Discovery Times Square

Sardi's is a continental restaurant located at 234 West 44th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, in the Theater District of Manhattan, New York City. Sardi's opened at its current location on March 5, 1927. It is known for the caricatures of Broadway celebrities on its walls, of which there are over a thousand. Sardi's was founded by Vincent Sardi Sr. and his wife Jenny Pallera, who had previously operated a restaurant nearby between 1921 and 1926. To attract customers, Sardi Sr. hired Russian refugee Alex Gard to draw caricatures in exchange for free food. Even after Gard's death, Sardi's continued to commission caricatures. Following the death of Vincent Sardi Sr. in 1969, Sardi's started to decline in the 1980s, eventually being sold off in 1986. After closing temporarily in 1990, it reopened with new staff. The restaurant is today considered an institution in Broadway theatre. Over the years, the restaurant became known as a pre- and post-theater hangout, as well as a location for opening night parties, and was where the idea of the Tony Award was devised.

The Hayes Theater (formerly the Little Theatre, New York Times Hall, Winthrop Ames Theatre, and Helen Hayes Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Named for actress Helen Hayes, the venue is operated by Second Stage Theater. It is the smallest Broadway theater, with 597 seats across two levels. The theater was constructed in 1912 for impresario Winthrop Ames and designed by Ingalls & Hoffman in a neo-Georgian style. The original single-level, 299-seat configuration was modified in 1920, when Herbert J. Krapp added a balcony. The theater has served as a legitimate playhouse, a conference hall, and a broadcasting studio throughout its history. The facade and parts of the theater's interior are New York City landmarks. The facade is made largely of red brick. The main entrance is through an arch on the eastern portion of the ground-floor; the rest of the ground floor is taken up by emergency exits, shielded by marquee. The main entrance connects to a box-office lobby, as well as a foyer with a vaulted ceiling and staircases. The auditorium is decorated with ornamental plasterwork, with Adam-style design elements; it has a sloped orchestra level, one balcony level, and a flat ceiling. There are other spaces throughout the theater, including lounges. Ames had intended for the Little Theatre to show new plays, but lack of profits led him to expand the theater within a decade of its opening. Ames leased the theater to Oliver Morosco in 1919 and to John Golden in 1922. The New York Times bought the theater in 1931 with plans to raze it, but the Little continued hosting plays until 1941, when it was converted into a conference hall. The theater became an ABC broadcasting studio in 1951. The Little briefly hosted legitimate shows from 1963 to 1965, when it became a Westinghouse studio, taping shows such as the Merv Griffin Show. The Little again became a legitimate theater in 1977, and it was then sold to Martin Markinson and Donald Tick, who renamed the theater for Helen Hayes in 1983. Second Stage bought the theater in 2015 and reopened it in 2018, removing Hayes's first name from the theater.

229 West 43rd Street (formerly The New York Times Building, The New York Times Annex, and the Times Square Building) is an 18-story office building in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913 and expanded in three stages, it was the headquarters of The New York Times newspaper until 2007. The original building by Mortimer J. Fox of Buchman & Fox, as well as a 1920s addition by Ludlow & Peabody and a 1930s addition by Albert Kahn, are on 43rd Street. Shreve, Lamb & Harmon designed a wing on 44th Street in the 1940s. Columbia Property Trust owns most of the structure as an office building while Kushner Companies owns the bottom four floors as a retail and entertainment complex. The 43rd Street sections of the building are designed in the French Gothic, French Renaissance, and Italian Renaissance styles and are a New York City designated landmark. The original building and its additions rise 11 stories from the street, except for a four-story wing on the eastern end of the site. The 43rd Street sections of the building are topped by a set back five-story attic, interrupted by a seven-story tower with a pyramidal hip roof. The facade is constructed of light-colored Indiana limestone, brick, and terracotta and is divided horizontally into a two-story base, a nine-story midsection, and the attic and tower stories. The elevations are divided into vertical bays with a mixture of single windows, double windows, and arches. The building contains 770,000 square feet (72,000 m2) of office space and 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m2) of retail space. Originally, each floor was devoted to a different division of the Times. Due to overcrowding at the previous Times headquarters at One Times Square, the Times Annex was constructed to supplement the paper's printing plant and other mechanical divisions. The annex became the Times's headquarters shortly after opening. As the Times's circulation expanded and its issues grew longer, the building was expanded in 1922–1924, 1931–1932, and 1944–1947. The Times relocated its printing plant from the building in 1997 and announced plans for new headquarters two years later, relocating in June 2007. A partnership led by Tishman Speyer bought the building in 2004 and sold it three years later to AFI USA, which had trouble finding office tenants and sold the upper floors to The Blackstone Group in 2011. AFI USA operated the retail portion of the building until 2015, when Columbia acquired the offices and Kushner bought the retail.

