13. St. James Theatre
Opened in 1927, the St. James opened originally as Erlanger’s Theatre, built by and named after Abraham Erlanger, the founder of the Theatrical Syndicate. In 1932, it was renamed the St. James after the theater in London of the same name. Following the Great Depression, the theater was bought by none other than the Shubert’s in 1941. However, fearing monopoly accusations, they turned it over management to the Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation. Jujamcyn renovated the theater and reopened it in December of 1958.
The theater has been the location of a number of famous productions and one of the biggest box office records on Broadway. In 2001, The Producers set box-office records for single-day sales, introduced “premium seating,” and garnered an impressive 12 Tony Awards. In April and May of 2013, notable director Alejandro González Iñárritu filmed the Academy Award winner Birdman in and around the St. James Theatre for 30 days. Other notable premieres held here were Oklahoma! (1943), The King and I (1951), and Hello, Dolly! (1964).On June 7, 2021, Bruce Springsteen announced that he would give a limited run of 31 performances of his Springsteen on Broadway shows at the theater. David Byrne’s American Utopia will open on September 17.