Location
About This Theatre
Originally named the Forrest Theatre after Edwin Forrest, the first American-born Broadway star, it was the first to combine a theatre with a hotel.
At the time it was built, in 1925, there were already 192 playhouses and 548 motion picture houses competing for patrons. The Shuberts tried to attract audiences with promotions such as free coffee, cigarettes, and perfume as well as the free services of silhouette artists and mind readers. Mostly due to the bar in the Forrest Hotel that was accessed through the Orchestra, the theatre was one of the few to survive the Depression. Ultimately it was auctioned off in 1934 and leased to the producers of Tobacco Road, a provocative Depression-era play that ran until 1941, making it the longest-running play on Broadway at the time. Designed by Herbert J. Krapp, it was the first theatere to use steel frame construction, which had only previously been used for skyscrapers and large apartment buildings. Krapp installed the most up-to-date stage curtain as well as an innovative system for moving stage scenery with electricity. One of Krapp’s most ornate theatres, the interior was adorned with decorative plasterwork. In 1953 theatre was renamed the Eugene O’Neill; it was the first theatre to be named after a playwright. In the late 1960s, Neil Simon bought it and presented seven of his plays there. In 1982 the Jujamcyn Company bought it with the goal of presenting new American work, and they succeeded with such plays as M. Butterfly, Spring Awakening, and The Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon is currently playing at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre.
The Eugene O’Neill has 1,102 seats and is one of Jujamcyn Theaters‘ five Broadway theatres.
Partners
Originally opened as the Forrest in 1925, this theatre was renovated and renamed the Coronet in 1945 before becoming the Eugene O’Neill in 1959. In the late ’60s, playwright Neil Simon bought itand presented his own plays at the theatre until 1982, when he sold it to Jujamcyn.