The (Mostly) Unknown History of the Ed Sullivan Theatre

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This time, the reader question was: With The Late Show ending, could the Ed Sullivan Theatre become a Broadway house again?

With the recent big news that The Late Show with Stephen Colbert will be ending its reign on CBS in 2026, whispering about the Ed Sullivan Theatre has proliferated in the theatre community. 

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been taped at the Ed Sullivan Theatre located on Broadway between 53rd and 54th Streets since it began in 2015. Before the Broadway-loving Colbert took over The Late Show, the host was David Letterman, who ruled late night from 1993 onward via his perch at 1697 Broadway.

But the Ed Sullivan Theatre wasn’t always the home of the beloved television franchise. In fact, the venue is one of our rare lost Broadway theaters that is still standing. Like the Mark Hellinger Theatre which is currently the Times Square Church, the Ed Sullivan is also a landmarked former Broadway house under different usage at the moment that could potentially return to Broadway someday… 

The Ed Sullivan Theatre opened in 1927 and only functioned as a Broadway house for nine short years. Because the theater, which was originally known as Hammerstein’s Theatre, had the misfortune of opening its doors shortly before the 1929 stock market crash, the Great Depression made it difficult for the theater to become successful. Arthur Hammerstein, producer and uncle of the writer Oscar Hammerstein II, built the theater in honor of his father, Oscar Hammerstein (i). The first Oscar was a theatrical impresario who had constructed several theater and opera venues himself. 

Hammerstein’s Theatre opened in 1927 with a musical titled Golden Dawn. Golden Dawn as well as the next two ventures at the theater, Good Boy and Sweet Adeline, all boasted Oscar Hammerstein II on their writing teams. Golden Dawn actually opened less than a month before the landmark Show Boat. Hammerstein and his collaborators changed musical theatre as an art form with Show Boat, which integrated elements as no musical had before. While Golden Dawn was not a historic game-changer, it is notable that the show was billed as a “music drama”, which critics noted was a genre they hadn’t heard of before. Golden Dawn, for which Hammerstein co-wrote book and lyrics with Otto Harbach, was a part of the fabric of the revolution that the younger Hammerstein was starting in the theatre. 

Golden Dawn marked the second Broadway performance of an actor named Archie Leach, who was 23 years old at the time. Leach would later change his name to Cary Grant and become one of Hollywood’s most successful actors.

While scholars may not be as familiar with Arthur Hammerstein today as they are with each of the Oscars Hammerstein, the middle generation man of the Hammerstein family was very accomplished. Arthur Hammerstein made his Broadway debut as a producer in 1912 and produced a significant number of plays and musicals for the next several decades. He was also a writer and director although most of his work was in producing. The house of Arthur Hammerstein and his wife Dorothy in Queens is actually a New York City landmark, although Arthur had to sell it in 1930 in order to have enough funds to keep Hammerstein’s Theatre afloat. His creation and management of the space that is now the Ed Sullivan Theatre was nothing short of heroic; it is because of him that we have this Broadway-theater-turned-television-studio today. 

As early as December 1919, Arthur Hammerstein announced to the press that he’d be building a new Broadway theater and naming it after his revered father, Oscar Hammerstein (i), who had died earlier that year. Hammerstein cited an inability to find open houses for shows he wanted to produce. At the time, opening a new Broadway theater was not as rare of an occurrence as it is today. Times Square real estate was in a much earlier phase of development, with the current Broadway theaters today known as the Booth, Broadhurst, Schoenfeld, Hayes, Jones, Longacre, Lunt-Fontanne, Palace, Shubert, Sondheim Haimes, and Winter Garden all built within that decade, the 1910s. It was the epic success of the 1924 operetta Rose-Marie, with co-book and co-lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, that gave producer Arthur Hammerstein the influx of cash he needed to finally get Hammerstein’s Theatre erected.

It took until 1927 for Hammerstein’s to open, but according to many, it was worth the wait. The building was glorious, with a Neo-Gothic interior holding nearly 1,500 seats over two levels, topped by a plaster dome. Stained glass panels showcasing a variety of the elder Hammerstein’s hits made the theater feel like a holy cathedral; today that same stained glass is Colbert-themed, utilizing projections. (The original stained glass windows were removed and are being protected on site, as required by landmarking rules.) The theater received a careful renovation a few years ago that exposed historic elements long covered and rejuvenated the near-century old spot. An ornate central theater lantern was among the many things uncovered. The renovation of course did not uncover the top hat of the first Oscar Hammerstein which was built into part of the theater’s cornerstone, but one can feel the spirits of the theatrical past within the auditorium. 

When it originally opened, Hammerstein’s was lavishly adorned in the spirit of the Jazz Age. In addition to the stained glass, the theater’s lobby and all interior rooms had intricate molding, an orchestra pit could be raised or lowered and contain up to 50 musicians, and mosaics, rugs, and statues were much “ooh’d” and “ahh’d” upon by audiences. Designed by Herbert J. Krapp who also designed thirteen and re-designed two of our current 41 Broadway houses, Hammerstein’s was a gloried addition to the Broadway neighborhood.

