Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, West 45th Street, New York City

The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, formerly Plymouth Theatre, is located at 236 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan. It opened on October 10, 1917. The façades and the auditorium were designated New York City landmarks in 1987. It was renamed in 2005 after Gerald Schoenfeld (1924-2008), longtime chairman of the Shubert Organization, which operates the theater.

In the early 20th century, the Shubert Organization, founded by three Shubert brothers Sam S., Lee and J.J. Shubert, was one one the most important in the New York's theater district. They began as producers and expanded into acquiring and building theaters as well. With the success of the Shubert Theatre and the Booth Theater, completed in 1913, the Shubert brothers decided to build another pair of theaters, adjacent to the previous pair, on land leased from the William W. Astor estate: the Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters, although smaller and less elaborate in ornament than the Booth and Shubert.

Plymouth Theatre was designed by Herbert J. Krapp (1887–1973), the most prolific architect of the Broadway theater district. It was built in 1917-1918 for the Shubert brothers. The adjoining stage house, on the right at West 45th Street, is six stories high and faced in buff brick laid up in Flemish bond.

The theater was first leased and managed by producer Arthur M. Hopkins. The Plymouth Theater has 1,079 seats across two levels. The exterior has a curved corner at the northeast section of the building. The façade is wider than it is high and divided into two sections: one for the entrance/auditorium at the east, the other for the stage house at the west.

Original interior architecture of Plymouth Theatre. Detail of boxes, built by Edward Margolies. Ornamental and plain plaster, McNulty Bros. Curtain, box and stage draperies, Dickie & Kelly. Mural decorations and paintings, Unitt & Wickes. Victoria Plush Mill materials used. Photograph published in the Architecture and Building magazine, January, 1918.