Fulton Theatre/Helen Hayes Theatre

The Fulton Theatre was a Broadway Theatre located at 210 W. 46th Street in New York which was opened in 1911 and subsequently re-named the Helen Hayes Theatre in 1955. After the theatre was demolished in 1982 the Little Theatre at 240 W. 44th Street was re-named the Helen Hayes Theatre.

Built by the architects Herts & Tallant for Henry B. Harris and Jesse Lasky, it was originally opened on 27 April 1911 under the name Folies-Bergere as a dinner theatre with vaudeville. Closing after only a few months, it reopened on 20 October 1911 as the Fulton Theatre. The theatre was managed by Abraham L. Erlanger from 1921, until his death in 1930.

The English actor Robert Morley played the title role in the play Oscar Wilde by Leslie and Sewell Stokes in 1938 at the Fulton. The play ran for 247 performances and the success launched Robert Morley's career as a stage actor on both sides of the Atlantic.

Audrey Hepburn starred in the Gilbert Miller production of Gigi which opened at the Fulton on 24 November 1951 and ran for 219 performances.

In 1955 the theatre was re-named the Helen Hayes Theatre after the renowned actress Helen Hayes and re-opened under that name on 21 November.

In 1982 the theatre was demolished, along with the Morosco, Bijou, Gaiety, and Astor Theatres to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel which now houses the Marquis Theatre. Parts of the Helen Hayes Theatre were salvaged before the theatre's demolition and were used to build The Shakespeare Center, home of the Riverside Shakespeare Company on the Upper West Side, which was dedicated by Miss Hayes and Joseph Papp in September 1982. ["Dickens lends the Bard a Hand," by Patricia O'Haire, "The New York Daily News", Sept 13, 1982.]

Since Helen Hayes was still living at the time of the demolition of the theatre that bore her name, it was decided to rename the Little Theatre at 240 W. 44th Street in her honour. Today the Fulton Theatre is sometimes referred to as the First Helen Hayes Theatre.

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