The Marquis was designed by John C. Portman Jr., who designed the Marriott Marquis and included the theater to increase the size of the hotel. The theater's main entrance and box office are at 210 West 46th Street. The box office is at ground level, and there are escalators leading from the ground floor to the auditorium. Due to a lack of space, the wings on each side of the proscenium arch are smaller than mandated by city building codes. The theater also has no freight elevator, no dedicated restroom facilities, and small hallways.
A theater was proposed on the site in 1973 as part of a hotel (later the Marriott Marquis), the completion of which was delayed until 1985. The hotel had controversially replaced several existing theaters, and the design features of the new Marquis Theatre were highly criticized, even by the hotel's supporters. The theater opened in July 1986 with concerts by Shirley Bassey, followed by the long-running Me and My Girl. The Marquis then hosted a series of short-lived productions from the 1990s through the 2010s.
Design
The Marquis Theatre was designed by John C. Portman Jr. and is on the third story of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel. The site occupies the west side of Broadway, between 45th and 46th Streets, in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.[1] It is the only Broadway theater that is entirely within a hotel.[2] The theater was included as part of a deal between Portman and the New York City Board of Estimate to increase the size of the hotel, which was completed in 1985.[3] The main entrance is at 210 West 46th Street while the stage door is hidden behind a column on 45th Street.[4] The hotel's third through seventh stories also contain theater offices.[5]
The ground-level box office is decorated with black marble and brass railings.[6] The box office is so small that, as designed, theater visitors had to exit the building to take an escalator up to the theater.[7] The up escalator ends at a narrow hallway that leads to the auditorium.[7][8] The down escalator from the auditorium leads to a narrow area at ground level.[7] Due to the lack of space in the theater, there is no dedicated theater lobby, and restrooms are placed in the hotel's common area.[7][2]
There are 1,612 seats in the auditorium proper,[9] spread across an orchestra level and a balcony level.[4][10] The auditorium was originally designed with a rose-and-burgundy color scheme, as well as light-colored wood and white plaster. There are wood-paneled areas above the balcony, which conceal a large portion of the lighting fixtures. As designed, Portman intended for all seats to be no farther than 80 ft (24 m) from the stage.[6] To make the auditorium seem cozier than similarly new theaters, such as the Minskoff Theatre and Uris Theatre, the Marquis's designers placed boxes on either side of the stage.[11]
The proscenium arch is 40 feet (12 m) wide.[12] Speakers are hidden behind cloth coverings on either side of the proscenium. The stage, which is underneath the proscenium, consists of oak panels measuring 3 by 6 feet (0.91 by 1.83 m); trap doors can be placed under any of the panels.[6] Under New York City building guidelines, the wings are typically supposed to be as wide as the proscenium arch; however, there was not enough space in the hotel to accommodate 40-foot-wide wings. Instead, the wings are 20 feet (6.1 m) in width, a modification approved by the New York City Planning Commission.[12] In addition, the fly space is about 58 feet (18 m) above the stage, shorter than in comparable theaters.[12] There is no freight elevator.[7]
History
Construction
The site of the New York Marriott Marquis was occupied by several theaters including the Astor (pictured).
