New Amsterdam Theatre

New Amsterdam Theatre (New York). Built in 1903 as the flagship of the Erlanger empire from designs by Herts and Tallant, this ornate house helped establish 42nd Street as New York's principal theatrical thoroughfare. Within the eleven‐story structure were two theatres (a 1,750‐seat auditorium and a rooftop theatre), elevators, lounges, decorative murals, and an elegant green, mother of pearl, and mauve color scheme. Although the theatre opened with A Midsummer Night's Dream and left the legitimate fold after Walter Huston's 1937 Othello, it was known primarily as a musical house. Most of the Ziegfeld Follies played there, as did The Merry Widow, Sally, The Band Wagon, and other great musical hits. For many years its enclosed roof garden housed a popular cabaret, ideal for summertime fare before the advent of air conditioning. In 1937 the house started showing films, and it slowly deteriorated over the decades. In 1979 both its exterior and interior were declared landmarks, but the old house was not restored until 1992 when the Disney corporation bought it and started to renovate the theatre as part of the redevelopment of 42nd Street. More than $50 million was spent to re‐create the original colors, fixtures, and ornamentation of the New Amsterdam, and the result was proclaimed by all to be perhaps the finest theatre restoration project in the city. The theatre reopened in 1997 with a limited run of King David, then six months later The Lion King (1997) became its first new (and longest) tenant.