Shubert Theatre (New Haven)

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The Shubert Theatre is a 1600-seat theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, originally opened in 1914. It was designed by Albert Swazey, a New York architect, and built by the H.E. Murdock Construction Company. It is currently run as a non-profit organization by CAPA, the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts.

Because it was an attractive and modern theatre in a metropolitan area outside of but not too far from New York City, the Shubert Theatre attracted many producers as a location to try out shows before bringing them to Broadway. Richard Rodgers arranged the premiers of many of the shows he wrote and co-wrote to run at the Shubert, including all five of the most famous shows written by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In 1947, A Streetcar Named Desire premiered in the Shubert, beginning both the play's and Marlon Brando's rises to fame. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, the Shubert continued to attract rising stars, playing a home to early appearances of such actors as Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart, Andy Griffith, Sidney Poitier, and even former first lady Nancy Reagan, among others.

The theater was immortalized in many films from that era, most famously in All About Eve.

However, in the 1970s, the popularity of the Shubert began to decline. After the try-out performance of Something Old, Something New on November 13, 1976, the theater closed and was threatened with destruction. Instead, the city of New Haven purchased it and had it refurbished by the Fusco Corporation. Members of the local community created a non-profit corporation, the Shubert Performing Arts Center Inc., which operated it for the next eighteen years under lease. The theater reopened in December 1983 with a new facade and lobby. The reopening played a large part in the revival of downtown New Haven. Since then, the Shubert has been the venue for Broadway road companies, while also opening shows ranging from Proposals by Neil Simon, to Frank Wildhorn's musicals Jekyll and Hyde and The Civil War. It also offers a variety of other types of performances, including dance and concerts, and has a number of education and outreach programs.

In 2001, New Haven engaged CAPA to oversee operations.

[edit] A selection of Shubert landmarks[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Celebrating 90 Years! Shubert Theater, A Commemorative Supplement Produced by The New Haven Register, 2004

[edit] External links