The Drama Nerds Database
Edison Theatre

Edison Theatre

Shows · Edison Theatre

Broadway Closed 1970–1990 on this page14 productions

The Edison Theatre was a Broadway theatre in the Hotel Edison at 240 West 47th Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1931 as the hotel's ballroom, it became the Arena Theatre on May 31, 1950, with a revival of George Kelly's The Show Off. The following year it was returned to the hotel's ballroom and remained as such until the early 1970s, when it was re-converted to a theatre. Its most notable production was Oh! Calcutta!, which opened on September 24, 1976, and ran for 13 years, with a total of 5,959 performances. Other shows staged here included Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, Me and Bessie, Sizwe Banzi is Dead, The Island, and Love Letters. The theatre closed on February 2…

By decade14 productions across 3 decades

  1. 1970s 11
  2. 1980s 1
  3. 1990s 2

Counted from the productions we hold, which are Broadway and a partial West End. A quiet decade here can mean a dark theatre and can mean a gap in the record.

Longest runs hereby performances

1976 Oh! Calcutta! September 24, 1976 · Margo Sappington 5,959 perf.
1974 Sizwe Banzi Is Dead November 13, 1974 159 perf.
1971 Only Fools Are Sad November 22, 1971 · Yossi Yzraely 144 perf.
1990 Those Were the Days November 7, 1990 126 perf.
1970 Happy Birthday, Wanda June December 22, 1970 · Michael J. Kane 96 perf.
1989 Love Letters October 31, 1989 · John Tillinger 96 perf.
1974 The Island November 24, 1974 52 perf.
1990 A Change in the Heir April 29, 1990 · David H. Bell 23 perf.

Everything that played here14 productions

1970 Happy Birthday, Wanda June December 22, 1970 · Original 96 perf.
1970 Opium October 5, 1970 · Original 8 perf.
1970 The Candyapple November 23, 1970 · Original 1 perf.
1971 Johnny Johnson April 11, 1971 · Revival 1 perf.
1971 Only Fools Are Sad November 22, 1971 · Original 144 perf.
1972 Hard Job Being God May 15, 1972 · Original 6 perf.
1972 That’s Entertainment April 14, 1972 · Original 4 perf.
1974 Sizwe Banzi Is Dead November 13, 1974 · Original 159 perf.
1974 The Island November 24, 1974 · Original 52 perf.
1975 Boccaccio November 24, 1975 · Revival 7 perf.
1976 Oh! Calcutta! September 24, 1976 · Revival 5,959 perf.
1989 Love Letters October 31, 1989 · Original 96 perf.
1990 A Change in the Heir April 29, 1990 · Original 23 perf.
1990 Those Were the Days November 7, 1990 · Original 126 perf.

In the literature8 passages

  • The Edison Theatre on 47th Street is now an event space, but in the early 1950s, and from 1970-1990, it was a Broadway theater. The Edison housed the long-running naughty show, Oh! Calcutta! for 13 years, and it’s also the first Broadway theater where the BMI writers ever heard their songs played.Untold Stories of Broadway, Part 1, The - Jennifer Tepper
  • tor/choreographer. The 1976 all-black revival of Guys and Dolls— another case in point—used Off-Broadway’s Edison Theatre for audi-More Opening Nights on Broadway - Steven Suskin
  • more than three years, transferring midway to the venerable old Belasco. Four years later a revival opened at the mid-Broadway Edison Theatre and ran thirteen years on the backs of Japanese businessmen with a yen. An impressive record, but the show has not enjoyed much of an afterlife in the high school/community theatre circuit, alas.More Opening Nights on Broadway - Steven Suskin
  • EDISON THEATRE Opened Monday, November 22, 1971.* Yaacov Agmon under the patronage of the Prime Minister of Israel, Mrs. Golda Meir, presents:Theatre World, 1971-72 Season, v. 28 (Willis)
  • PLAYHOUSE THEATRE Opened Wednesday, Apnl 19, 1972* (Moved June 13, 1972 to Edison Theatre) Edward Padula and Arch Lustberg present Vinnette Carroll's Urban Arts Corps production of:Theatre World, 1971-72 Season, v. 28 (Willis)

What this page does not know

  • What played here before Broadway record-keeping starts, and what played here outside it: concerts, benefits, film runs, anything that was not a listed production.
  • How many seats.
  • Who built it.

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