The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Broadhurst Theatre is named for British-American theatrical producer George Broadhurst, who leased the theater before its opening. It has 1,218 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The neoclassical facade is simple in design and is similar to that of the Schoenfeld (formerly Plymouth) Theatre, which was developed concurrently. The Broadhurst's facade is made of buff-colored brick and terracotta and is divided into two sections: a stage house to the west and the theater's entrance to the east. The entrance is topped by fire-escape galleries and contains a curved corner facing east toward Broadway. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, a large balcony, a small technical gallery, and a flat ceiling. The space is decorated in the classical Greek and Adam styles, with Doric columns and Greek friezes. Near the front of the auditorium, flanking the flat proscenium arch, are box seats at balcony level. The Shubert brothers developed the Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters following the success of the Booth and Shubert theaters directly to the east. The Broadhurst Theatre opened on September 27, 1917, with Misalliance; its namesake had intended to use the theater for his own productions. The Shuberts acquired full control of the Broadhurst in 1929 and have operated it since then. The theater has hosted not only musicals but also revues, comedies, and dramas throughout its history. Long-running shows hosted at the Broadhurst have included Hold Everything!, Fiorello!, Cabaret, Grease, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Les Misérables, and Mamma Mia!.

The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theater at 225 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance style and was built for the Shubert brothers. Lee and J. J. Shubert had named the theater in memory of their brother Sam S. Shubert, who died in an accident several years before the theater's opening. It has 1,502 seats across three levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. The facade and parts of the interior are New York City landmarks. The Shubert's facade is made of brick and terracotta, with sgraffito decorations designed in stucco. Three arches face south onto 44th Street, and a curved corner faces east toward Broadway. To the east, the Shubert Alley facade includes doors to the lobby and the stage house. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, two balconies, and a flat ceiling. The space is decorated with mythological murals throughout. Near the front of the auditorium, flanking the elliptical proscenium arch, are box seats at balcony level. The upper levels contain offices formerly occupied by the Shubert brothers, and the stage house to the north is shared with the Booth Theatre. The Shubert brothers developed the Booth and Shubert theaters as their first venues on the block. The Shubert Theatre opened on October 2, 1913, with a revival of Hamlet. The theater has hosted numerous long-running musicals throughout its history, such as Bells Are Ringing and Promises, Promises. Since the 1970s, the Shubert has hosted relatively few shows, including long runs of the musicals A Chorus Line, Crazy for You, Chicago, Spamalot, Memphis, and Matilda the Musical.

The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style and was constructed for A. L. Erlanger. It has 1,709 seats across three levels and is operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The facade is made largely of stucco, except for the ground story, which is clad in cast stone above a granite water table. The ground story has several recessed openings to the lobby, auditorium, and upper-story offices. Above that are two marquees and a double-story cast-iron loggia, masking the fire escapes from the auditorium. The top story contains windows from the offices there. The auditorium is decorated largely with murals and ornamental plasterwork. The theater has a sloped orchestra level, two balcony levels, and a flat ceiling with a carved sounding board. The first balcony level contains box seats near the front of the auditorium, above which are murals. In addition, there are several lounges and passageways throughout the theater. Erlanger had proposed a theater on the site as early as 1921, but two proposals failed to materialize. Erlanger's Theatre opened on September 26, 1927, with the musical The Merry Malones. Erlanger died in 1930, and the theater then passed to Lodewick Vroom in 1932; Vroom renamed it after St James's Theatre in London. The Shubert family acquired the St. James in 1941 but were forced to sell it in 1956 following an antitrust suit. William L. McKnight bought the theater and renovated it in 1958, with Jujamcyn taking over the venue's operation. The theater was further renovated in 1985, 1999, and 2016. The theater has housed several long-running musicals in its history, including original productions of Oklahoma!, The King and I, Hello, Dolly!, The Who's Tommy, and The Producers.

