Hayes Theatre, West 44th Street NYC

The Hayes Theater, former the Little Theatre, New York Times Hall, Winthrop Ames Theatre, and Helen Hayes Theatre, is a small Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The theater with 597 seats across two levels and named after actress Helen Hayes (1900-1993) is operated by the Second Stage Theater. It was designated a New York City landmark in 1987. The theater has served as a legitimate playhouse, a conference hall, and a broadcasting studio throughout its history.

The theater, originally called The Little Theater, was built in 1912 for impresario Winthrop Ames and designed by Ingalls & Hoffman in a neo-Georgian style, to house a type of drama called "intimate theater". Ames had observed intimate drama in the United States and Europe and he had seen the architectural prototypes, such as London's Little Theater and Berlin's Chamber Theater, for what he envisioned would be his own Broadway playhouse. The Hayes Theater survives today as one of the historic Broadway theaters that symbolize the United States theater.

The Little Theatre opened on March 12, 1912, with John Galsworthy's play The Pigeon. In June 1919, Ames leased the theater to Oliver Morosco. The original single-level, 299-seat configuration was modified in 1920, when architect Herbert J. Krapp added a balcony to expand the Little Theatre. In August 1922, John Golden acquired Morosco's stake in the lease, partnering with L. Lawrence Weber and F. Ray Comstock.

The New York Times bought the theater in 1931 with plans to raze it, but the theater continued hosting plays until 1941, when it was converted into a conference hall. In 1951, the theater became an ABC broadcasting studio. The Little again hosted Broadway productions from 1963 to 1965, when it became a Westinghouse studio, taping shows such as the Merv Griffin Show. The house again hosted Broadway productions starting in 1977, and it was then sold to Martin Markinson and Donald Tick, who renamed the theater for Helen Hayes in 1983. Second Stage bought the theater in 2015 and reopened it in 2018, shortening the name to the Hayes Theater.