August Wilson Theatre

For the theatre in Champaign, Illinois, see Virginia Theatre (Champaign).
August Wilson Theatre
Guild Theatre, ANTA Theatre, Virginia Theatre

August Wilson Theatre showing Jersey Boys, 2007
Address 245 West 52nd Street
New York City
United States
Coordinates 40°45′48″N 73°59′03″W / 40.763308°N 73.984214°W / 40.763308; -73.984214Coordinates: 40°45′48″N 73°59′03″W / 40.763308°N 73.984214°W / 40.763308; -73.984214
Owner Jujamcyn Theaters
Type Broadway
Capacity 1,222
Production Jersey Boys
Construction
Opened 1925
Architect C. Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim
Website
www.jujamcyn.com

The August Wilson Theatre, located at 245 West 52nd Street in midtown Manhattan is a Broadway theatre.

Overview

August Wilson Theatre at night
Virginia Theatre, 2002

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 Theaters 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 death, the theatre was renamed in his honor.

Notable productions

References

  1. Parker, John (ed), Who's Who in the Theatre, 10th revised edition, London, 1947: 1430

External links

Media related to August Wilson Theatre at Wikimedia Commons

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