Times Square Theatre
THE TIMES SQUARE THEATRE was constructed in 1920 by the Selwyn brothers with a common facade shared with the Apollo Theatre. Designed in the Adam style by architects de Rosa and Pereira, the Times Square’s interior was painted green, silver and black, and the walls were decorated with murals and ornamental plasterwork.
On September 30, 1920, the Times Square opened with Edgar Selwyn’s The Mirage, followed by The Demi-Virgin. Despite appearances by stars like Tallulah Bankhead, Robert Cummings, Gertrude Lawrence and Beatrice Lillie, the theater’s first real success was not until 1925 with Channing Pollock’s The Enemy. Between 1926 and 1933, four big hits opened at the theater: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, which became the basis for the hit musical, Charles MacArthur’s and Ben Hecht’s The Front Page, George Gershwin’s Strike Up the Band and Noël Coward’s Private Lives, starring Coward, Laurence Olivier and Gertrude Lawrence.
Times Square Theatre facade, circa 1922
Wurts Brothers, photographers. Eugene De Rosa, architect. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
In 1934, the Times Square began showing movies, and by 1940, a retail store had been built on the stage, prohibiting the possibility of theatrical use without costly renovation.
Times Square Theatre marquee, circa 1991
Times Square Theatre facade, circa 2021, Found5dollar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
In May 1992, New 42 signed a 99-year master lease with the City and State of New York for the seven historic theaters known as the Apollo Theatre, Empire Theatre, Liberty Theatre, Lyric Theatre, Selwyn Theatre, Victory Theatre and Times Square Theatre. The Times Square Theatre is under contract with Stillman Development International. Its facade is extant in 2025.
