August Wilson Theatre

The August Wilson Theatre, located at 245 West 52nd Street in New York City, is a legitimate Broadway theatre.

Designed by architects C. Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim and constructed by the Theatre Guild, it opened as the Guild Theatre in 1925 with a revival of George Bernard Shaw's "Caesar and Cleopatra".

In 1943, the building was leased to WOR-Mutual Radio as a studio. The American National Theater and Academy purchased it in 1950 and renamed it the ANTA Theatre. In 1981, the theatre was purchased by Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation and named the Virginia Theatre for owner and Jujamcyn Board member Virginia McKnight Binger.

After her husband James H. Binger's death in 2004, producer and president of Jujamcyn Rocco Landesman announced that he planned to buy Jujamcyn. He told the New York Times he had a long-standing understanding with Binger that he would buy the corporation's five playhouses. The theatres had an estimated net asset value of $30 million.

On October 16, 2005, fourteen days after American playwright August Wilson's untimely death, the theatre was renamed in his honor.

Notable productions

*2005: "Little Women"; "Jersey Boys"
*2003: "Little Shop of Horrors"
*2002: "Flower Drum Song", "The Crucible"
*2000: "The Wild Party"
*1995: "Smokey Joe's Cafe"
*1993: "My Fair Lady"
*1992: "Jelly's Last Jam"
*1989: "City of Angels"
*1988: "Carrie - The Musical"
*1983: "On Your Toes"
*1981: "Annie"; "Copperfield"
*1978: "First Monday in October"
*1976: "Bubbling Brown Sugar"
*1975: "Summer Brave"
*1974: "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"
*1971: "Purlie"
*1969: "Our Town"
*1968: "Maggie Flynn"
*1965: "The Royal Hunt of the Sun"
*1964: "The Owl and the Pussycat"
*1961: "A Man for All Seasons"
*1958: "Say, Darling"
*1955: "The Skin of Our Teeth"; "Seventh Heaven"
*1952: "Golden Boy"
*1951: "The House of Bernarda Alba"
*1941: "Ah, Wilderness!"
*1938: "The Merchant of Yonkers"
*1936: "And Stars Remain" with Clifton Webb as Overton Morrell [ Parker, John (ed), "Who's Who in the Theatre", 10th revised edition, London, 1947: 1430] .
*1931: "Mourning Becomes Electra"
*1928: "Major Barbara"
*1926: "Pygmalion"

References

External links

* [http://www.newyorkcitytheatre.com/theaters/augustwilsontheater/theater.html Broadway Theatre Guide] with full show details for the August Wilson Theatre
* [http://www.ibdb.com/venue.asp?id=1179 Internet Broadway Database: Virginia Theatre]