1.
Samuel J. Friedman Theater
Samuel J. Friedman Theater
This venue opened as the Biltmore Theater in 1926.
Crafting Your Experience
New YorkHistory
NYC LGBT Historic Sites ProjectLGBT Theater District
This experience is sponsored, in part, by the generous support of American Express, Con Edison, a Humanities New York Action Grant, and the NYC & Company Foundation. As the birthplace of American theater, New York City is home to a vibrant theater district that has been disproportionally impacted by LGBT people for well over a century. Explore Broadway through LGBT-themed plays, production teams, performers, and related associations. In addition to celebratory contributions, learn about the impact of the Wales Padlock Law (1927), which forbade the depiction of “sex perversion” on the stage. The tour highlights: the Belasco Theater, connected to A Raisin in the Sun, by lesbian playwright Lorraine Hansberry; Ethel Barrymore Theater, associated with productions by gay playwrights Noel Coward, Tennessee Williams, and James Baldwin; Little Theater (now Helen Hayes), where gay-themed plays Gemini and Torch Song Trilogy were performed; and the Winter Garden Theater, where West Side Story premiered as the result of an all gay, lesbian, and bisexual creative team. This tour represents a selection of extant sites associated with LGBT history that are located within a small geographic area. As such, it does not represent the entire long LGBT history of New York City, nor does it entirely reflect the diversity of today’s LGBT community. This collection is limited to the research we have included on the project website so far. For more information or to suggest a site, please visit our website at www.nyclgbtsites.org.
2.Booth Theater
Booth Theater
The Booth theater was home to several big hits with LGBT associations.
3.Broadhurst Theater
Broadhurst Theater
The Broadhurst has hosted a wide range of LGBT-assoiated performances.
4.Cort Theater
Cort Theater
The Cort theater has presented numerous LGBT-associated productions over the years.
5.Hudson Theater
Hudson Theater
The Hudson Theater was the venue for two early plays with gay male characters.
6.Ed Sullivan Theater
Ed Sullivan Theater
Originally named Hammerstein's Theater, this venue only served as a legitimate theater for about a decade
7.Richard Rodgers Theater
Richard Rodgers Theater
This venue was originally named Chanin's 46th Street Theater. It has hosted several LGBT-associated hits.
8.Eugene O'Neill Theater
Eugene O'Neill Theater
This theater was originally called the Forrest Theater, and has had several names over the years.
9.St. James Theater
St. James Theater
The St. James was originally named the Erlanger Theater.
10.Apollo Theater (42nd Street)
Apollo Theater (42nd Street)
In 1923 the first lesbian love scene on Broadway was depicted at the Apollo Theater.
11.Ambassador Theater
Ambassador Theater
The Ambassador has been the venue for several big hits with LGBT associations.
12.Lunt-Fontanne Theater
Lunt-Fontanne Theater
This venue was originally named the Globe Theater.
13.August Wilson Theater
August Wilson Theater
Originally the Guild Theater, this venue has hosted many LGBT-associated productions.
14.Mark Hellinger Theater
Mark Hellinger Theater
Originally the Hollywood theater, this site was also known as the 51st Street Theater from 1940-1949.
15.AMC Empire 25 Theater
AMC Empire 25 Theater
This site was originally named the Eltinge Theater, after the famous female impersonator Julian Eltinge.
16.Stephen Sondheim Theater
Stephen Sondheim Theater
This theater opened as Henry Miller's Theater in 1918 and became the Stephen Sondheim Theater in 2010.
17.American Airlines Theater (interior)
American Airlines Theater (interior)
Originally the Selwyn Theater, this venue had a successful but short history as a legitimate theater.
18.Lyric Theater
Lyric Theater
The Lyric Theater has had several hits by gay playwrights and composers.
19.Brooks Atkinson Theater
Brooks Atkinson Theater
Originally the Mansfield Theater, this venue has been home to many LGBT-associated plays.
20.New Victory Theater
New Victory Theater
Originally the Theater Republic, this venue has held two known plays by gay playwrights.
21.Neil Simon Theater
Neil Simon Theater
Originally the Alvin Theater, this venue has hosted several LGBT-associated productions.
22.Broadway Theater (interior)
Broadway Theater (interior)
The Broadway Theater opened as a vaudeville house, and has since hosted many plays with LGBT associations
23.Times Square Theater
Times Square Theater
The Times Square Theater had a short, but rich, history as a legitimate theater.
24.Music Box Theater
Music Box Theater
There have been many LGBT-associated productions at the Music Box that were big hits.
25.Gerald Schoenfeld Theater
Gerald Schoenfeld Theater
Originally the Plymouth Theater, this site has seen several LGBT-associated hits.
26.Majestic Theater
Majestic Theater
The Majestic has hosted a number of iconic musicals with LGBT associations that were enormous hits.
27.John Golden Theater
John Golden Theater
Originally known as the Theatre Masque, this venue has held many LGBT-associated productions.
28.Nederlander Theater
Nederlander Theater
Originally the National Theater, this venue has seen hits such as "Little Foxes" and "The Corn is Green".
29.Walter Kerr Theater
Walter Kerr Theater
Originally the Ritz Theater, this venue hosted several early plays written by openly gay playwrights.
30.Shubert Theater
Shubert Theater
This theater has had the highest number of productions with LGBT associations.
31.Longacre Theater
Longacre Theater
The Longacre has been the site of three major LGBT-associated hits.
32.Bernard B. Jacobs Theater
Bernard B. Jacobs Theater
Originally named the Royale Theater, "Cactus Flower" (1965-68) was a big LGBT-associated hit here.
33.Imperial Theater
Imperial Theater
The Imperial Theater has had a long history of LGBT-associated productions.
34.Al Hirschfeld Theater
Al Hirschfeld Theater
Originally the Martin Beck Theater, this venue has been the site of several LGBT-associated hits.
35.New Amsterdam Theater
New Amsterdam Theater
The New Amsterdam theater has hosted several performances with LGBT creators and performers.
36.Belasco Theater
Belasco Theater
Numerous plays with LGBT associations were staged here including the lesbian drama Trio in 1945.
37.Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall has featured the work and performances of countless LGBT artists since its opening in 1891.
38.New York City Center
New York City Center
The Moorish-inspired building has many LGBT associations with American opera and dance.
39.About the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
About the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
Learn about the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
40.Little Theater
Little Theater
The smallest house on Broadway has been home to plays with gay themes in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
41.Winter Garden Theater
Winter Garden Theater
The theater has been home to many musicals created by LGBT community members including West Side Story.
42.Carnegie Hall: Studio Towers
Carnegie Hall: Studio Towers
Constructed atop Carnegie Hall, the Studio Towers was the residence of LGBT artists over the years.
43.Ethel Barrymore Theater
Ethel Barrymore Theater
Noel Coward, Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams, and James Baldwin had their work performed here.
44.Lyceum Theater
Lyceum Theater
The Lyceum Theater has a long history of LGBT-associated productions.
45.Palace Theater (interior)
Palace Theater (interior)
The Palace Theater started off as a vaudeville venue and has maintained strong LGBT connections since.
46.Bernstein Residence at the Osborne Apartments
Bernstein Residence at the Osborne Apartments
Leonard Bernstein lived in the Osborne Apartments from 1951 until c. 1960.
47.Studio 54
Studio 54
In 1977, Studio 54 opened and became one of the world’s most famous discos with a fusion of LGBT patrons.
