Al Hirschfeld Theatre

About

The Al Hirschfeld Theatre, originally the Martin Beck Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 302 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1924, it was designed by G. Albert Lansburgh in a Moorish and Byzantine style and was constructed for vaudevillian Martin Beck. It has 1,404 seats across two levels and is operated by ATG Entertainment. Both the facade and the interior are New York City landmarks.

The facades of the Al Hirschfeld's auditorium and stage house are designed as one unit. There is a double-height arcade with cast-stone columns at the base of the theater. The eastern section of the arcade contains the auditorium entrance, the center section includes a staircase with emergency exits, and the western section leads to the stage house. Red brick is used for the upper stories of the facade. Albert Herter, a muralist who frequently collaborated with Lansburgh, oversaw much of the interior design. A square ticket lobby is directly inside the main entrance, leading to a vaulted inner lobby and an L-shaped mezzanine lounge. The auditorium is decorated with ornamental plasterwork and contains a sloped orchestra level, a mezzanine level, and a curved sounding board. In addition, there are box seats at the balcony level, near the front of the auditorium. The auditorium has an octagonal ceiling with a multicolored dome.