The Majestic Theatre is a Broadway theater at 245 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was built for real-estate developer Irwin S. Chanin. It has 1,681 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and interior are New York City landmarks. The facade is designed in a Spanish style with golden brick, terracotta, and stone and is divided into two sections. The western portion of the facade contains the theater's entrance, with fire-escape galleries and a terracotta pediment above. The eastern portion is the stage house and is topped by archways. The auditorium contains Adam style detailing, steep stadium seating in the orchestra level, a large balcony, and an expansive plaster dome. Due to the slope of the seats, the rear of the orchestra is one story above ground. An interior leads to a large staircase, which connects to the rears of both the orchestra and balcony. The balcony has extensive decoration, and there are also box seats near the front of the auditorium at balcony level. The Majestic, Bernard B. Jacobs, and John Golden theaters, along with the Lincoln Hotel, were all developed by Chanin and designed by Krapp as part of a theater/hotel complex. The Shuberts have operated the Majestic since 1930. The Majestic was always intended as a venue for major musical theatre productions because of its large size. Among the shows that have premiered at the Majestic are Carousel, South Pacific, The Music Man, Camelot, A Little Night Music, and The Wiz. Since 1988, the theater has housed The Phantom of the Opera, which is the longest-running production in Broadway history as of 2022.

The Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, formerly the Plymouth Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 236 West 45th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1917, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for the Shubert brothers. The Schoenfeld Theatre is named for Gerald Schoenfeld, longtime president of the Shubert Organization, which operates the theater. It has 1,079 seats across two levels. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The neoclassical facade is simple in design and is similar to that of the Broadhurst Theatre, which was developed concurrently. The Schoenfeld's facade is made of buff-colored brick and terracotta and is divided into two sections: a stage house to the west and the theater's entrance to the east. The entrance facade is topped by fire-escape galleries and contains a curved corner facing east toward Broadway. The auditorium contains an orchestra level, a large balcony, a small technical gallery, a mostly flat ceiling, and a sounding board. The space is decorated in the Adam style with plasterwork designs. Near the front of the auditorium, flanking the elliptical proscenium arch, are box seats at balcony level. The Shubert brothers developed the Broadhurst and Plymouth theaters following the success of the Booth and Shubert theaters directly to the east. The Plymouth Theatre was leased to Arthur Hopkins and opened on October 10, 1917, with the comedy A Successful Calamity. The Shuberts retained ownership of the theater and took over after Hopkins's death in 1950. The theater has hosted not only musicals but also revues, comedies, and dramas throughout its history. It was renamed for Gerald Schoenfeld in 2005.

Shubert Alley is a pedestrian alley in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. The alley, a privately owned public space, connects 44th and 45th Streets and covers about 6,400 square feet (590 m2). It runs through the middle of a city block, parallel to Eighth Avenue to the west and Broadway to the east. The western half of the alley abuts the Shubert and Booth theaters, while the eastern half is adjacent to One Astor Plaza. Because it is near several major theaters, the alley has been considered the geographical center of Broadway theatre. The alley was built along with the Shubert and Booth theaters in 1913. The Shubert family parked their cars in the alley, which was gated and locked at night. Actors would gather in the alley while waiting to try out for parts, lining up along the western wall. In the 1930s, the alley was fenced off and part of it was used as a bus terminal. The eastern half of the alley, which faced the Astor Hotel, was rebuilt when the hotel was demolished in 1967. A northward extension of Shubert Alley opened in the 1980s when the New York Marriott Marquis was built. The alley continues to serve as a theater fire exit and has also hosted several events during its history, including Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefits and the annual Stars in the Alley concert.

