Ethel Barrymore Theatre

By decade174 productions across 11 decades

1. 1920s 3
2. 1930s 28
3. 1940s 23
4. 1950s 20
5. 1960s 22
6. 1970s 22
7. 1980s 11
8. 1990s 9
9. 2000s 13
10. 2010s 13
11. 2020s 10

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

1977	I Love My Wife April 17, 1977 · Gene Saks	857 perf.
1947	A Streetcar Named Desire December 3, 1947 · Elia Kazan	855 perf.
2000	The Tale of the Allergist's Wife November 2, 2000 · Lynne Meadow	777 perf.
1953	Tea and Sympathy September 30, 1953 · Elia Kazan	712 perf.
1936	The Women December 26, 1936 · Robert B. Sinclair	657 perf.
1951	The Fourposter October 24, 1951 · José Ferrer	632 perf.
2017	The Band's Visit November 9, 2017 · David Cromer	589 perf.
1957	Look Homeward, Angel November 28, 1957 · George Roy Hill	564 perf.

Everything that played here174 productions

1928	The Kingdom of God December 20, 1928 · Original	92 perf.
1929	Death Takes a Holiday December 26, 1929 · Original	180 perf.
1929	The Love Duel April 15, 1929 · Original	88 perf.
1930	His Majesty's Car October 23, 1930 · Original	12 perf.
1930	Scarlet Sister Mary November 25, 1930 · Original	24 perf.
1930	The Truth Game December 27, 1930 · Original	107 perf.
1931	Melo April 16, 1931 · Original	67 perf.
1931	The Passing Present December 7, 1931 · Original	16 perf.
1931	The School for Scandal November 10, 1931 · Revival	23 perf.
1932	Gay Divorce November 29, 1932 · Original	248 perf.
1932	Here Today September 6, 1932 · Original	39 perf.
1932	Whistling in the Dark January 19, 1932 · Original	265 perf.
1933	Design For Living January 24, 1933 · Original	135 perf.
1933	Jezebel December 19, 1933 · Original	32 perf.
1933	Ten Minute Alibi October 17, 1933 · Original	89 perf.
1934	Divided By Three October 2, 1934 · Original	31 perf.
1934	Jigsaw April 30, 1934 · Original	49 perf.
1934	John Brown January 22, 1934 · Original	2 perf.
1934	Ladies' Money November 1, 1934 · Original	36 perf.
1934	Ruth Draper December 26, 1934 · Revival	24 perf.
1934	Wife Insurance April 12, 1934 · Original	4 perf.
1935	Macbeth October 7, 1935 · Revival	8 perf.
1935	Othello September 27, 1935 · Revival	11 perf.
1935	Parnell November 11, 1935 · Original	99 perf.
1935	Point Valaine January 16, 1935 · Original	55 perf.
1935	Substitute For Murder October 22, 1935 · Original	15 perf.
1935	Them's the Reporters May 29, 1935 · Original	6 perf.
1935	To See Ourselves April 30, 1935 · Original	23 perf.
1936	The Women December 26, 1936 · Original	657 perf.
1938	Knickerbocker Holiday October 19, 1938 · Original	168 perf.
1939	Key Largo November 27, 1939 · Original	105 perf.
1940	A Passenger to Bali March 14, 1940 · Original	4 perf.
1940	An International Incident April 2, 1940 · Original	15 perf.
1940	Pal Joey December 25, 1940 · Original	374 perf.
1940	Walk With Music June 4, 1940 · Original	55 perf.
1941	Best Foot Forward October 1, 1941 · Original	326 perf.
1942	Count Me In October 8, 1942 · Original	61 perf.
1942	R. U. R. December 3, 1942 · Revival	4 perf.
1942	The Three Sisters December 21, 1942 · Revival	123 perf.
1943	Tomorrow the World April 14, 1943 · Original	500 perf.
1944	Last Stop September 5, 1944 · Original	23 perf.
1944	The Perfect Marriage October 26, 1944 · Revival	92 perf.
1945	Make Yourself at Home September 13, 1945 · Original	4 perf.
1945	One-Man Show February 8, 1945 · Original	36 perf.
1945	Pygmalion December 26, 1945 · Revival	179 perf.
1945	Rebecca January 18, 1945 · Original	20 perf.
1945	The Barretts of Wimpole Street March 26, 1945 · Revival	88 perf.
1946	Second Best Bed June 3, 1946 · Original	8 perf.
1946	The Duchess of Malfi October 15, 1946 · Original	38 perf.
1947	A Streetcar Named Desire December 3, 1947 · Original	855 perf.
1947	Bathsheba March 26, 1947 · Original	29 perf.
1947	The Telephone / The Medium May 1, 1947 · Original	212 perf.
1947	This Time Tomorrow November 3, 1947 · Original	32 perf.
1949	The Rat Race December 22, 1949 · Original	84 perf.
1950	Bell, Book and Candle November 14, 1950 · Original	233 perf.
1950	The Consul March 15, 1950 · Revival	269 perf.
1951	Out West of Eighth September 20, 1951 · Original	4 perf.
1951	The Fourposter October 24, 1951 · Original	632 perf.
1952	I've Got Sixpence December 2, 1952 · Original	23 perf.
1953	Misalliance March 6, 1953 · Revival	130 perf.
1953	Tea and Sympathy September 30, 1953 · Original	712 perf.
1953	The Emperor's Clothes February 9, 1953 · Original	16 perf.
1955	The Chalk Garden October 26, 1955 · Original	182 perf.
1955	The Desperate Hours February 10, 1955 · Original	212 perf.
1956	Affair of Honor April 6, 1956 · Original	27 perf.
1956	New Faces of 1956 June 14, 1956 · Original	220 perf.
1956	Wake Up, Darling May 2, 1956 · Original	5 perf.
1957	Hide and Seek April 2, 1957 · Original	7 perf.
1957	Look Homeward, Angel November 28, 1957 · Original	564 perf.
1957	Small War on Murray Hill January 3, 1957 · Original	12 perf.
1957	The Egghead October 9, 1957 · Original	21 perf.
1957	The Greatest Man Alive May 8, 1957 · Original	5 perf.
1957	Waiting for Godot January 21, 1957 · Revival	6 perf.
1959	A Raisin in the Sun March 11, 1959 · Original	530 perf.
1960	Critic's Choice December 14, 1960 · Original	189 perf.
1960	Laughs and Other Events October 10, 1960 · Original	8 perf.
1961	The Complaisant Lover November 1, 1961 · Original	101 perf.
1962	A Gift of Time February 22, 1962 · Original	92 perf.
1962	Moby Dick November 28, 1962 · Original	13 perf.
1962	Step on a Crack October 17, 1962 · Original	1 perf.
1963	The Irregular Verb to Love September 18, 1963 · Original	115 perf.
