Beacon Theatre

Tucked into Lincoln Center on the Upper West Side rather than the hustle of Times Square, this Manhattan venue at 150 W. 65th Street pushes back against traditional theater design. Eero Saarinen's Finnish-American vision shaped the space with an amphitheater layout and thrust stage that break the mold of classic Broadway houses. Two distinct performance spaces operate here: the main hall holds just over a thousand patrons, while the intimate companion room fits under three hundred. Winter visits offer a particularly special experience, with the surrounding plaza dressed in seasonal light and the theaters providing a warm cultural refuge during the colder months. The venue qualifies for Tony recognition despite its unconventional location away from the Theater District, hosting both dramatic productions and larger-scale musicals across its unique architectural footprint.

The Broadhurst Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 235 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan. <br> It was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, one of the major theatre designers of the early 1900s. Built back-to-back with the Plymouth, it was meant to resemble the style of the neighboring Henry B. Herts-designed Shubert and Booth theaters, using less expensive brick and terra cotta materials on the facades. Like all of Krapp's work during this period, it features minimal ornamentation, a single balcony, wide space, and excellent sightlines. Unlike the Majestic Theatre, which has housed The Phantom of the Opera (musical) since 1988, the Broadhurst does not run parallel to the street, but rather the stage is perpendicular. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

Now playing: Evita.<br/> Opened in 1986, the Marquis Theatre is one of the newest theatres to be built on Broadway. Located inside the Marriott Marquis Hotel, it was designed to provide maximum comfort for audiences and actors while conveying a feeling of intimacy. The venue features expansive backstage, high ceilings, state-of-the-art acoustics, wide aisles, comfortable seats, ample restrooms and parking. <br> Since its opening, the theatre has showcased a series of hit musicals including Me and My Girl, Gypsy, Man of La Mancha, The Goodbye Girl, Damn Yankees, Victor/Victoria, Peter Pan, Annie Get Your Gun and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Before or after seeing The Drowsy Chaperone, theatergoers can dine at one of the fine restaurants located throughout the hotel. <br> The Marquis has 1,611 seats and is one of The Nederlander Organization's nine Broadway theatres.

Climb the steps to experience a beloved character brought vividly to life on stage, drawing from P.I. Travers' imagination and the cherished 1964 Disney film. The production wraps the Sherman brothers' Oscar-winning melodies alongside fresh compositions by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe, with Julian Fellowes crafting the narrative that guides audiences through the Banks household and their extraordinary nanny's arrival. Richard Lyre directs this visual spectacle with Matthew Bourne handling co-direction and choreography, while Bob Crowley transforms the stage with his set and costume creations. The winter months bring a particular magic to the theater's interiors as audiences gather in from the cold, settling in for the pageantry and whimsy that unfolds across the stage. Howard Harrison's lighting design and Stephen Mear's additional choreography complete an ensemble of celebrated theatrical artists who've shaped this production into something genuinely transportive.

Wintertime brings a particular magic to catching this production—there's something about stepping into the theater's warmth to witness a story so deeply rooted in New York's gilded past. Catherine Sloper finds herself pulled in opposite directions, her father's cold disapproval clashing with a suitor's fiery devotion, and she's forced to reckon with what matters most when wealth and belonging hang in the balance. Jessica Chastain, in her Broadway introduction, shares the stage with David Strathairn, Dan Stevens, and two-time Tony winner Judith Ivey, all navigating Ruth and Augustus Goetz's exploration of how fortune shapes the heart. Directed by Tony-nominated Moisés Kaufman, this drama examines the messy intersection of duty and longing through a distinctly New York lens. The run is limited to eighteen weeks, making this the right moment to experience it.

The John Golden Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 252 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.<br> Designed in a Moorish style along with the adjacent Royale Theatre by architect Herbert J. Krapp for Irwin Chanin, it opened as the Theater Masque on February 24, 1927 with the play Puppets of Passion. Seventy-six years later it would house another production known for its puppets, the award-winning Avenue Q.<br> In 1937, impresario John Golden acquired the theatre and renamed it for himself. It operated as a movie house in the 1940s and '50s before it was purchased by the Shuberts, who returned it to legitimate use.<br> With a seating capacity of only 800, it is one of the smallest houses on Broadway. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