It wasn’t all rainbows and roses at Hammerstein’s. Jack Haskell was a choreographer who tangled with Arthur Hammerstein and eventually accused him of assault when the two got into a fist fight over creative differences. Haskell later publicly accused Hammerstein of having a bar filled with alcohol in his office above the theater, a major charge during Prohibition, and alleged that orgies of show people happened up there as well. There is a thirteen-story brick office building above the theater, that holds offices (and potentially orgies).

Sadly, after only five productions, Hammerstein’s became the Manhattan Theatre, when Arthur Hammerstein went bankrupt and was forced to sell. The second chapter in the theater’s history as the Manhattan had the stained glass covered in stone. The Manhattan did open with an elegant ceremony that included performances from Sigmund Romberg, Jerome Kern, and George Gershwin. 

Laurence Schwab and Frank Mandel were the new proprietors of the theater, and in fact the newly christened Manhattan’s first production had book by Schwab along with Oscar Hammerstein II and lyrics by Hammerstein. This was called Free For All (1931). The second production, East Wind, had a co-book written along with Oscar Hammerstein II by the theater’s other owner, Mandel. Both had long careers of creating musicals otherwise, including Good News, No, No, Nanette, The Desert Song, and The New Moon, all prior to these outings. The Vincent Youmans-composed Through The Years was the third and final production at the Manhattan for awhile, as in 1933 the impresario Billy Rose took over and renamed it Billy Rose’s Music Hall.

Billy Rose’s Music Hall was a cabaret theater and nightclub, rather than a legitimate Broadway spot. According to some reports, it was open from 11am to 3am every day! There were vaudeville-style performances, movies, inexpensive options for lunch and dinner, 100 singing waiters, and dance hall hostesses who took care of patrons. This lasted less than a year. Lucky Luciano and the mob became involved, before the space became the Manhattan Music Hall briefly. 

Then in 1936, the Works Progress Administration took over the theater. Their four productions, which put artists to work during the Great Depression, included the play Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot, marking the Broadway debut of the writer who would later become the source material for Cats.  

In late 1936, the former Hammerstein’s became a CBS radio soundstage. Its premier radio show was Major Bowes Amateur Hour. Everyone from Kate Smith to Benny Goodman came to participate in what was CBS’s largest studio theater in New York. When the theater was transitioned into being a radio house, much of its glory was covered in the name of equipment and sound proofing. Sound proofing was especially necessary as there was an elevated train just outside the theater’s doors at that time. 

The house was not landmarked at that point, although there was much respect for its beauty, so we’re lucky that its interior was kept in good shape—just underneath decades of dust and changes. A lot of the credit here can be attributed to William Lescaze, the architect hired to transform the theater from live playhouse to radio playhouse. Lescaze prioritized retaining the original design, even if CBS Radio Playhouse No. 1 needed to be covered in beige sound panels for decades. 

Over the next few years, the theater was variously known as CBS Theatre on the Air, the CBS Radio Playhouse, and CBS Radio Playhouse No. 1. Radio broadcasts created in the 1940s included Command Performance, a program that entertained American military forces all over the world during World War II. Frank Sinatra also performed on the stage and some young audience members demonstrating their fandom had to be relegated to the theater’s mezzanine level so they wouldn’t rush the stage.

In the late 1940s, CBS almost switched their broadcasting to the Alvin, now Neil Simon, Theatre. This would’ve meant Hammerstein’s returning to Broadway use and the beloved house on 52nd Street instead leaving the folds of theatre. The deal that kept this from happening involved theater owners swapping management of their spaces, and CBS continued at what was then called CBS Radio Theater No. 3. 

As the 1940s ended, radio was out and television was in. The first television show broadcast from the theater was Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts in 1948. As Studio 50, The Jackie Gleason Show was beamed into television sets from the theater starting in 1952. Gleason was at home filming with the live audience on the stage of a former Broadway theater, having spent the 1940s performing on Broadway.

In 1953, a new chapter began that would change the theater forever. Ed Sullivan moved in. Sullivan first hosted Toast of the Town from the theater when television was in its early days. Toast of the Town began at another Broadway theater, Maxine Elliot’s, which is long demolished, before it moved to Studio 50 in 1953.The program really showcased the theater’s interior, as audiences saw celebrities within the audience space and watched Sullivan cavort with his guests. Most guests didn’t sit backstage but rather occupied audience seats during the broadcast. Two years later, the show was renamed and became The Ed Sullivan Show, which Bye Bye Birdie's MacAfee family could only dream of appearing on. 

In 1956 and 1957, Sullivan booked Elvis Presley for history-making television appearances, where the censors ruled that the rock-and-roll performer could only be viewed from above the hips. (Elvis had previously made his national television debut at the same theater, on a program called The Stage Show in January 1956.)

