The Midtown Gazette

A Columbia Journalism School newsroom covering Midtown Manhattan in the heart of New York City.


Category: Theater District
  • Small Midtown theaters stay afloat with post-pandemic grants

    Small Midtown theaters stay afloat with post-pandemic grants

    A nonprofit helps small performing arts venues stay open. 

  • Does capitalism work for you? Vote in Times Square

    Does capitalism work for you? Vote in Times Square

    By Zach Brown NEW YORK — The ongoing tally of true-false votes displayed on Steve Lambert’s art exhibit might imply that the numbers mean something to the artist. His Capitalism Works For Me! True/False project has toured the country for more than two years now, allowing people to vote whether or not they believe capitalism benefits…

  • East Meets West: Taiwanese Actress Debuts Off-Broadway

    East Meets West: Taiwanese Actress Debuts Off-Broadway

    Living between American culture and Taiwanese culture, a new actress in off-Broadway found the contradiction not only in the character she played, but in her real life.

  • Veterans Honored with Free Homes

    An October 8 editorial in The New York Times claimed that 8,000 homeless veterans in South California are not getting the housing that they were promised by the Department of Veteran Affairs. In New York, various independent organizations have taken up the call to support veterans’ housing needs. Jon Moldovan, a former Army sergeant, won…

  • “Glengarry Glen Ross” — Selling the Sure Thing

    “Glengarry Glen Ross” — Selling the Sure Thing

    David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, “Glengarry Glen Ross” begins previews on October 16th at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre for its third Broadway revival, starring Academy Award winning actor, Al Pacino, who appeared in the 1992 film in the role currently played by Bobby Cannavale.

  • Playwrights’ Week Returns to the Lark for its Nineteenth Year

    Playwrights’ Week Returns to the Lark for its Nineteenth Year

    Last week, the Lark Play Development Center gave seven playwrights the chance to workshop a new play in ten hours of rehearsal and one public reading. At the end, the writers walked away having heard their pieces aloud, with a stack of written audience comments.

  • Ticket Promoters Lure Broadway Attendees

    Ticket Promoters Lure Broadway Attendees

    Paid ticket promoters stand outside of the TKTS booth at Times Square to sell same-day performance tickets to loyal customers. Their opinion can be easily bought or found on the list of 10 to 16 shows they have been paid to promote.

  • Nine Lives? This One, Not That Fun

    Matilda, the storied Algonquin Hotel cat, has been forced to adapt to strict New York City Health Department regulations and stay way from Algonquin guests.

  • I Saw The Book of Mormon for $28, On The Day I Wanted To Go

    I Saw The Book of Mormon for $28, On The Day I Wanted To Go

    I waited over six hours in line to understand the culture of obsessed South Park followers and Broadway fans alike, who put their lives on hold to get tickets to The Book of Mormon, even if it means standing up inside the theater as well.

  • The Gold Angel of the Helen Hayes Theater

    The Gold Angel of the Helen Hayes Theater

    At 255 West 43rd Street, two cupids and one angel coated in gold paint live in the lobby of the Common Ground Community’s residence, The Times Square. Saved from the façade of the original Helen Hayes Theatre, the figures keep a protective watch over the residents, according to 10-year tenant Jim Davis. Davis arrived some…

  • What Ever Happened to Helen Hayes?

    What Ever Happened to Helen Hayes?

    With a cornice of frowning faces, a tapestry of alternating terra cotta panels, and a 10 feet by 80 feet mural, the First Helen Hayes Theatre was truly fabulous. It was torn down in 1982 to make way for the Marriot Marquis, but remnants of it may still have a chance to live on: the…

  • Bits of an Old Theatre Slip Through a Salvager’s Grasp

    Evan Blum helped to salvage the Helen Hayes Theatre before its demolition in 1982. Thirty years later, he got a chance to win back some of the theatre’s remains.

  • Where Theatre Once Stood, a Hotel Looms

    Where Theatre Once Stood, a Hotel Looms

    The Marriot Marquis in Times Square is known to many as one of the largest hotels in Manhattan, but to theatre-lovers it is known as the former site of the Helen Hayes Theatre. We revisit what made the theatre special — so special, in fact, that it inspired protests when developers announced it was going…

  • Crowd-Pleasing Detour Spotlights Anita’s Way

    Crowd-Pleasing Detour Spotlights Anita’s Way

    Times Square just turned the spotlight on Anita’s Way. Artist Adam Frank unveiled his newest installation, a simple spotlight in a passageway — hoping to brighten people’s days as they pass by.

  • Unusual Grant Program Pays For Babysitting at the Theater

    Unusual Grant Program Pays For Babysitting at the Theater

    Over the past two years, a fee on certain transactions between theaters and high-rise developers has funded a city grant program that contributes to theater-related programs.

  • Irish Rep Theatre Gets Lifetime Achievement Award

    Irish Rep Theatre Gets Lifetime Achievement Award

    Actor Gabriel Byrne presents Irish Rep Theatre founders Ciaran O’Reilly and Charlotte Moore with the Irish American Writers and Artists Lifetime Achievement Award at a cocktail reception in Rosie O’Grady’s restaurant.

  • ‘Billy Elliot’ to Close on Broadway, Leaving Ballet Girls Dancing in the Dark

    ‘Billy Elliot’ to Close on Broadway, Leaving Ballet Girls Dancing in the Dark

    The latest victim of the changing landscape of Broadway, Billy Elliot will close in January next year. The announcement came just two weeks after auditions were held for the roles of the ballet girls.