With Stephen Colbert taking the reins from David Letterman on CBS’s Late Show, Untapped Cities is taking a look at the secrets and fun facts of the show’s home, the Ed Sullivan Theater in midtown New York City.
10. The Theatre Was Originally Called Hammerstein’s
Oscar Hammerstein II. Via Wikimedia Commons. Photo by RR Auction.
The theater opened in 1927 and was called Hammerstein’s. It was developed by Broadway producer Arthur Hammerstein as a tribute to his father, Oscar Hammerstein I who died in 1919. The first show presented there, a musical called Golden Dawn, was written by a team including Arthur’s nephew Oscar Hammerstein II and directed by another nephew, Reginald Hammerstein.