Imperial Theatre

By decade78 productions across 10 decades

1. 1920s 8
2. 1930s 17
3. 1940s 7
4. 1950s 8
5. 1960s 5
6. 1970s 12
7. 1980s 5
8. 2000s 5
9. 2010s 7
10. 2020s 4

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

1964	Fiddler on the Roof September 22, 1964 · Jerome Robbins	3,242 perf.
1972	Pippin October 23, 1972 · Bob Fosse	1,944 perf.
1981	Dreamgirls December 20, 1981 · Michael Bennett	1,521 perf.
2008	Billy Elliot November 13, 2008 · Stephen Daldry	1,312 perf.
1946	Annie Get Your Gun May 16, 1946 · Joshua Logan	1,147 perf.
1979	They’re Playing Our Song February 11, 1979 · Robert Moore	1,082 perf.
2014	Les Miserables March 23, 2014 · Laurence Connor	1,024 perf.
1944	Song of Norway August 21, 1944 · Edwin Lester, Charles K. Freeman	860 perf.

Ranked among the 75 runs here that carry a performance count. 3 do not, so a longer run may be sitting outside this table with an empty field.

Everything that played here78 productions

1923	Mary Jane McKane December 25, 1923 · Original	151 perf.
1924	Rose-Marie September 2, 1924 · Original	557 perf.
1926	Oh, Kay! November 8, 1926 · Original	256 perf.
1926	Sweetheart Time January 19, 1926 · Original	143 perf.
1926	The Merry World June 8, 1926 · Original	87 perf.
1928	Sunny Days February 8, 1928 · Original	101 perf.
1928	The New Moon September 19, 1928 · Original	509 perf.
1929	Sons O' Guns November 26, 1929 · Original	295 perf.
1930	Babes in Toyland December 20, 1930 · Revival	33 perf.
1930	Princess Charming October 13, 1930 · Original	56 perf.
1931	The Gang’s All Here February 18, 1931 · Original	23 perf.
1931	The Laugh Parade November 2, 1931 · Original	231 perf.
1932	Flying Colors September 15, 1932 · Original	188 perf.
1933	Let ‘Em Eat Cake October 21, 1933 · Original	90 perf.
1934	Saluta August 28, 1934 · Original	39 perf.
1934	Say When November 8, 1934 · Revival	76 perf.
1935	Jubilee October 12, 1935 · Original	169 perf.
1935	Nowhere Bound January 22, 1935 · Original	15 perf.
1935	Panic March 14, 1935 · Original	2 perf.
1936	On Your Toes April 11, 1936 · Original	315 perf.
1937	Between the Devil December 22, 1937 · Original	93 perf.
1937	Frederika February 4, 1937 · Original	94 perf.
1937	Orchids Preferred May 11, 1937 · Original	7 perf.
1938	Leave It to Me! November 9, 1938 · Original	291 perf.
1939	Too Many Girls October 18, 1939 · Original	249 perf.
1940	Louisiana Purchase May 28, 1940 · Original	444 perf.
1941	Let’s Face It October 29, 1941 · Original	547 perf.
1942	Gratefully Yours April 7, 1942 · Original
1943	One Touch of Venus October 7, 1943 · Original	567 perf.
1944	Song of Norway August 21, 1944 · Original	860 perf.
1946	Annie Get Your Gun May 16, 1946 · Original	1,147 perf.
1949	Miss Liberty July 15, 1949 · Original	308 perf.
1950	Call Me Madam October 12, 1950 · Original	644 perf.
1950	Peter Pan April 24, 1950 · Revival	321 perf.
1952	Wish You Were Here June 25, 1952 · Original	598 perf.
1953	John Murray Anderson's Almanac December 10, 1953 · Original	229 perf.
1955	Silk Stockings February 24, 1955 · Original	478 perf.
1956	The Most Happy Fella May 3, 1956 · Original	676 perf.
1957	Jamaica October 31, 1957 · Original	555 perf.
1959	Destry Rides Again April 23, 1959 · Original	472 perf.
1961	Carnival! April 13, 1961 · Revival	719 perf.
1963	Oliver! January 6, 1963 · Original	774 perf.
1964	Fiddler on the Roof September 22, 1964 · Original	3,242 perf.
1968	Zorba November 16, 1968 · Original	305 perf.
1969	A Patriot for Me October 6, 1969 · Original	49 perf.
1970	Minnie’s Boys March 26, 1970 · Original	80 perf.
1970	Two By Two November 10, 1970 · Revival	343 perf.
1971	On the Town October 31, 1971 · Revival	73 perf.
1972	A Celebration of Richard Rodgers March 26, 1972 · Original	1 perf.
1972	Lost in the Stars April 18, 1972 · Revival	39 perf.
1972	Pippin October 23, 1972 · Revival	1,944 perf.
1975	A Gala Tribute to Joshua Logan March 9, 1975 · Original	1 perf.
1977	Anna Christie April 14, 1977 · Revival	124 perf.
1977	Chapter Two December 4, 1977 · Original	857 perf.
1977	Comedy With Music October 3, 1977 · Original
1977	Mark Twain Tonight! March 14, 1977 · Return-Engagement	11 perf.
1979	They’re Playing Our Song February 11, 1979 · Original	1,082 perf.
1981	Dreamgirls December 20, 1981 · Original	1,521 perf.
1985	The Mystery of Edwin Drood December 2, 1985 · Original	608 perf.
1987	Cabaret October 22, 1987 · Revival	261 perf.
1988	Chess April 28, 1988 · Original	68 perf.
1989	Jerome Robbins’ Broadway February 25, 1989 · Original	633 perf.
2005	Dirty Rotten Scoundrels March 3, 2005 · Original	627 perf.
2006	High Fidelity December 7, 2006 · Original	13 perf.
2007	August: Osage County December 4, 2007 · Original	648 perf.
2007	Coram Boy May 2, 2007 · Original	30 perf.
2008	Billy Elliot November 13, 2008 · Original	1,312 perf.
2012	Nice Work If You Can Get It April 24, 2012 · Original	478 perf.
2013	700 Sundays November 13, 2013 · Return-Engagement	46 perf.
2014	Les Miserables March 23, 2014 · Revival	1,024 perf.
2016	Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 November 14, 2016 · Original	336 perf.
2018	Carousel April 12, 2018 · Revival	249 perf.
2018	Ruben & Clay's First Annual Christmas Carol Family Fun Pageant Spectacular Reunion Show December 11, 2018 · Original	24 perf.
2019	Ain't Too Proud March 21, 2019 · Original	480 perf.
2023	Bad Cinderella March 23, 2023 · Original	91 perf.
2024	Water for Elephants March 21, 2024 · Original	301 perf.
2025	Chess November 16, 2025 · Revival
2025	Smash April 10, 2025 · Original	83 perf.

