Triple-A Plowed Under, opened in March 1936, followed by 1935 in May and Injunction Granted in July.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1936
Brother Rat opens at the Biltmore and becomes the theater's first major success
In October 1936 the Biltmore was sold to a buyer later revealed as Warner Bros., which used it to show George Abbott's works. The first was Brother Rat, which opened in December 1936 and became the theater's first major success, with 575 performances there. Abbott's next two plays at the house, Brown Sugar and All That Glitters, flopped.
“The first of these was Brother Rat, which opened in December 1936 and was the theater's first major success, with 575 performances.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1940
Ayn Rand's The Unconquered lasts only six performances at the Biltmore
Ayn Rand's The Unconquered lasted just six performances at the Biltmore in 1940. A. J. Cronin's Jupiter Laughs saw 24 performances there the same year, in contrast to hits such as What a Life, which lasted 538 performances after opening in 1938.
“By contrast, Ayn Rand's The Unconquered ran for only six performances in 1940…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1947
The Heiress premieres at the Biltmore and runs 410 performances
The Heiress premiered at the Biltmore in 1947 and ran for 410 performances. It was one of the decade's hits at the theater, alongside The Silver Whistle in 1948 and the 1949 comedy Clutterbuck, an early Broadway production for David Merrick.
“The Heiress premiered at the Biltmore the same year, running for 410 performances.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1952
CBS leases the Biltmore as a broadcast studio called Studio 62
In October 1951 the theater was sold to Irving Maidman as an investment, with Abbott's The Number scheduled to be produced there. After The Number closed, CBS leased the building in February 1952 as a broadcast studio known as Studio 62. Programs produced there included The Jack Paar Show, To Tell the Truth, Strike It Rich, The Big Payoff, Dotto and The Egg and I. No productions were hosted in the theater between 1952 and 1961.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1961
After nearly a decade as a CBS studio, the Biltmore hosts Take Her, She's Mine and Barefoot in the Park
CBS used the Biltmore as a radio and television studio after it closed in 1952, and live theater returned in 1961. Take Her, She's Mine, with Art Carney and Elizabeth Ashley, ran more than 400 performances in 1961-62. Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park then held the stage from 1963 to 1967 with over 1,500 performances, part of a decade of long-running hits the Landmarks Preservation Commission called extraordinary.
“Reopening in 1961, the Biltmore Theater saw a decade of extraordinary, long- running hit shows.”
- 1968
Hair moves to the Biltmore, with Melba Moore and Diane Keaton in the cast
The rock musical Hair came to the Biltmore in April 1968 as a transfer from off-Broadway. Its cast included Melba Moore and Diane Keaton. Counting its off-Broadway engagement, it played 1,750 performances before closing in 1972, and a short revival returned to the theater in 1977.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1985
Boys of Winter with Matt Dillon plays to just 499 seats to sidestep union negotiations
In mid-1985 the city designated the first Broadway theaters as landmarks, and owner David Cogan put the Biltmore up for sale. At the end of the year it hosted Boys of Winter with Matt Dillon, and the house was capped at 499 seats because a 500-seat theater would have required negotiations with Broadway theatrical unions. The last productions of the century, Honky Tonk in 1986 and Stardust in early 1987, used the same limit.
“…limiting the audience to 499 seats because a 500-seat house would require negotiations with Broadway theatrical unions…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1987
Arson damages the Biltmore's interior a month after the city landmarks it
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Biltmore's interior on November 10, 1987, but the exterior was left out. On December 11 a fire broke out in the empty theater and the Fire Department quickly ruled it arson. Trespassers had entered repeatedly, and police found used syringes on the floor. Damage hit the stage and thirty seats, and the theater sat decaying for years afterward.
“…the theater's interior caught fire, which the New York City Fire Department quickly determined to be an arson.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1997
Developer Joseph Moinian plans a hotel over the shuttered Biltmore, and the Landmarks Commission says no
In March 1996 the Nederlanders and Stewart F. Lane agreed to sell the abandoned Biltmore to developer Joseph Moinian for $14.4 million. The next year Moinian announced a 750-room hotel that would draw on the air rights of the Biltmore and Brooks Atkinson theaters, with the restored auditorium serving as part of the hotel lobby. The Landmarks Preservation Commission rejected the plan, and in 1999 a court ruled in favor of the Nederlanders and Lane in Moinian's suit over the contract.
“The LPC rejected Moinian's plan for the Biltmore.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2003
Manhattan Theatre Club reopens the Biltmore after a $35 million restoration
The Biltmore had been shut since a 1987 fire, after years of weather, vandalism and neglect. Manhattan Theatre Club made it its Broadway home with a reopening on October 15, 2003, following a restoration that took two years and cost $35 million. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as announced in November 2004.
Source: broadwayworld.com
- 2008
The Biltmore is renamed for Samuel J. Friedman after a gift to Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club received a large donation from the Dr. Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman Foundation in June 2008 and announced that the Biltmore would be renamed in honor of Samuel J. Friedman. A dedication ceremony on September 4, 2008 made the change official, and the club formally acquired the theater the next month. The first production under the new name was To Be or Not to Be.
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- Samuel J. Friedman TheatreWikipedia
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