18. Hudson Theatre
Another of the oldest theaters on Broadway, the Hudson Theatre was built in 1902-1904, helping shape Times Square as New York City’s new theater district. The theater boasts a 100-foot long lobby (the largest at the time) and a backlit stained glass ceiling manufactured by Tiffany. It also had impressive safety features at the time with 28 exits, completely fireproofed and fashioned with a complete sprinkler system. The Hudson was built by Henry B. Harris, who was at the time one of the era’s top Broadway producers. His success in New York led him to build another theater, the Folies Bergere (which became the original Helen Hayes). Harris unfortunately died in the sinking of the RMS Titanic. On November 17, 1987, the Hudson received landmark status.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, the Hudson was a television studio owned by CBS Studios. NBC purchased it in 1950, and in 1954 it was the home of The Tonight Show with Steve Allen. In 1956, developer Adam Hirschfeld turned it back into a theater, and then into a movie house. In 1980, it became the Savoy Rock Club, and in 1995 it was bought up by Millenium & Copthornes Hotels where the theater served as a conference and party space. Recently, the Ambassador Theatre Group under the subsidiary Hudson Theatre LLC entered a long-term lease of the Hudson Theatre. It will reopen on February 22, 2022 with performances of Plaza Suite, starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.