Broadway Show Girls

The Broadway House Guide

The Oldest Broadway Theaters

All 41 houses in the order they opened. 34 were built before 1930; 19 of those opened in the 1920s alone.

  • 1903the oldest houses opened
  • 34opened before 1930
  • 19opened in the 1920s
  • 2009the newest (Stephen Sondheim)

Three houses opened in 1903 and are still operating as Broadway theaters: the Hudson Theatre, Lyceum Theatre and New Amsterdam Theatre. Most of the rest came in one burst — 19 of today's houses opened between 1920 and 1929, many designed by the same architect, Herbert J. Krapp, which is why so many of them share the same two-level, wide-and-shallow shape.

Only 7 current houses opened after 1960: Vivian Beaumont Theater, Circle in the Square Theatre, Gershwin Theatre, Minskoff Theatre, Marquis Theatre, Lyric Theatre and Stephen Sondheim Theatre. The Stephen Sondheim Theatre is a special case — a modern auditorium built behind the preserved 1918 facade of Henry Miller's Theatre.

  1. Hudson TheatreJ. B. McElfatrick & Son (exterior); Israels & Harder (interior)Opened1903
  2. Lyceum TheatreHerts & TallantOpened1903
  3. New Amsterdam TheatreHerts & TallantOpened1903
  4. Belasco TheatreGeorge KeisterOpened1907
  5. Lunt-Fontanne TheatreCarrère and HastingsOpened1910
  6. Winter Garden TheatreWilliam Albert Swasey (1911); remodeled by Herbert J. Krapp (1922)Opened1911
  7. Hayes TheaterIngalls & HoffmanOpened1912
  8. James Earl Jones TheatreThomas W. LambOpened1912
  9. Booth TheatreHenry Beaumont HertsOpened1913
  10. Longacre TheatreHenry Beaumont HertsOpened1913
  11. Palace TheatreKirchhoff & RoseOpened1913
  12. Shubert TheatreHenry Beaumont HertsOpened1913
  13. Broadhurst TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1917
  14. Gerald Schoenfeld TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1917
  15. Todd Haimes TheatreGeorge KeisterOpened1918
  16. Ambassador TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1921
  17. Music Box TheatreC. Howard CraneOpened1921
  18. Nederlander TheatreWilliam Neil SmithOpened1921
  19. Walter Kerr TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1921
  20. Imperial TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1923
  21. Al Hirschfeld TheatreG. Albert LansburghOpened1924
  22. Broadway TheatreEugene De RosaOpened1924
  23. August Wilson TheatreC. Howard Crane and Kenneth FranzheimOpened1925
  24. Eugene O'Neill TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1925
  25. Richard Rodgers TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1925
  26. Samuel J. Friedman TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1925
  27. Lena Horne TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1926
  28. Bernard B. Jacobs TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1927
  29. John Golden TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1927
  30. Majestic TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1927
  31. Neil Simon TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1927
  32. St. James TheatreWarren and WetmoreOpened1927
  33. Studio 54Eugene De RosaOpened1927
  34. Ethel Barrymore TheatreHerbert J. KrappOpened1928
  35. Vivian Beaumont TheaterEero Saarinen (building); Jo Mielziner (interior)Opened1965
  36. Circle in the Square TheatreAllen SaylesOpened1972
  37. Gershwin TheatreRalph AlswangOpened1972
  38. Minskoff TheatreKahn and JacobsOpened1973
  39. Marquis TheatreJohn C. Portman Jr.Opened1986
  40. Lyric TheatreRichard Lewis Blinder (Beyer Blinder Belle) with Peter KofmanOpened1998
  41. Stephen Sondheim TheatreCOOKFOX, with Adamson AssociatesOpened2009

Gold bars show each house’s seat count against the largest on Broadway (1,933).

Questions, Answered

What is the oldest Broadway theater?
3 current Broadway houses opened in 1903: the Hudson Theatre, Lyceum Theatre and New Amsterdam Theatre. They are the oldest theaters still operating as Broadway houses.
What is the newest Broadway theater?
The Stephen Sondheim Theatre (2009), a new auditorium behind the preserved 1918 facade of Henry Miller's Theatre. Before it, the most recent house was the Lyric Theatre (1998).
Why do so many Broadway theaters date from the 1920s?
19 of the 41 current houses opened between 1920 and 1929, the decade of Broadway's biggest building boom. Herbert J. Krapp designed 15 of today's houses, most of them in that decade.
Are older Broadway theaters less comfortable?
Generally the seats and aisles are narrower in the early houses than in the post-1960 ones, and upper levels are reached by stairs more often than elevators. Check accessible seating with the box office before you buy.

Every figure here is derived from the house-by-house facts in our guide, each cited to the theater’s Wikipedia article and checked 2026-10-09. Seat counts are approximate — capacity shifts a little with each production. Spot an error?Tell us.