Is the Minskoff Theatre Inside an Office Tower? Hotel Astor, a Zoning Deal and The Lion King

By Solomon Rokowsky

The Minskoff Theatre entrance at the base of One Astor Plaza, May 2023. Photograph by Benoît Prieur, via Wikimedia Commons. CC0.

Is the Minskoff Theatre really inside an office tower?

Yes. The Minskoff Theatre at 200 West 45th Street sits on the third floor of One Astor Plaza, the 54-story office tower at 1515 Broadway. Broadway.com describes it as one of the largest Broadway theaters, on the third floor of an office tower "constructed on the site of the former Astor Hotel." The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) lists it as built in 1973 and named for Sam Minskoff and Sons, and Broadway.com says the Minskoffs were the builders and owners of the high-rise. It opened on March 13, 1973, according to both IBDB and Broadway.com. Broadway.com says the opening production was a revival of Irene starring Debbie Reynolds. The Nederlander Organization operates the theater, per IBDB, and Broadway Direct counts it among Nederlander's nine Broadway theatres.

TDF's access notes describe the way in: visitors enter through the arcade between 44th and 45th Streets, through double doors into a lobby with an elevator and escalators, since the auditorium is above street level.

Hotel Astor, the large building at left, and the Astor Theatre to its right, about 1908. Detroit Publishing Company, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

What stood on the site before the tower?

The Hotel Astor. The Wikipedia article on One Astor Plaza says the hotel occupied the site from 1904 to 1967, and that Sam Minskoff and Sons bought the site in 1966 and first proposed a 50-story tower with no theater in it. The Wikimedia Commons description of the 1908 photograph above identifies the Hotel Astor as the largest building in the frame, with the Astor Theatre on the northwest corner of Broadway and 45th Street to its right, and the Gaiety Building next to that. The tower takes its name from the hotel. The Broadway Direct page for the theater says the tower's theater is named for Sam Minskoff and Sons, "one of New York's distinguished real estate families."

Times Square and Hotel Astor, 1909. Unknown photographer, via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain.

Why does an office tower have a Broadway theater in it?

The article on One Astor Plaza explains it as a zoning deal. It says the city's Urban Design Group proposed that the tower include a theater, which the Minskoffs first opposed, and that Mayor Lindsay convinced them to include one. In October 1967 the City Planning Commission proposed the Special Theater District Zoning Amendment, which gave office developers extra floor area if they built a theater. According to that article the Minskoffs could build 47 stories as of right, and could add 125,000 square feet in exchange for a Broadway theater. The commission approved the amendment in November 1967 and the Board of Estimate gave final approval the next month. The Shubert Organization, the article says, was the only speaker to oppose the plan at the hearing. The same article says the Minskoff, Gershwin, Circle in the Square and American Place theaters were all built under the 1967 amendment. It adds that these were expected to be the first completely new Broadway theaters since the Mark Hellinger Theatre was completed in 1930.

Construction began on October 10, 1968, per that article. The first tenant moved into the building on May 26, 1971, before it was finished, and the Minskoff Theatre opened on March 13, 1973.

Who designed it?

The sources give different names. IBDB credits Der Scutt as the architect. Broadway.com says the theater was designed by Kahn and Jacobs. The One Astor Plaza article reconciles the two: it says Der Scutt, of the firm Ely J. Kahn & Jacobs, designed the building and the Minskoff, with Ben Schlanger as a consulting architect and Jo Mielziner as the consultant for the original operator, Albert Selden. This article follows that account, and it is a secondary source, not a landmark report.

This article did not find a Landmarks Preservation Commission designation for the Minskoff and does not claim one.

What else is in the building?

The One Astor Plaza article gives the tower's size as 54 floors and 745 feet to the roof, on a lot bounded by Times Square, West 45th Street, Shubert Alley and West 44th Street. It says the building shares its block with seven theaters to the west: the Shubert, Broadhurst and Majestic on 44th Street and the Booth, Gerald Schoenfeld, Bernard B. Jacobs and John Golden on 45th Street. The building was first named for its anchor tenant, the W. T. Grant retail chain, which the article says left in 1976. The tower also had a second theater, a movie house in the basement. The article says it opened as the Loews Astor Plaza on June 25, 1974, and is now an event venue called Palladium Times Square.

The third floor once held more than the theater. According to the same article, the Minskoff Recording Studios opened there in 1976 and hosted rehearsals for large Broadway musicals, because they were the only studios in the area big enough. The studios closed in 1989 because of rising rents. The article describes the theater's layout as escalators from the ground-floor arcade to a third-floor grand foyer, where more escalators lead to the auditorium seating.

How many seats does the Minskoff have?

The published figures are not close. IBDB lists approximately 1,710 seats. Broadway Direct says 1,696. Broadway.com says 1,621, and so does the One Astor Plaza article, which describes two levels, a steeply raked orchestra and a smaller mezzanine. Counts change when a production reconfigures the house, and the Nederlander Organization's own site was not available to check. The article lists all three figures.

The Minskoff Theatre at night with The Lion King signs, March 2007. Photograph by Rob Young, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0.

What has played at the Minskoff?

IBDB's production list shows a run of musicals that did not last, followed by one that did. It lists Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (November 10, 1993 to May 29, 1994), Sunset Boulevard (November 17, 1994 to March 22, 1997), The Scarlet Pimpernel (November 9, 1997 to October 1, 1998, and again from October 10, 1998 to May 30, 1999), Saturday Night Fever (October 21, 1999 to December 30, 2000), The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (April 26 to May 13, 2001), Dance of the Vampires (December 9, 2002 to January 25, 2003) and Fiddler on the Roof (February 26, 2004 to January 8, 2006). The Lion King moved in on June 13, 2006, and IBDB lists it as still running.

Broadway Direct says more than 200 craftsmen and artisans worked nearly six months to refurbish the theater for The Lion King. It names the architectural designer Mariuca Brancoveanu and says the new environment starts with a terrazzo walkway through the promenade, and that the main lobby has hand-painted, gold-leaf sculpted tableaus on its walls with panoramic views of Broadway.

Where can you eat or drink at the Minskoff Theatre?

The Lion King's official support page says food and beverages are sold at the theatre, with concessions on each level. It lists candy, pretzels, chips or cookies, subject to availability, and sodas, bottled water and alcoholic beverages. Outside food is not permitted inside. Broadway.com, a ticket seller rather than the theater, says there are two bars in the main lobby, two on the orchestra level and two on the mezzanine, that the bars open 45 minutes before the performance, and that only water and the commemorative cups are allowed in the auditorium. This article did not find a restaurant inside the theater. Check the official page before you go, since the concessions menu can change.

Who owns the Minskoff Theatre today?

IBDB says the Nederlanders operate the theater. The One Astor Plaza article lists the building's owners as SL Green Realty (53 percent) and Allianz (47 percent). That article does not say who owns the theater space itself, so this article does not either. Broadway Direct calls the Minskoff one of the Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres, which describes who runs it.

Sources

• Internet Broadway Database, Minskoff Theatre
• Broadway Direct, Minskoff Theatre
• Broadway.com, Minskoff Theatre (ticket seller)
• Theatre Development Fund, Minskoff Theatre
• The Lion King, food and beverage at the theatre (official support page)
• Wikipedia, One Astor Plaza (secondary source for the zoning and construction history)