In the literature8 passages

• 6 The opening night of Peter Pan at Broadway's Imperial Theatre was on 24 April 1950.Leonard Bernstein Letters, The - Leonard Bernstein
• First performance: 24 April 1950, New York, Imperial Theatre, cast incl. Jean Arthur (Peter Pan) and Boris Karloff (Captain Hook); John Burrell (dir.), Trude Rittmann (music coordinator), Ben Steinberg (cond.)Leonard Bernstein Letters, The - Leonard Bernstein
• In a short essay printed in the Imperial Theatre playbill Loesser described his initial resistance to the idea of adapting Howard’s play They Knew What They Wanted . 27 Before long, however, he realized that he could delete “the topical stuff about the labor situation in the 1920’s, the discussion of religion, etc.” 28 Loesser continues:…Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block
• Several New York tastemakers praised the show lavishly when it opened at the Imperial Theatre. Robert Coleman headed his review in the Daily Mirror with the judgment, “‘Most Happy Fella’ Is a Masterpiece” and subtitled this endorsement with “Loesser has performed a truly magnificent achievement with an aging play.” 32 John McClain of the…Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block
• Loesser, Frank. “Some Loesser Thoughts on ‘The Most Happy Fella.’” Imperial Theatre program notes, 1956.Enchanted Evenings_The Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim and Lloyd Webber - Geoffrey Block

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 long 3 of these runs lasted. We don't have a performance count.
• When 3 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.
• Who built it.