The New Amsterdam Theatre: Broadway's Oldest Working Theater and the Art Nouveau House Beautiful

The New Amsterdam Theatre marquee and vertical sign for Aladdin on West 42nd Street in Times Square, Manhattan

The New Amsterdam Theatre on 42nd Street during the run of Aladdin. Photograph by Ajay Suresh, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 2.0.

What is the New Amsterdam Theatre?

The New Amsterdam Theatre at 214 West 42nd Street opened on October 26, 1903, and it is the oldest operating theater on Broadway, according to the theater's own website, which also calls it an official New York City landmark. It was designed by the architects Henry Herts and Hugh Tallant for the theatrical producers Klaw & Erlanger. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) calls it a rare example of Art Nouveau architecture in the city. Since 2014 it has been the home of Disney's Aladdin.

The theater's website says the opening night was a highly anticipated event. Herts and Tallant designed the interior around the first production, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the New York Times review the next morning "spoke little of the play" and hailed the building as "The House Beautiful," a nickname the theater still uses. The LPC's report adds that the opening production was accompanied by Mendelssohn's incidental music, with additional music by Victor Herbert.

Who built it, and why was it more than a theater?

The LPC's 1979 report says Klaw & Erlanger bought a parcel west of Seventh Avenue in 1902, running through the block between 41st and 42nd Streets, and commissioned Herts & Tallant to design a multi-use structure with two theaters and a ten-story office tower for their booking and producing businesses. Klaw & Erlanger were partners in the Theatrical Syndicate, which the LPC says created a monopoly over the bookings of more than 500 theaters across the country before it was dissolved in 1916. The firm stayed powerful as a booking agency and producer.

The architects were friends from the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Herts, the LPC notes, was the son of a decorating-firm founder, and Tallant had two degrees from Harvard. They formed their firm in 1900. The report credits them with pioneering the use of cantilever construction in the New Amsterdam, which let them build balconies without supporting columns that would block the view from below. It says that innovation is generally credited to Herts. Because of it, the report says, there is an unobstructed view from all seats.

The auditorium of the New Amsterdam Theatre from the stage, showing rows of seats and the balcony, about 1906 — The auditorium of the New Amsterdam Theatre seen from the stage, about 1906. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

What does the Art Nouveau design look like?

The LPC says the architects, working with sculptors, painters and other craftsmen, used Art Nouveau to carry a double theme: the spirit of drama and the theater, and the history of New Amsterdam as the city of New York. The exterior, in gray limestone, is ten stories high and three bays wide and topped with a sloping red tile roof. The LPC adds that the sculpture and ornament on the upper stories draw on Art Nouveau's abstraction of classical motifs and lush floral forms. It also notes that virtually all of the sculptured detail on the first three stories was removed and replaced by a marquee and a vertical electric sign. The form of the building, the report says, still expresses its dual function as office tower and theater.

Inside, the theater's website says the lobby has marble wall sculptures showing moments from Shakespeare and scenes from Wagner's Ring cycle. The pattern carries into the house, where Shakespearean characters mix with figures from Hans Christian Andersen, Aesop's Fables and classic myths. The LPC's interior report describes five scenes from Shakespeare on one wall, including Macbeth and the witches and Titania and Bottom, plus a reception room paneled in carved oak with built-in seating and a room paneled in Flemish oak and lined with leather seats.

The Art Nouveau ceiling and ornament of the lower level of the New Amsterdam Theatre in Manhattan

Ceiling ornament inside the New Amsterdam Theatre. Photograph by Farragutful, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

What was the Ziegfeld era?

The LPC says Florenz Ziegfeld began an association with the New Amsterdam in 1913 that lasted until his death in 1932. He presented the Ziegfeld Follies there between 1913 and 1920, from 1922 to 1925, and in 1927. From 1915 he used the rooftop theater for the Midnight Frolic. The theater's website says the Follies ran for 14 years at the New Amsterdam. IBDB lists editions in 1920, 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925 and 1927. The LPC's list of stars includes Ann Pennington, Fanny Brice, Ina Claire and Ed Wynn, and the site names Will Rogers, W.C. Fields and Eddie Cantor. The LPC adds the Astaires in The Band Wagon in 1931 among other productions. Ziegfeld opened his own Joseph Urban-designed Ziegfeld Theatre on Sixth Avenue in 1927 but kept producing at the New Amsterdam.

