Belasco Theatre


Belasco Theatre The Belasco Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 111 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan.

Designed by architect George Keister for impresario David Belasco, the interior featured Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and expansive murals, and a ten-room duplex penthouse apartment that Belasco utilized as combination living quarters/office space. Technically it was outfitted with the most advanced stagecraft tools available, including extensive lighting rigs, a hydraulics system, and vast wing and fly space.
It opened as the Stuyvesant Theatre on October 16, 1907 with the musical A Grand Army Man with Antoinette Perry. Three years later Belasco attached his own name to the venue. After his death in 1931, it was leased first by actress Katharine Cornell and then playwright Elmer Rice. The Shuberts bought it in 1949 and leased it to NBC for three years before returning it to legitimate use.

This theater is the subject of an urban legend that David Belasco's ghost haunts the theater every night. Some performers in the shows that played there have even claimed to have spotted him or other ghosts during performances.

Notable productions since 1966
1966: The Subject Was Roses; The Killing of Sister George
1968: Don't Drink the Water
1971: Oh! Calcutta!
1975: The Rocky Horror Show
1981: Ain't Misbehavin'
2000: James Joyce's The Dead
2002: Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune
2004: Dracula, the Musical
2005: Julius Caesar
2006: Awake and Sing!
2007: Journey's End
2008: Passing Strange
2008: Speed-the-Plow


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