Richard Rodgers Theatre

The Richard Rodgers Theatre, is a Broadway theater in New York City, built by Irwin Chanin in 1925. When it was first opened, it was called Chanin's 46th Street Theatre. Chanin almost immediately leased it to the Shuberts, who bought the building outright in 1931 and renamed it the 46th Street Theatre. In 1982, it was purchased and renovated by the Nederlander Organization, who in 1990 changed the name to the Richard Rodgers Theatre in memory of the composer Richard Rodgers. The building is located at 226 W 46th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue.

It currently holds the distinction of housing the most number, ten, of Tony Award-winning Best Play and Best Musicals.

Chanin's seating plan

The Richard Rodgers Theatre is notable in that it was the first to feature Chanin's 'democratic' seating plan. In most earlier Broadway theatres, patrons seated in the cheaper balcony and mezzanine sections utilized separate entrances from patrons who had purchased the more expensive orchestra section seats. Instead, all patrons entered the new theatre through the same doors, and a series of steps inside the house led to the upper seating areas.

Notable productions

• The Greenwich Village Follies (December 24, 1925)
• Good News (September 6, 1927)
• Sweet and Low (November 17, 1930)
• Of Thee I Sing (October 10, 1932)
• Knickerbocker Holiday (February 13, 1939)
• DuBarry Was a Lady (December 1939)
• Finian's Rainbow (January 10, 1947)
• Guys and Dolls (November 24, 1950)
• The...... ... ...
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