Neil Simon Theatre, West 52nd Street NYC

The Neil Simon Theatre, originally Alvin Theatre, is located at 250 West 52nd Street, between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan. It opened in 1927, has 1,467 seats on two levels and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Both the façade and the auditorium were designated New York City landmarks in 1985.

The theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for Alexander A. Aarons and Vinton Freedley. After graduating college, Freedley met Alexander with whom he formed a long term producing partnership. The name was Alvin Theatre was an amalgamation of Aarons's and Freedley's first names. The theater was renamed for playwright Neil Simon in 1983.

The façade of the Neil Simon Theatre is divided into two sections: the six-story stage house to the west and the five-story auditorium to the east. The ground floor is clad with terracotta blocks and contains an entrance with a marquee. The upper stories of both sections are made of brick and terracotta. The auditorium façade has arched windows, niches, and a central pediment, while the stage house has a more plain design. The interior is designed in the Adam style and includes two lobbies and a mezzanine-level lounge. The auditorium consists of a ground-level orchestra and one balcony with boxes. The theater interiors are decorated with paneling and plasterwork, and the auditorium has a domed ceiling. Above the auditorium were three stories of offices.

The theater opened on November 22, 1927, with the musical Fanny Face by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin. Aarons and Freedley initially operated the theater and owned it from 1930 to 1932. In the early years, it hosted musicals such as Anything Goes, Lady in the Dark, and Something for the Boys, as well as plays. CBS took over in 1946 and continued to operate the theater until 1959, when Max and Stanley Stahl bought it. The Alvin was further sold in 1967 to Rock-Time Inc. and in 1975 to the Nederlanders. Through the 1960s and 1970s, the Alvin hosted long runs of shows such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, High Spirits, The Great White Hope, Company, Shenandoah, and Annie. After the theater was renamed for Neil Simon, it hosted several of his plays during the 1980s and 1990s, as well as the musical Hairspray during much of the 2000s.