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Identifier
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1342
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Title
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Walter Kerr Theatre
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Formerly Known As
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Ritz Theatre (1921 - 1990)
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Description
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Built for the Shuberts as a sister theatre to the Ambassador on West 49th, The Ritz Theatre was built in a record 66 days and is still one of the smaller venues in the Theatre District with less than 1,000 seats. The Ritz Theatre opened with the play Mary Stuart (https://www.playbill.com/venue/view-more?venue=00000150-aacd-d8be-af71-ffef18930006).
After a string unsuccessful shows, the theater was leased to the Works Progress Administration's Federal Theatre Project in the late 1930s. It briefly served as a CBS radio broadcasting studio before reverting to a theatre venue hosting live shows between 1942 and 1943. The Ritz again functioned as a studio for NBC then ABC from 1943 until 1965 (https://www.playbill.com/venue/view-more?venue=00000150-aacd-d8be-af71-ffef18930006). The Ritz was abandoned for several years before it returned to showing live theatre between 1971 and 1973. It was renovated for $225,000 in 1971-2 and reopened. After 1973, the Ritz variously operated as a pornographic theater with massage parlor, vaudeville house, children's theater, and poster-storage warehouse. Jujamcyn purchased The Ritz for $1.7 million, took over operations in 1981, and reopened the Ritz as a Broadway Theatre following a $1.5 million renovation. The theater was fully restored for another $1.5 - 1.9 million, reopened again in 1990, and renamed for the eminent critic and playwright, Walter Kerr (ttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kerr_Theatre).
Notable productions: Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, Angels in America: Perestroika, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Proof, Take Me Out, Doubt, Clybourne Park, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, and Hadestown (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kerr_Theatre).
Number of seats: 918 (https://www.playbill.com/venue/walter-kerr-theatre-vault-0000000320).
The Walter Kerr was denied both exterior and interior landmark status in 1987 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Kerr_Theatre).
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Date Opened
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21 March 1921
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8 March 1972
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10 May 1983
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5 March 1990
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Address
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219 West 48th Street, New York, NY, 10019
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Operator
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Jujamcyn Theaters
Walter Kerr Theatre
Hadestown