New Amsterdam Theatre, West 42nd Street NYC

The New Amsterdam Theatre is located at 214 West 42nd Street, near Times Square, in the Theater District of New York City. It opened in 1903 and today the theater is operated by Disney Theatrical Productions. It has 1,702 seats across three levels. Both the Beaux-Arts front and the Art Nouveau interior of the building are New York City landmarks, and the building is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The theatrical producers Marc Klaw (1858-1936) and Abraham L. Erlanger (1860-1930) bought the land lots for this theater in January 1902 and selected Henry Beaumont Herts (1871-1933) and Hugh Tallant (1870-1952) as the architects. At the time, the area was known as Long Acre Square, renamed Times Square in 1904, the same year the Subway opened. The venue was named New Amsterdam after the Dutch colonial settlement of the 17th century, which became New York.

The theater was designed in a rare example of Art Nouveau architecture in the United States. The form of the building resulted partially from the constraints of the site and partially from the requirements of Klaw & Erlanger. The structure was planned to incorporate two performing spaces with an office tower to house their varied theatrical interests. The major portion of the building, located on 41st Street, houses the two theaters. However, Klaw & Erlanger wished to have the theater entrance on the more important 42nd Street, so they purchased a narrow piece of property 25 by 100 feet facing on 42nd Street. The form of the building expresses the dual functions of office tower and theater, while the Art Nouveau-inspired ornamental detail expresses the spirit of drama.

The New Amsterdam Theatre opened on October 26, 1903, with Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 1913 and for the next 14 years, the Ziegfeld Follies presented spectacular sets, lavish costumes and the biggest stars of the day. The standout attraction was the beautiful chorus girls at these musical extravaganzas..

Klaw and Erlanger continued to operate the New Amsterdam Theatre jointly until 1927, when Erlanger bought out Klaw's interest. NBC took over the roof theater in February 1930 and converted it into a broadcast studio, the NBC Times Square Studio.

Various changes had been made to the marquee and signs of the theater through the years, but when Anco Enterprises, Inc., acquired the New Amsterdam in 1937, the entrance was drastically altered to accommodate the theater to its new purpose of showing movies. The sculptured details at the first three stories was removed to be replaced by a new marquee and vertical electric sign.

It was then leased by The Walt Disney Company and renovated by Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer from 1995 to 1997. After Disney took over the New Amsterdam's operation, the theater hosted the musical The Lion King, followed by Mary Poppins and Aladdin.