Oh yes, good call on the Belasco. The restoration of that one is plum gorgeous.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
I am so pleased to see the Booth get mentioned a few times. The Booth is probably my favorite theater on Broadway, too. It's the perfect type of intimate. I don't care much for what's been playing there for 25 years, but the Majestic is a gorgeous house. And I think the Broadway is a gorgeous big musical house too.
The Kerr has a gorgeous interior, and I have fond memories of some of the shows that have played there, but BOY(!) are those seats uncomfortable. Perhaps my memory is hazy, but the Lunt-Fontanne had the worst legroom I've ever experienced on Broadway, too.
As for least favorites- I find the Gershwin to be more like a theater on a cruise ship or at a casino than a Broadway house. And the Marquis basically IS a theater on a cruise ship or casino...well, it's a hotel, but you get my point.
I don't get the extreme dislike for the Lyceum. It might be old, it might not have ever had a hit for years, and it might have that separate balcony entrance, but at least it has charm, and elegance.
Although far from the rest of Broadway, I actually love the Vivian Beaumont. The way the seats curve around the stage and the terrific sight lines have appealed to me whenever I have seen a show there. Also love the smaller theaters like the Music Box and the Helen Hayes. Don't really actively dislike any but if I were to stack rank, the Marquis would probably be at the bottom for the same reasons many others have already stated.
I can't resist being that guy, but Ginger Circle in the Square isn't a theatre in the round, it's a three-quarter thrust.
The Beaumont is also a thrust stage, and (in my and probably many others' opinions) a better example of how to pull it off well. But with any non-proscenium house the devil's in the details and how each production chooses to utilize it, or not.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.
Ah, that's great to know. I've not seen it that way, but for whatever reason I've seen very few shows there relative to the other theatres.
Words don't deserve that kind of malarkey. They're innocent, neutral, precise, standing for this, describing that, meaning the other, so if you look after them you can build bridges across incomprehension and chaos. But when they get their corners knocked off, they're no good anymore…I don't think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.