The theater's website says the Depression began its gradual decline over the next five decades. IBDB says that in 1937 it became a movie palace. The Aladdin site gives the same date and says the theater closed in 1983 "due to disrepair." The theater's site also tells the legend of Olive Thomas, a Ziegfeld girl who it says is the "mischievous and elusive spirit" said to haunt the building. That is a theater tradition, not a documented fact.

The stained glass and painted ceiling in the interior of the New Amsterdam Theatre in Manhattan in 2025

A painted ceiling inside the New Amsterdam Theatre, May 2025. Photograph by Epicgenius, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

How did it become a landmark?

The LPC designated the exterior (LP-1026) and the first-floor interior (LP-1027) on October 23, 1979. The interior designation covers the lobby, entrance foyer, promenade foyer, reception room, auditorium, stage and stairs to the basement lounges. The LPC held its public hearing on January 9, 1979 and continued it on March 13, 1979. Sixteen witnesses spoke in favor of designation and two spoke against. IBDB's entry says the theater "earned landmark status" in 1982, but the LPC's own reports are dated 1979, so this article uses 1979. The theater is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places, according to the National Park Service's NPGallery (reference 80002664).

How did Disney save it?

IBDB says the Nederlander Organization bought the theater in 1982 and sold it to the state in 1992. The New York Times reported on September 10, 1992 that the state had taken over the "badly tarnished crown jewel" of 42nd Street playhouses from the Nederlanders in the hope of salvaging the building. Variety reported in 1994 that Disney announced a $29 million plan to restore the theater. Disney's lease dates differ by source. The theater's website says Disney signed a 99-year lease in 1993 and began a two-year restoration in partnership with the City. The Aladdin site says Disney leased it in 1995. The New York Times reported the $34 million renovation unveiled on April 3, 1997. IBDB says Disney reopened it in 1997. IBDB lists The Lion King at the theater from November 13, 1997 to June 4, 2006. Mary Poppins followed from November 16, 2006 to March 3, 2013. Aladdin opened on March 20, 2014, per IBDB and the Aladdin site, and is still playing there as of the theater's website.

The proscenium boxes and ornamental plasterwork inside the New Amsterdam Theatre in Manhattan, 2025 — Ornament near the stage inside the New Amsterdam Theatre, May 2025. Photograph by Epicgenius, via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 4.0.

How many seats does it have?

IBDB lists approximately 1,747 seats. This article did not find an official seat count. The theater's website says it can host private events of up to 1,700 guests, which is a rental capacity and not a seating count. No source checked gives 1,801.

Where can you eat or drink at the New Amsterdam Theatre?

Aladdin's official support page says food and beverages are available for purchase at the theater. Snacks such as candy, pretzels, chips or cookies vary with availability, drinks include soda, bottled water and alcoholic beverages, and concessions are located on each level. Outside food is not permitted. This is a theater concession, not a restaurant. This article did not find a public restaurant or lounge with its own hours inside the theater, and offerings can change, so check the Aladdin site before you go.

Who owns the New Amsterdam Theatre today?

The sources describe public ownership with a Disney lease. The state took the theater over in 1992, per the New York Times, and Disney holds a 99-year lease, per the theater's website. This article did not find a current deed or a statement naming the owner today, so it describes the lease and does not name an owner. It is a New York City landmark, so exterior changes require LPC approval.

Sources

Visiting the New Amsterdam Theatre

Address: 214 West 42nd Street, New York, NY (official site).
Box office: Broadway and 42nd Street. The official site lists Monday to Friday 9 AM to 8 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 8 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 6:30 PM.
Tours: The official site says theater tours are unavailable at this time.
Rules: The official code of conduct bars outside food and beverages, weapons, flashlights and laser pointers, and recording equipment, and says large bags must be stored at coat check.
Age: Patrons under 14 must be accompanied by someone 14 or older.

Checked against New Amsterdam Theatre website and Aladdin site. Confirm hours and ticket rules there.