Now there are more chances to vote for who murdered Edwin Drood! The delightful and rollicking musical smash where the ending is entirely up to you—back on Broadway for the first time since winning the Tony® “Triple Crown” (Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score)—has been extended through March 10, 2013.<br/> Stephanie J. Block (Anything Goes), Will Chase (“Smash”), Tony Award® nominee Gregg Edelman (Wonderful Town), Tony winner Jim Norton (The Seafarer), and Tony winner Chita Rivera (Nine) star in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the delightful musical smash from Tony-winning writer/composer Rupert Holmes (Curtains). Tony nominee Scott Ellis (She Loves Me) directs this show’s first-ever return to Broadway since winning the Tony “Triple Crown” (Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Score)!<br/> Take a trip back in time to a Victorian music hall where a rowdy ensemble of actors mounts a staging of Charles Dickens’ unfinished novel. Everyone on stage is a suspect in the murder of young Edwin Drood, and it’s up to you to choose the killer! Is it John Jasper, Edwin’s protective but slightly maniacal uncle? Rosa Bud, his reluctant betrothed? The debauched Princess Puffer? Each performance ends differently, depending on what the audience decides!<br/> Don’t miss this rollicking play-within-a-musical that The New York Times has called “ingenious.” Come help solve The Mystery of Edwin Drood!

Where the heart of Times Square pulses with theatrical magic, this sprawling venue transforms into the African plains night after night. Picture yourself settling into one of 1,621 seats as the curtain rises on Disney's adaptation of their beloved 1994 film, complete with Elton John and Tim Rice's Grammy-winning score woven throughout the production. Julie Taymor's visionary direction and design work earned her a Tony, and her imagination practically leaps off the stage—giraffes stride majestically, birds cut through the air, and Pride Rock ascends from the floor as the music swells around you. The story follows young Simba as he grapples with growing up and accepting his place in the circle of life, drawing from African mythology and raw human emotion to create something genuinely fresh for Broadway. When you visit during winter's crisp evenings, there's something particularly enchanting about ducking into this glass-fronted building and escaping into the savanna's warmth and wonder. The modern architecture allows light to pour in from the Great White Way outside, creating an interesting contrast between the bustling city and the wild world unfolding onstage. Six Tony Awards in 1998 recognized it as the year's best new musical, and the production continues to captivate audiences with its blend of elaborate costumes, stunning puppetry, and the kind of theatrical spectacle that doesn't fade with time.

The George Gershwin Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 222 West 51st Street in midtown-Manhattan.<br> Designed in an Art Nouveau style by set designer Ralph Alswang, it is situated on the lower levels of a towering office complex built on the side of the historical Capitol Theatre. It opened as the Uris Theatre on November 28, 1972 with the musical Via Galactica starring Raul Julia. It proved to be an inauspicious start for the venue, closing after only seven performances. From 1974-76 it served as a concert hall for limited engagements by a number of legendary pop music and jazz performers. <br> It was the first theatre constructed in New York City since 1928. With a seating capacity of 1933, it presently is the largest theatre on Broadway, with the exception of the New York State Theatre at Lincoln Center and New York City Center.<br> A Theatre Hall of Fame located in the lobby is a popular gathering place for audience members pre-show and during intermission. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

The Ethel Barrymore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 243 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan. <br> Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp and constructed by the Shuberts, it opened on December 20, 1928 with The Kingdom of God, a play selected by leading lady Ethel Barrymore. Over the next dozen years she returned to star in The Love Duel (1929), Scarlett Sister Mary (1930), The School for Scandal (1931), and An International Incident (1940). <br> It is the only surviving theatre of the many the Shuberts built for performers who were affiliated with them. It has been used continuously as a legitimate house, unlike many of the older theatres that have been used for a variety of purposes throughout the years. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 242 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.<br> Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it opened as the Royale Theatre on January 11, 1927 with a musical entitled Piggy. John Golden leased and renamed the theatre for himself from 1932 to 1937, when the Shubert Organization assumed ownership and leased the theater to CBS Radio until 1940, when it was restored to its original use and name. On May 9, 2005, it was renamed for longtime Shubert Organization president Bernard B. Jacobs. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

Grammy® Award-winning superstar Barry Manilow returns to the Broadway stage for the first time in more than two decades! Don't miss this unprecedented limited engagement as one of our most beloved entertainers performs songs from his massive catalog of hits in an intimate setting at the St. James Theatre on Broadway. From “Mandy” to "I Write the Songs" to "Copacabana (At The Copa)" and so many more, Manilow’s new Broadway show is destined to be as legendary as the man himself.<br/> The St. James Theatre is located at 246 W. 44th St. Broadway, New York City, New York. It was built by Abraham L. Erlanger, theatrical producer and a founding member of the Theatrical Syndicate, on the site of the original Sardi's restaurant. It opened in 1927 as The Erlanger. Upon Erlanger's death in 1930, control of the venue was taken over by the Astor family, who owned the land on which the theatre stood. The Astors renamed it the St. James Theatre. <br> The theatre was purchased by the Shuberts in the late 1930s. They were forced to sell it to the William L. McKnight in 1957 following the loss of an antitrust case. McKnight renovated the St. James and reopened it in 1958. In 1970, McKnight then transferred the theatre to his daughter Virginia and her husband James H. Binger, who had formed the Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

