17. New Amsterdam Theatre
Built in 1903 by producers A.L. Erlanger and Marcus Klaw and designed by architects Hertz & Tallent, the New Amsterdam Theatre was the largest on Broadway at the time with 1,702 seats. It is also one of the oldest theaters in the area. It originally had a roof garden, where more risqué shows were shown. From 1913 to 1927, the New Amsterdam had a lot of success as the home to the Ziegfeld Follies, which was somewhere between a later Broadway show and high class vaudeville act. But when the Depression hit, the theater did not fare so well, and it could not fully recover until the 1990s.
Although it remained in disrepair after becoming a movie theater during the Depression, its beautiful Beaux-Arts facade and interior earned the theater a landmark designation on October 23, 1979. Much like many Broadway theaters, the New Amsterdam was bought by the Shubert Organization in 1982. The State and City of New York was able to win the theater back in a court ruling and under a new, 99-year lease signed by Disney, the New Amsterdam reopened in 1997 as a Broadway theater once more. Since then it has run many popular Disney musicals such as The Lion King, Mary Poppins and Aladdin. It will reopen September 28, 2021 with performances of Aladdin.