Gershwin Theatre, Broadway theater in Midtown Manhattan, US
The Gershwin Theatre occupies the second floor of Paramount Plaza at 222 West 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York. Ralph Alswang designed it in an Art Nouveau style, with bronze velour decoration in the public spaces, redecorated in blue and white in 1993. Its auditorium holds about 1,933 seats on two levels: an orchestra of roughly 1,300 and a mezzanine of about 600. The stage is 80 ft (24 m) wide behind a 65 ft (20 m) adjustable proscenium arch.
Architect Ralph Alswang designed this theater, which opened as the Uris Theatre on November 28, 1972, marking the first major Broadway construction since 1931. The name later changed to honor composers George and Ira Gershwin, who shaped American musical theater.
The American Theater Hall of Fame fills the second-floor lobby and its two rotundas, its names inscribed in gold letters across a wall 220 feet wide and four stories high. Inductees need at least 25 years in American theater and five major Broadway credits. One rotunda once held the Museum of the City of New York's music and theater collections.
The entrance at 222 West 51st Street leads into a midblock passageway, from which escalators rise to the main lobby and surrounding areas. Visitors should allow extra time for orientation, as access levels and seating sections cover multiple floors.
The Gershwin was built without fire curtains, because the city permitted sprinkler systems in the Minskoff and Gershwin theaters, which faced less stringent codes than older Broadway houses. Its stage can be disassembled or extended forward over the orchestra pit, and the 65-foot proscenium arch is adjustable.
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