The Palace Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.<br> Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre, built by California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario Martin Beck, experienced a number of problems before it opened. E. F. Albee, one of the main executives for B. F. Keith and his powerful vaudeville circuit, demanded that Beck turn over three-quarters of the stock in the theatre in order to use acts from the Keith circuit. In addition, Oscar Hammerstein was the only person who could offer Keith acts in that section of Broadway, so Beck paid him off with $225,000. The theatre finally opened on March 24, 1913 with headliner Ed Wynn. To "play the Palace" meant that an entertainer had reached the pinnacle of his career, and it became a popular venue with performers like Sarah Bernhardt, Eddie Cantor, Bob Hope, Fanny Brice, Sophie Tucker, George Jessel, and Jack Benny. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

Step into a piece of Broadway history at this stunning 1921 theater, where legendary performances from Cyrano de Bergerac to Lena Horne's Tony Award-winning triumph have captivated audiences for over a century. Today, it remains a jewel of Times Square, continuing the Nederlander family's tradition of showcasing world-class theater and entertainment in one of America's most iconic venues.

The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 220 West 48th Street in midtown Manhattan.<br> Designed by architect Henry B. Herts, it was named for Longacre Square, the original name for Times Square. The French neo-classical building was constructed by impresario Harry Frazee, better remembered as the owner of the Boston Red Sox who, needing money for his theatrical ventures, sold Babe Ruth's contract to the New York Yankees. A curse allegedly lingers on the theater as a result, and superstitious producers avoid it for fear they'll be backing a flop, as noted by William Golden in his seminal book The Season. Despite the rumor, a large number of performers who have appeared on stage here have taken home a Tony Award for their efforts.<br> The Longacre's first show was a production of the William Hurlbut-Frances Whitehouse comedy Are You a Crook?, which opened on May 1, 1913. With the exception of its use as a television studio in the mid-1940s to early 1950s, the theatre has operated as a legitimate Broadway venue. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

Playwing this winter 2013: Mamma Mia! The world-wide smash Mamma Mia! is a heartwarming and funny new musical. On the eve of a wedding, a mother and daughter are suprised by the arrival of three men, one of whom may be the girl's father. You don't have to be a fan of the supergroup ABBA, who provided the 23 hit songs for Mamma Mia! to fall in love with this unforgettable new show, that will have you dancing in the aisles!</br> The Winter Garden Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 1634 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan. Architect William Albert Swasey converted the former American Horse Exchange into a theatre for the Shuberts when they acquired the property. The fourth New York City venue to be christened the Winter Garden, it opened on March 10, 1911 with the early Jerome Kern musical La Belle Paree. <br/> It was completely remodeled in 1922 by Herbert J. Krapp. The large stage is wider than those in most Broadway houses, and the proscenium arch is relatively low. The building is situated uniquely on its lot, with the main entrance and marquee, located on Broadway, connected to the 1530-seat Seventh Avenue auditorium via a long hallway, and the rear wall of the stage abutting 50th Street. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

The Lyceum Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 149 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.<br> It has the distinction of being the oldest surviving Broadway venue (along with the New Amsterdam Theatre), the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in New York City, and the first Broadway theatre ever to be granted landmark status. It is one of the few theatres in New York to operate under its original name.<br> The theatre maintains most of its original Beaux-Arts design, including its elaborate marble staircases and undulating marquee. Although it has three levels, it is one of the smallest Broadway theatres in terms of capacity, seating only 950. An apartment located above the orchestra, originally used by Frohman, is now the headquarters of the Shubert Archives. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

The Ambassador Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 219 West 49th Street in midtown-Manhattan.<br> Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp for the Shuberts, the structure is unusual in that it is situated diagonally on its site to fit the maximum number of seats possible. Its external appearance, indistinguishable from many other Broadway houses, does not hint at the strange layout within. The building has been designated a New York City landmark.<br> The theatre opened on February 11, 1921 with the musical The Rose Girl. The Shuberts sold the property in 1935, and for the next two decades it was used as a movie theater and television studio for NBC and the DuMont Television Network. In 1956 the Shuberts assumed ownership again and returned it to strictly legitimate use. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

