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Identifier
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1197
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Title
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Stephen Sondheim Theatre
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Formerly Known As
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Henry Miller's Theatre (1918-1970 ; 1999 - 2010)
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Park-Miller Theatre (1970-1972)
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Avon-at-the-Hudson (1972-1978)
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Xenon (1978 - 1984)
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Nightclub under various names (Shout, City, Club Expo) (1985 - 1997)
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the Kit Kat Club (1998 during a revival of Cabaret)
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Description
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Built by and named for Henry Miller, the actor and producer, Henry Miller's Theatre, with a 950 seat capacity, opened with a production of The Fountain of Youth. When Miller died in 1926, his son Gilbert Miller took over operation and it remained in the family until 1968. The theatre was sold first to the Nederlanders in 1968, then to Seymour Durst in 1969. In 1970 the theatre stopped showing live theatre and started showing films. Initially it screened movies, but in 1972 it served as a porn theater. In 1978 the theatre became a disco called Xenon (https://www.playbill.com/venue/view-more?venue=00000150-aacd-d8be-af71-ffef1886000b).
The venue returned to showing live theatre in 1998 when it was renovated, reopened, and rechristened the Kit Kat Cub with a Tony award–winning production of Cabaret (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim_Theatre). All but the brick facade was demolished in 2004 for reconstruction by Cook + Fox as part of the Bank of America Tower. The new theatre was constructed underground with the top balcony at street level in contrast to almost every other Broadway theatre with the orchestra at street level (https://www.playbill.com/venue/view-more?venue=00000150-aacd-d8be-af71-ffef1886000b). After the completion of construction, Henry Miller’s Theatre reopened in 2009 as the first LEED-certified Broadway theatre, raising the bar for environmentally sustainable construction of performing arts venues (https://www.roundabouttheatre.org/theatres-and-venues/stephen-sondheim-theatre/).
In 2010, it was renamed the Stephen Sondheim Theatre in honor of the legendary composer and lyricist’s 80th birthday. When a theatre in London's West End was named after Sondheim in 2019, he became the only then-living person to have theaters named after them in both New York and London (https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/venues/stephen-sondheim-theatre).
Notable productions: La, La, Lucille, Journey's End, Our Town, Dear Ruth, Cabaret, Urinetown, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim_Theatre#Notable_productions).
Number of seats: 1026 (https://www.playbill.com/venue/stephen-sondheim-theatre-vault-0000000184).
The facade is protected as a city landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Sondheim_Theatre).
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Date Opened
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1 April 1918
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10 September 2009 (reopened)
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Address
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124 West 43rd Street, New York, NY, 10036
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Operator
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Roundabout Theatre Company
Stephen Sondheim Theatre
& Juliet