The Belasco Theater in New York
New York has long been known as the theater capital of the United States, and perhaps even of the world. So much history and imagination and lure surround the theatres of New York, and anyone wishing to enter the world of the performing arts, has their sights set on this city. One of those theaters is the Belasco which is on 44th Street between 6th and 7th Avenue. In the early 1900′s the poorer working class people were only able to be seated in the balconies of the larger venues. Finding frustration in this they generally stopped going to see live performances and started heading to the movie theaters.
It was during this time that theaters began to change. The larger performance halls were being joined by newer, and smaller venues. One man interested in this smaller and more intimate venue for producing live plays was David Belasco. The smaller theaters allowed a different kind of drama, a more intimate and up close look of the work, thus creating a different feel for the work and the performers. The theater opened in 1907, close to many of the boutique hotels in New York City, and was colonial in architectural design on the exterior, and Neo-Georgian style on the interior and in the auditorium. Everett Shinn, a well known artist at the time and still famous today, painted eighteen murals on the inside of the theater.
Belasco himself oversaw the construction and made sure that all of the technology was the most current and the most innovative, including the lighting, a studio for special effects and an elevated stage. For a short time during the 1950′s the Belasco Theater operated as the NBC radio station, but aside from that time it has been operating and putting on live Broadway shows for more that one hundred years. Many famous plays and players have graced this stage in that time, and it is known as the home stage for the 1975 live production of the Rocky Horror Picture Show staring Tim Curry. This is one of the historical venues of the city, and one should most definitely see a show here when in the city of New York.
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Tags: Belasco Theater, boutique hotels in New York City, Everett Shinn, Rocky Horror Picture Show