The Shubert Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 225 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan, New York, United States. <br> Designed by architect Henry B. Herts, it was named after Sam S. Shubert, the oldest of the three brothers of the theatrical producing family. It shares a Venetian Renaissance facade with the adjoining Booth Theatre, which was constructed at the same time, although the two have distinctly different interiors. It opened on October 21, 1913 with a series of Shakespearean plays, including Othello, Hamlet, and The Merchant of Venice, staged by the Forbes-Robertson Repertory Company. <br> The theatre's most famous and longest tenant was A Chorus Line, with a run of 6137 performances lasting nearly fifteen years. <br> The top floor of the building houses the offices of the Shubert Organization. The theatre's auditorium and murals were restored in 1996. It has been designated a New York City landmark. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

The Belasco Theatre is a legitmate Broadway theatre located at 111 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan.<br> Designed by architect George Keister for impresario David Belasco, the interior featured Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and expansive murals, and a ten-room duplex penthouse apartment that Belasco utilized as combination living quarters/office space. <br>Technically it was outfitted with the most advanced stagecraft tools available, including extensive lighting rigs, a hydraulics system, and vast wing and fly space.<br> It opened as the Stuyvesant Theatre on October 16, 1907 with the musical A Grand Army Man with Antoinette Perry. Three years later Belasco attached his own name to the venue. After his death in 1931, it was leased first by actress Katharine Cornell and then playwright Elmer Rice. The Shuberts bought it in 1949 and leased it to NBC for three years before returning it to legitimate use.<br> This theater is the subject of an urban legend that David Belasco's ghost haunts the theater every night. Some performers in the shows that played there have even claimed to have spotted him or other ghosts during performances. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

Playing in January 2013: The Phantom Of The Opera. Winner of 7 1988 Tony Awards including Best Musical, The Phantom of the Opera is based on the novel by Gaston Leroux. It tells the story of the hideously deformed Phantom who lurks beneath the stage of the Paris Opera, exercising a reign of terror over its occupants. The phantom falls in love with the young Soprano devoting himself to creating a new star for the Opera by nurturing her extraordinary talents and employing all the skills at his disposal.<br/> The Majestic Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 245 West 44th Street in midtown Manhattan.<br> An earlier theatre with the same name had been located at 5 Columbus Circle, the present site of the Time-Warner building. Designed in 1903 by John Duncan, the architect of Grant's Tomb, the theatre hosted original musicals, including The Wizard of Oz and Babes in Toyland, and briefly served as a studio for NBC. It was renamed the Park Theatre in 1911 and demolished in 1954. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

The Music Box Theater is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan. <br> The most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to house Berlin's famed Music Box Revues. It opened in 1921 and hosted a new musical production every year until 1925, when it presented its first play, Cradle Snatchers, starring Humphrey Bogart. The following year, Chicago, the Maurine Dallas Watkins play that served as the basis for the hit musical, opened here. It housed a string of hits for the playwriting team of George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, from their first collaboration Once in a Lifetime to their smash hit The Man Who Came to Dinner. Cole Porter and George and Ira Gershwin also presented shows here. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

Step into this piece of Broadway history where the winter crowds gather to catch Cat on a Hot Tin Roof through March 30th. Built back in 1924 as the 46th Street Theatre, the venue got its current name in 1990 to celebrate Richard Rodgers, the composer whose fingerprints shaped Broadway's golden era. The marquee has lit up countless nights featuring Anything Goes, Guys and Dolls, Damn Yankees, How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Nine, Chicago, and Movin' Out. A 2006 refresh brought the space back to life, and now the Richard Rodgers Gallery showcases artifacts tracing the legendary songwriter's legacy across the walls. With 1,319 seats, it's one of the nine Broadway homes managed by the Nederlander Organization, offering that intimate yet grand feeling you get when you're bundled up outside before ducking into the warmth and magic of live theater.

Head to this intimate Broadway venue tucked along West 49th Street in midtown Manhattan where irreverent comedy takes center stage. The Book of Mormon, a wickedly funny musical collaboration between South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone alongside Tony-winning composer Robert Lopez, pairs two earnest young missionaries with a destination that couldn't be further removed from their Utah roots. Parker and Casey Nicholaw jointly direct this production that's earned multiple Emmy accolades for its creators and a reputation for leaving audiences laughing through the winter nights when the theater's warm glow becomes a welcome refuge from the cold streets outside. The building itself carries over a century of theatrical history within its walls. Herbert J. Krapp's architectural vision birthed this space in 1925 as part of a grander theater-hotel development honoring 19th century actor Edwin Forrest. Through its various incarnations—first as the Coronet, then renamed after American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1959—the venue has hosted countless productions. Playwright Neil Simon once owned the space before Jujamcyn Theatres acquired it in 1982, adding another layer to its storied Manhattan legacy.