The Beatles’ United States debut famously happened on the stage in 1964, when they were hosted by Ed Sullivan. The Fab Four took the world by storm and the storm reverberated out from their appearance on Ed Sullivan. It was one of the most watched television programs of all time and gave rise to Beatlemania and fan culture in general in America.

In addition to Elvis Presley and The Beatles, The Doors, Marvin Gaye The Jackson Five, Janis Joplin, The Rolling Stones, The Supremes, and The Temptations all performed on this stage! Bob Dylan almost did, but had a conflict with the censors over lyrics; The Stones and The Doors both tangled with the network about lyrics as well. Of course, many Broadway artists graced Sullivan’s show too, from Rodgers and Hammerstein to the original Broadway cast of My Fair Lady. The American television debuts of Lena Horne, Irving Berlin, Bob Hope, and Fred Astaire also happened at the Sullivan! The Ed Sullivan Show insisted on having performers of color as part of the program, despite racist and segregationist television practices of the time.

In the 1960s, the studio hosted—in addition to Ed Sullivan—programs including What’s My Line, Password, and The Merv Griffin Show. In 1965, the theater became equipped to broadcast in color. Ed Sullivan was the most prominent but he wasn’t the only tenant during the theater’s busiest decades. Several stage performances were taped for TV at the theater, including Calamity Jane in 1963 and Once Upon a Mattress in 1964.

In 1967, the theater’s name was officially changed from Studio 50 to the Ed Sullivan Theatre to commemorate Sullivan’s history-making program. With its on the air status from 1948 to 1971, The Ed Sullivan Show (once named Toast of the Town) was eventually crowned the longest running television program ever.

After The Ed Sullivan Show ended in 1971, the theater had some dark times. There were tenants, but far fewer than during the previous decades. The Shubert and Nederlander Organization both attempted to buy back the theater for legit Broadway use but this never happened. The sitcom Kate & Allie was taped at the Sullivan for five years in the 1980s but it was difficult to find tenants otherwise in the 1980s and early 1990s. There was a live stage musical called Dreamtime that played in the space in 1992 for 140 performances. 

In 1988, the theater received landmark status. The Ed Sullivan was one of many theaters that were honored as such based on the traumatic demolition of the five Broadway houses to build the Marriott Marquis earlier that decade. 

Finally, in 1993, the theater got a new lease on life when David Letterman moved in. Letterman transitioned over to CBS from NBC and had his pick of homes for his new late night show. He didn’t want to film in the CBS studio that is far west on 57th Street, and loved the idea of having a spot in the middle of the theatre district. To make their new king of late night happy, CBS paid for a significant renovation of the theater. They had attained a long-term lease in 1936 and struck many deals along the way, but in 1993, they bought the theater outright for The Late Show. For the next decade+, Letterman broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theatre. One notable guest of Letterman’s hundreds was Paul McCartney. Half a century after The Beatles made history on The Ed Sullivan Show, Paul McCartney returned to the scene of the crime for a special performance atop the marquee of the theater before chatting with Dave.

In 2015, when Stephen Colbert was announced as David Letterman’s successor, he was initially reluctant to make his show’s home at the Ed Sullivan. Colbert was eventually won over by a tour that showed him a lot of the theater’s hidden history, including the sparkling chandelier that he could glimpse through the construction. The theater is absolutely brimming with history. Even in the band green room, there are some columns that were put in place to support the stage when Ed Sullivan wanted to have an elephant act on the show. Everywhere you turn, the backstage and public areas are filled with stories. 

The current capacity of the theater is much smaller than it was when it opened in 1927. The Colbert set extends in front of the proscenium. If you look closely, you can see the original theater proscenium toward the back of the playing space. Cameras and equipment eat up audience space as well, and the current seating layout doesn’t include a significant portion of the rear mezzanine. 370 is the capacity currently given for tapings of Colbert although the capacity could hypothetically be majorly expanded again.

The landmarking of the Ed Sullivan Theatre means that it cannot be significantly altered. After The Late Show with Stephen Colbert sadly tapes for the last time, the space could remain a television studio, or finally return to Broadway usage—but it must remain a theater. 

Arthur Hammerstein originally wanted to call the space Hammerstein’s Temple of Music. In 1926, the press reported that this would be the new theater’s name—and that it would also notably have showers in its dressing rooms!

The reason Arthur chose in the end to name the space Hammerstein’s instead of the Hammerstein Theatre is that this is the pattern that his late father chose in naming spaces during his lifetime. Before Arthur lost the theater to bankruptcy, he intended to include in his will that the theater’s name could never be changed as long as it was standing. If it someday returns to use as a Broadway theater, perhaps the name could be changed back to Hammerstein’s, this time honoring both Oscars, who made indelible marks on Broadway, as well as Arthur himself.