1964	Beyond the Fringe '65 December 15, 1964 · Return-Engagement	30 perf.
1964	The Passion of Josef D. February 11, 1964 · Original	15 perf.
1965	The Amen Corner April 15, 1965 · Original	84 perf.
1965	Xmas in Las Vegas November 4, 1965 · Original	4 perf.
1966	Les Ballets Africains November 16, 1966 · Revival	85 perf.
1966	Wait Until Dark February 2, 1966 · Original	373 perf.
1966	We Have Always Lived in the Castle October 19, 1966 · Original	9 perf.
1967	Black Comedy / White Lies February 12, 1967 · Original	337 perf.
1968	Happiness Is Just a Little Thing Called a Rolls Royce May 11, 1968 · Original	1 perf.
1968	Noël Coward's Sweet Potato September 29, 1968 · Original	44 perf.
1968	Rockefeller and the Red Indians October 24, 1968 · Original	4 perf.
1968	The Goodbye People December 3, 1968 · Original	7 perf.
1968	The Seven Descents of Myrtle March 27, 1968 · Original	29 perf.
1969	The Front Page May 10, 1969 · Revival	64 perf.
1969	Zelda March 5, 1969 · Original	5 perf.
1970	A Place for Polly April 18, 1970 · Original	1 perf.
1970	Conduct Unbecoming October 12, 1970 · Original	144 perf.
1970	The Chinese and Dr. Fish March 10, 1970 · Original	15 perf.
1971	Ain't Supposed to Die a Natural Death October 20, 1971 · Original	325 perf.
1971	Inner City December 19, 1971 · Original	97 perf.
1971	The Philanthropist March 15, 1971 · Original	64 perf.
1972	Captain Brassbound's Conversion April 17, 1972 · Revival	16 perf.
1972	Don't Play Us Cheap! May 16, 1972 · Original	164 perf.
1972	Voices April 3, 1972 · Revival	8 perf.
1973	Chemin de Fer November 26, 1973 · Revival	42 perf.
1973	Emperor Henry IV March 28, 1973 · Revival	37 perf.
1973	Holiday December 26, 1973 · Revival	28 perf.
1973	The Visit November 25, 1973 · Revival	32 perf.
1974	Dreyfus in Rehearsal October 17, 1974 · Original	12 perf.
1974	Noël Coward in Two Keys February 28, 1974 · Original	140 perf.
1975	The Night That Made America Famous February 26, 1975 · Original	47 perf.
1975	Travesties October 30, 1975 · Original	156 perf.
1976	Legend May 13, 1976 · Revival	5 perf.
1976	Poor Murderer October 20, 1976 · Original	87 perf.
1977	American Buffalo February 16, 1977 · Original	122 perf.
1977	I Love My Wife April 17, 1977 · Original	857 perf.
1979	Romantic Comedy November 8, 1979 · Original	396 perf.
1980	Lunch Hour November 12, 1980 · Original	262 perf.
1981	The West Side Waltz November 19, 1981 · Original	126 perf.
1982	Foxfire November 11, 1982 · Original	213 perf.
1982	Is there life after high school? May 7, 1982 · Original	12 perf.
1983	Baby December 4, 1983 · Revival	241 perf.
1984	Hurlyburly August 7, 1984 · Original	343 perf.
1986	Lillian January 16, 1986 · Original	45 perf.
1986	Social Security April 17, 1986 · Original	388 perf.
1988	Joe Turner's Come and Gone March 27, 1988 · Original	105 perf.
1989	Metamorphosis March 6, 1989 · Original	97 perf.
1989	The Secret Rapture October 26, 1989 · Original	12 perf.
1990	Lettice and Lovage March 25, 1990 · Original	284 perf.
1991	Mule Bone February 14, 1991 · Original	68 perf.
1992	A Streetcar Named Desire April 12, 1992 · Revival	137 perf.
1993	The Sisters Rosensweig March 18, 1993 · Original	556 perf.
1995	Indiscretions April 27, 1995 · Original	220 perf.
1996	An Ideal Husband May 1, 1996 · Revival	307 perf.
1997	The Life April 26, 1997 · Original	466 perf.
1998	Electra December 3, 1998 · Revival	116 perf.
1999	Amy's View April 15, 1999 · Original	103 perf.
2000	The Real Thing April 17, 2000 · Revival	136 perf.
2000	The Tale of the Allergist's Wife November 2, 2000 · Original	777 perf.
2002	Imaginary Friends December 12, 2002 · Original	76 perf.
2003	Salome April 30, 2003 · Revival	40 perf.
2004	Sly Fox April 1, 2004 · Revival	173 perf.
2005	The Glass Menagerie March 22, 2005 · Revival	120 perf.
2006	Company November 29, 2006 · Revival	246 perf.
2006	Ring of Fire March 12, 2006 · Original	57 perf.
2007	Duran Duran: Red Carpet Massacre November 1, 2007 · Original	7 perf.
2008	November January 17, 2008 · Original	205 perf.
2008	Speed-the-Plow October 23, 2008 · Revival	140 perf.
2009	Exit the King March 26, 2009 · Revival	93 perf.
2009	Race December 6, 2009 · Original	297 perf.
2010	Elling November 21, 2010 · Original	9 perf.
2011	An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin November 21, 2011 · Original	57 perf.
2011	Arcadia March 17, 2011 · Revival	108 perf.
2012	Chaplin September 10, 2012 · Original	135 perf.
2012	Death of a Salesman March 15, 2012 · Revival	78 perf.
2013	Betrayal October 27, 2013 · Revival	83 perf.
2013	Macbeth April 21, 2013 · Revival	73 perf.
2014	A Raisin in the Sun April 3, 2014 · Revival	85 perf.
2016	Alton Brown Live: Eat Your Science November 22, 2016 · Original	8 perf.
2017	Six Degrees of Separation April 25, 2017 · Revival	63 perf.
2017	The Band's Visit November 9, 2017 · Original	589 perf.
2017	The Present January 8, 2017 · Original	81 perf.
2019	The Inheritance November 17, 2019 · Original	132 perf.
2021	Waitress September 2, 2021 · Return-Engagement	122 perf.
2022	Paradise Square April 3, 2022 · Original	108 perf.
2022	The Piano Lesson October 13, 2022 · Revival	124 perf.
2023	El Mago Pop August 20, 2023 · Original	14 perf.
2023	Harmony November 13, 2023 · Original	96 perf.
2023	Peter Pan Goes Wrong April 19, 2023 · Original	111 perf.
2024	Our Town October 10, 2024 · Revival	117 perf.
2024	Patriots April 22, 2024 · Revival	72 perf.
2025	Othello March 23, 2025 · Revival	89 perf.
2026	Joe Turner's Come and Gone April 25, 2026 · Revival	105 perf.