A theater was first proposed in 1973 as part of the Portman Hotel, which subsequently became the Marriott Marquis.[13][14] The hotel plans were canceled in 1975 due to a lack of funding,[15][16] though the plans were revived in 1978.[17][18] The plans entailed the demolition of five theaters: the original Helen Hayes, the Morosco, the Bijou, and remnants of the Astor and the Gaiety.[19] After several years of delays, the old theaters were demolished in 1982, despite major opposition to the demolition of the theaters and to the hotel itself.[20][21] In mid-1983, the Marriott chain began negotiating with potential theater operators.[22] The Times Square Hotel Company, which was developing the Marriott Marquis, wanted any potential operator to pay $3.6 million a year.[23] Marriott received bids from ten organizations, which were then reduced to four finalists before Marriott offered the Shubert Organization the right to operate the theater. Shubert chairman Gerald Schoenfeld had expressed doubts, saying: "I'm not sure that theater is a plum. It depends on the economics."[24]
The Nederlander Organization won the rights to operate the hotel's theater in November 1984[23][25] and signed a lease the following year.[26][27] The theater was planned to have its own entrance on Broadway, while the hotel's entrances would be to the sides, on 45th and 46th Streets.[28] The plans for the theater were released in January 1985, the design features were highly criticized, especially by the Shuberts, who had supported the hotel. Among the complaints were that the theater was hard to access, being on the third floor; the gridiron on the theater's ceiling was too low; and the theater restrooms were in the hotel lobby, which was on the eighth floor.[29] The Times Square Hotel Company proposed in April 1985 that the theater wings beside the proscenium be enlarged, since the wings would only be 20 feet 10 inches (6.35 m) wide.[30] The theater ultimately cost $30 million and took a year to construct.[6]
Operation
The Marriott Marquis, where the theater is housed
The Marquis opened July 9, 1986, with a series of concerts by Shirley Bassey.[31][32] The first musical to play the Marquis was Me and My Girl, which opened the following month.[33][34] Architectural critic Herbert Muschamp wrote that the overall design "is not a theater environment but that of a hotel, of homogenized 'hospitality', better suited to a convention than a chorus line."[8] Some Broadway performers also boycotted the Marquis because of the controversy over the construction of the Marriott Marquis hotel.[35]
1980s and 1990s
The theater advertised its productions through the hotel's in-house television channel. Hotel guests could buy tickets to a production and have these ticket fees added to their regular hotel bills.[36] As designed, the stage area did not have its own heating system, and cast members could see their own breath during particularly cold days. Additionally, the hotel's sewer system had an exterior vent that was near the auditorium's air intake, causing widespread reports of nausea. The sewer system would back up into ten drainpipes in the theater's floor.[37][38] The Actors' Equity Association threatened to withdraw its actors from the theater, and the Nederlanders agreed the plumbing and ventilation systems were problematic. This prompted Marriott to spend $500,000 on a dedicated heating, ventilation, and plumbing system for the Marquis Theatre in January 1988.[38][39]
Me and My Girl was particularly popular,[40] despite a dearth of productions in the Nederlanders' other theaters.[41] The production closed at the end of 1989[42][43] to make way for the Broadway run of the musical Annie 2, which itself was canceled in early 1990.[44][45] The Marquis next hosted Shogun: The Musical in November 1990.[46][47] The production starred Philip Casnoff, who was hospitalized after being hit by debris during a preview,[48][49] and Shogun ultimately flopped.[50][51] The Marquis also hosted a revival of the production Gypsy,[52][53] which was relatively successful.[50] Afterward, the Marquis hosted a series of flops,[50] such as Nick & Nora in 1991.[54][55]
During much of the 1990s, the theater hosted several short-lived productions.[50] These included Man of La Mancha in 1992,[56][57]The Goodbye Girl in 1993,[58][59] and Damn Yankees in 1994.[60][61] Afterward, Victor/Victoria opened in 1995 and ran for almost two years, with 734 performances.[62][63] During the run of Victor/Victoria, producer John Scher had tried to provide a "hospitality suite" in the adjacent hotel, but it was unsuccessful.[64] Other flops followed,[50] including The Capeman in 1998,[65][66] which closed after only two months and was replaced by Forever Tango.[67] The theater also hosted a revival of Peter Pan in 1998[68][69] and Annie Get Your Gun in 1999.[70][71]