The Biltmore Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 261 West 47th Street in midtown-Manhattan.<br> In 1987, a fire struck the Biltmore. The blaze, which was later determined to be an act of arson, destroyed the interior. After the fire, the building would sit vacant for fourteen years, suffering more structural damage from water and vandals. The theatre's ownership changed hands several times between 1987 and 2001, but most plans proposed for its future use - such as a showcase for "Best of Broadway" revues - were rejected since its New York City landmark designation required it to operate only as a legitimate Broadway house if renovated. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

Lanford Wilson's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Talley’s Folly returns in a joyful and moving new production starring Tony Award® nominee Danny Burstein (Golden Boy, Follies) and Emmy® and Golden Globe® nominee Sarah Paulson (“American Horror Story,” Roundabout’s Crimes of the Heart).<br/> At the end of World War II, Matt Friedman, a Jewish immigrant who has spent his life keeping others at a distance, returns to the small town where he first met Sally Talley. Nothing like her conservative Protestant family and neighbors, Sally is a nurse with deep misgivings about the country’s future. After a lifetime of believing they’ll never truly belong in the world around them, Matt has worked up the courage to ask Sally for her hand, and convince her that they do belong—together.<br/> Michael Wilson (The Best Man, Roundabout’s The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore) directs this funny and heart-warming play about finding love when you’ve nearly given up looking.<br/> Performances begin on February 8, 2013 with an Opening Night of March 5, 2013 at the Laura Pels Theatre in the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre (111 West 46th Street). This is a limited engagement through April 28, 2013.

The Cort Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 138 West 48th Street in midtown-Manhattan. The Shuberts purchased the theatre in 1927.<br> Designed by Thomas W. Lamb, its facade was modeled after the Petit Trianon at Versailles, while architecture from the period of Louis XVI inspired the interior. The building was constructed by and named for former vaudevillean John Cort, general manager of the Northwestern Theatrical Association.<br> It opened on December 20, 1912 with Laurette Taylor starring in the play Peg o' My Heart, which ran for 603 performance, an auspicious start for the new venue. Numerous famous British actors have appeared at the Cort: Basil Rathbone played Dr. Nicholas Agi in The Swan in October 1923, and in April 1927 appeared as Vladimir Dubriski in Love is Like That. In October 1924 Henry Daniell appeared as Aubrey Tanqueray in The Second Mrs Tanqueray, was there again in August 1943 in Murder Without Crime, and in January 1946 appeared as Leontes in The Winter's Tale.<br> The theatre was used as a television studio housing The Merv Griffin Show from 1969-72. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org" target="new">Source</a>

A permanent home has long been a dream for the Roundabout Theatre Company. Since its establishment in 1965, Roundabout had moved from location to location, always searching for the next stop in what seemed to be a never-ending journey for permanency. From West 26th Street to West 23rd Street, from East 17th Street at Union Square then on to the Criterion Center, Roundabout seemed destined to live up to its name far too literally. All that changed in 1997, when The New 42nd Street Development project, backed by the City and State of New York, offered the historic Selwyn Theatre to Roundabout.

Since 1927, this theatre was known as the Alvin. It was renamed in 1983 to honor America’s most prolific playwright, Neil Simon, following the successful engagement of Brighton Beach Memoirs, the first play of an autobiographical trilogy about his youth with his family. Fittingly, in 1985, the second play of Mr. Simon’s trilogy, Biloxi Blues played there successfully. In 1992, Mr. Simon returned again with his play, Jake’s Women. <br> Since 2000, the Neil Simon has been filled with music and dancing as the home to two of Broadway’s most popular productions, namely the acclaimed revival of The Music Man and, currently, the Tony Award®-winning Best Musical, Hairspray. <br> The Neil Simon Theatre has 1,445 seats and is one of The Nederlander Organization’s nine Broadway theatres.

Home to two of Manhattan’s most unique event spaces. The Hammerstein and The Grand offer an elegant setting for events of all kinds. With in-house recording studios, television studios and video post production facilities, the Manhattan Center has what it takes to make your next event a complete multimedia experience.<br> Located at 311 West 34th Street, the historic Manhattan Center building still stands over 100 years after it was first built as the Manhattan Opera House by Oscar Hammerstein I in 1906. Hammerstein built the opera house with the bold intention to take on the established Metropolitan Opera by featuring cheaper seats for the ordinary New Yorker. The Manhattan Opera house quickly became an alternative venue for many great operas and celebrated singers to make their debut.