1681 Broadway
New York, NY

Inside the
Broadway
Theatre

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Featured Storytellers

Andrew Dolkart

Architectural Historian, Columbia University

Edward Emmet

Grandson, Irving Berlin

Whoopi Goldberg

Actor

Jeffrey Eric Jenkins

Theater Historian

William Ivey Long

Costume Designer

Jerry Zaks

Director

Tanya Braganti

Located at 1681 Broadway

About the Theater

Built in 1924, and opened as a movie and vaudeville palace, it was originally called the B. S. Moss Colony Theatre, and is one of the few theaters that have its entrance on Broadway.

Moss, a mogul who operated a chain of movie houses, debuted the first Mickey Mouse cartoon, "Steamboat Willie", in 1928 at this theater. In 1930 he converted it into a legitimate theater and opened with a production of The New Yorkers, a musical by Cole Porter and Herbert Fields. With one of the largest seating capacities of any Broadway theater, it has been home to many award-winning productions including Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, Gypsy, and Evita.

Tanya Braganti

Located at 1681 Broadway

Theater Architect

Shubert Archive

Theater Architect

Eugene DeRosa

1894-1945
Eugene DeRosa was born in Italy in 1894 and emigrated to New York City as a child. He began practicing architecture in 1918 and trained in Charles Lamb's office. He formed the firm DeRosa & Pereira in 1919.

Highly successful throughout the Roaring Twenties, the firm specialized in theaters and movie houses. However, the business was largely destroyed by the collapse of the theater market during the Depression. DeRosa moved to London and Naples during the 1930s. By 1944, DeRosa attempted to resurrect his career but died soon after the end of World War II.