2000s to present
Theater entrance on 46th Street
Through the early 2000s, the Marquis had mixed success with its productions. While it played host to the critically acclaimed Thoroughly Modern Millie from 2002 to 2004,[72][73] its following two shows, La Cage aux Folles in 2004[74][75] and The Woman in White in 2005, had abbreviated runs due to poor box office returns.[76][77][50] The Marquis's other events included a choir performance in October 2001 to celebrate the release of the Windows XP operating system,[78] as well as events to benefit charities.[79] The theater also hosted the production of The Drowsy Chaperone in 2006.[80][81]Chaperone was slightly modified for its run at the Marquis, wherein the Man In Chair remarks that the production within the show originally played the Morosco Theatre, but "it was torn down in 1982, and replaced with an enormous hotel. Unforgivable."[82] The Marquis then hosted Cry-Baby[83][84] and a limited run of Irving Berlin's White Christmas during 2008.[85][86] The martial arts show Soul of Shaolin played at the Marquis in 2009,[87][88] making it the first Chinese production to play on Broadway.[89] This was followed the same year by 9 to 5[90][91] and another limited engagement of White Christmas.[92]
In September 2018, Vornado acquired full ownership of the Marquis Theatre and the hotel's retail space for $442 million.[126][127] The following year, Vornado sold almost half of its stake to a group of investors that included Crown Acquisitions and the Qatar Investment Authority.[128][129][130]Tootsie also played at the Marquis Theatre in 2019.[131][132] The Marquis and all other Broadway theaters were temporarily closed on March 12, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[133] The theater reopened in April 2022,[134] when the musical Beetlejuice relocated from the Winter Garden Theatre;[135][136] the musical ran until January 2023.[137] The Jonas Brothers performed a limited five-night engagement of the show Jonas Brothers On Broadway = 5 Albums 5 Nights at the Marquis Theatre from March 14 to March 18, 2023.[138][139] The jukebox musical Once Upon a One More Time opened at the Marquis Theatre in June 2023[140][141] and closed that September.[142] In April 2024, a Broadway revival of The Wiz is expected to open at the Marquis.[143]
Notable productions
Productions are listed by the year of their first performance.[4][9]
Evita achieved the box office record for the Marquis Theatre seven times;[151] it grossed $1,586,902 over eight performances for the week ending May 10, 2012.[152] This was surpassed by Beetlejuice, which grossed $2,462,831 over nine performances for the week ending January 1, 2023.[153]
^Stern, Gary (March 9, 1984). "Legit Consultants Fill The Gap In Designing And Building Theatres". Back Stage. pp. 1A, 20A, 21A, 22A, 23A. ProQuest962982997.
^Shepard, Joan (March 1, 1978). "City Seeks 15M for a Hotel". Daily News. p. 10. Archived from the original on October 30, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
^Pace, Eric (July 6, 1983). "For Broadway: A New Hotel With a Theater: Hotel With Theater Rising on Broadway". The New York Times. p. B1. ISSN0362-4331. ProQuest121858907.
^Crook, David; Sherwood, Rick (January 29, 1988). "Stage". Los Angeles Times. p. 2. ProQuest292706117.
^Hummler, Richard (November 5, 1986). "Miscellany: Smash 'Girl' Netting 75G A Week And Looking At September Payoff". Variety. Vol. 325, no. 2. pp. 2, 92. ProQuest1438484192.
^Richards, David (January 16, 1990). "'Annie 2' Won't Go to Broadway: Producers Consider Reviving Original Show". The Washington Post. p. D1. ISSN0190-8286. ProQuest140135740.
^Kissel, Howard (November 15, 1990). "On With the 'Shogun'". Daily News. p. 39. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
^Granville, Kari (January 27, 1991). "A Bad Translation of 'Shogun': Why the opulent production of the hit James Clavell novel and miniseries lasted less than 100 days on Broadway". p. F6. ProQuest1638579818.
^Cha, Ariana Eunjung (October 26, 2001). "XP Makes Its Big Debut With Times Square Event: Windows XP Debuts Near Ground Zero". The Washington Post. p. E1. ISSN0190-8286. ProQuest1965123642.
^McKinley, Jesse (November 16, 2001). "On Stage and Off". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
^Itzkoff, Compiled by Dave (October 27, 2008). "Footnotes". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Archived from the original on November 7, 2021. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