The Hotel Carter was a hotel located near Times Square in Manhattan, New York City. The building is 24 stories tall, and at its opening, had 1,000 rooms, but was later downsized to 700 rooms. Opened in 1930 as the Dixie Hotel, it originally extended from 43rd Street to 42nd Street, although the wing abutting 42nd Street has since been demolished. The hotel has changed ownership numerous times throughout its history. In October 1976, it was renamed the Hotel Carter in an attempt to rehabilitate its image. The hotel closed and was offered for sale in 2014. While it was operating, the Hotel Carter gained a negative reputation due to the crimes that took place there, as well as its general uncleanliness. At least nine deaths have occurred in the hotel, including four suicides and four murders. In addition, the Hotel Carter had previously been cited as being among America's dirtiest hotels, both by the media and via visitor reviews.

The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (formerly the Royale Theatre and the John Golden Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 242 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp in a Spanish style and was built for real-estate developer Irwin S. Chanin. It has 1,100 seats across two levels and is operated by The Shubert Organization. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks. The facade is designed in a Spanish style with golden brick, terracotta, and stone and is divided into two sections. The western portion of the facade contains the theater's entrance, with five double-height arched windows and a curved pediment above. The eastern portion is the stage house and is topped by a loggia. The auditorium contains Spanish-style detailing, a large balcony, and an expansive vaulted ceiling. The auditorium's interior features murals by Willy Pogany as well as several box seats. The Royale, Majestic, and Masque (now John Golden) theaters, along with the Lincoln Hotel, were all developed by the Chanin brothers and designed by Krapp as part of a theater/hotel complex. The Royale was the first of the three theaters to be completed, opening on January 11, 1927. The Shubert family took over the Royale in 1930 but subsequently went into receivership, and producer John Golden leased the theater in 1932. Golden renamed the theater after himself in 1934, but the Shuberts took over in 1936 and leased the theater to CBS Radio. The Royale was restored as a legitimate theater under its original name in 1940. The theater was renamed for longtime Shubert Organization president Bernard B. Jacobs in 2005.

The Lyric Theatre (previously known as the Ford Center for the Performing Arts, the Hilton Theatre, and the Foxwoods Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 214 West 43rd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1998, the theater was designed by Richard Lewis Blinder of Beyer Blinder Belle, in collaboration with Peter Kofman, for Garth Drabinsky and his company Livent. The Lyric Theatre was built using parts of two former theaters on the site: the Apollo Theatre, built in 1920 to a design by Eugene De Rosa, and the old Lyric Theatre, built in 1903 to a design by Victor Hugo Koehler. The theater contains 1,622 seats across three levels and is operated by Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG). Despite having the same name as one of its predecessor theaters, the current Lyric Theatre was built almost entirely from scratch, though many parts of the old theaters were preserved to comply with government regulations. The current theater retains the original Lyric facade on 43rd Street, as well as a smaller arched facade on 42nd Street. The auditorium and stage house are placed within an entirely new structure covered with concrete and brick panels. The lobby contains a domed rotunda, with a basement lounge underneath it. The auditorium contains elements from the old Lyric's and the Apollo's interiors, including a ceiling dome, boxes, and a proscenium arch, which were modified to fit the new theater's dimensions. The large stage and the accompanying stage house were designed to accommodate major musicals. The old Lyric and Apollo theaters had been proposed for redevelopment since the 1970s, and New 42nd Street took over the theaters in 1990. Livent leased the theaters in 1995, razing them to make way for an 1,821-seat facility named after sponsor Ford Motor Company. The Ford Center was dedicated in December 1997 and officially opened the next month. Livent filed for bankruptcy in late 1998, and the theater subsequently passed to SFX Entertainment and then Clear Channel Entertainment, which renamed it for sponsor Hilton Hotels & Resorts in 2005. The venue was renamed after Foxwoods Resort Casino in 2010 as part of a partnership with Live Nation. ATG acquired the theater in 2013 and renamed it the Lyric the following year. The Lyric's capacity was reduced in a 2017 renovation because of complaints about the theater's excessive size, which had caused several of the theater's productions to lose money.