In the literature8 passages

• One of the enduring urban legends of musical theatre is that the original production of Pal Joey , which opened on December 25, 1940, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, was a failure that no one appreciated until the 1952 revival. Nothing could be more misleading. When the original production closed, it was the second-longest-running of all…Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz
• Wake Up, Darling by Alec Gottlieb (Ethel Barrymore Theatre, May 2, 1956, 5 performances)Complete Book of 1950s Broadway Musicals, The - Dan Dietz
• The first musical to play the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (on 47th Street west of Broadway), Gay Divorce was the only stage production in which Fred Astaire performed without sister Adele. In the story, adapted from an unproduced play Astaire was seen as Guy Holden, a British novelist, who goes to a seaside resort to woo would-be divorcee Mim…Broadway Musicals, Show By Show - Seventh Edition - Stanley Green & Cary Ginell
• Knickerbocker Holiday (musical comedy, Maxwell Anderson), New York, Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 19 October 1938; film adaptation directed by Harry Joe Brown, released 17 March 1944.Weill's Musical Theater_ Stages of Reform - Stephen Hinton
• Godspell had been scheduled to begin previews Sept. 29 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre with an official opening for Oct. 23. In addition to Creel and [Diana] DeGarmo, the announced cast included Joshua Henry as Judas with Uzo Aduba, Andrew Arrington, Sara Chase, Celisse Henderson, Morgan James, David Josefsberg, Telly Leung, Kyle Post, Dan…Untold Stories of Broadway, Volume 2 PART 1, The - Jennifer Tepper

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.
• When 24 of these runs ended. They carry an opening date and no closing date, and they are old enough that they certainly closed. Nobody wrote down the date.