Broadway Up Close Hudson Tour

When I talk about "pandemic success stories," I cite Tim of the tour company Broadway Up Close, and an actor. Rather than stewing when the world shut down, Tim successfully shifted his business model to online tours, always ending with the optimistic tagline: one day closer to Broadway.

As life started to open up again, we celebrated Ashley's 19th birthday by taking his Hamilton Tour with John. We had the added bonus of bumping into Tim while on our tour. I admit to being a bit star struck. It was a wonderful tour of places related to founding father Alexander Hamilton.

One of our virtual tours was of the Hudson Theater. We still wanted to go on the in-person version of the tour and see the theater through Tim's eyes. I started to say, sit in the seats, but we saw "Head Over Heels," and I saw "Plaza Suite" from its balcony. Though it is likely I took notes during the virtual tour, I have not been able to find them. As I listed to Brady, our tour guide, I could hear Tim's animated voice as he sat on his couch and told us stories through our computer screen.

Brady moved here to pursue an acting career. He has had some success on off-Broadway, and even got a callback for a motion film, but rather than waiting tables, he prefers giving tours.

Now, onto the tour.

In 1903, Adolf Fox from Knoxville, TN decided to move his newspaper business to a new site, away from everything else. He asked that the area around it be names after his business: The New York Times. In the 1960s the NYT moved out of the building. It was bought by a an oil company in 1964, sits vacant, and is only used for advertising.

About the same time, the Lyric Theater (home to "Harry Potter"), The Hudson, the Lyceum ("Oh Mary"), and the New Amsterdam ("Aladdin"). Opened. The façade of the Lyric still remains, but the rest of it was demolished in 1998.

It was an exciting time in American history. The Wright Brothers proved flight was possible. The Panama Canal opened. 

Henry Harris built this theater in 1903. At the time this was the cheap side of town, otherwise known as Thieves' Lair. He knocked down five apartment buildings and with a budget of $175,000 started to build The Hudson. The doubled with the addition of electricity, steam heat, a sprinkler system, and other new technology. It opened eight months later to bland reviews, including, "nothing very unusual."

The Hudson has the longest lobby of any Broadway theater. The color green features predominantly throughout the theater, much to the chagrin of Tim since green is the main color of his company, too.

The building has lived many lives, including a TV studio, and conference center for the hotel next door (now the AKA apartments). In 2017, it became a theater again with "Sunday in the Park with George" starring Jake Gyllenhaal. 

The lobby is stunning in its opulence. The green granite box office is the same as when it opened in 1903. Leading actresses pose in front of it imitating Ethel Barrymore's cousin's pose in a famous picture. I wanted to recreate the same picture, but restrained myself. Opening night orchestra tickets were $2. Box seats (to be seen, but not to see the stage well) were $15.

The ceiling the first public installation of Louis Comfort Tiffany glass. They are lit behind the glass using panels that swing open to change the bulbs. My picture does not do it justice. 

The lobby was painted white while it was owned by the hotel. No color photos were taken of the lobby. They used the Tiffany glass to chose a color to compliment it.

The front façade and inside received landmark status in 1987 thus preserving everything we see for future generations. It also means nothing can be affixed the the wall, including sales signs. Modifications for safety ARE allowed. Since the theater was built with an elevator, they are one of the few theaters with one. The elevator has been replaced for safety over the years.

At 30 feet, it has the longest bar on Broadway. Featuring an Australian marble top, and hidden lights.

Interesting Broadway stats:

Broadway theaters must have 500 or more seats.

Off-Broadway: 120-499

Off-off Broadway: 99-119

There are currently 41 theaters on Broadway:

17 owned by the Schubert Brothers

9 by Nederlander

5 by Janson

2 by ATG, including The Hudson

Since ATG recently bought Janson, they now have seven

ATG uses local vendors and real glasses (never plastic ones, even though they
often break).

The fireplace is not original. Turns out the fire marshal who came to inspect the theater before its reopening remembered destroying the fireplace years earlier on his first day on the job when he came in to put out a fire. 

The auditorium in theater lingo is "the house." Actors have a 30 minute call time before a show, which is the same time the house opens. Each actor has their own way to prepare. Brady told us about Rob McClure's pre-show routine. He runs through every row of the orchestra seats, touching each seat. When he starred in Beetlejuice, he left a note on D8, "Dear D8, I saw my first Broadway show in this seat and was forever changed." What an amazing souvenir! What an amazing memory to remember where he sat!

There is no row I because it is too confusing. A guest from England said in the West End they do not have a row O, also, for the same reason.

The Hudson has 977 seats. They used to have 1100, but during a renovation seats were removed to make each one more comfortable. They are 25 inches wide and have a 2 degree forward pitch. Wooden backs on the seats improve the acoustics (I remembered this from my Sydney Opera House tour in 2023).

The hexagon shapes seen in the rosettes are original. It is a theme carried out throughout the theater in the carpet, on the bar napkins, on the numbers at the end of the rows, etc.

The mosaic on the mezzanine, balcony, and proscenium is also by Tiffany. Today 80% of it is original. The recreated pieces don't sparkle like the original ones.

The stage is smaller than many other Broadway theaters because it was built for plays and not for musicals. it is 30 x 3 x 30, and 30 feet above. There are 37 fly lines for lights. The sets are static. The first two rows can be lowered to put in an orchestra pit for musicals, or sometimes the musicians are on the stage.

The loading dock doors are on 45th Street, behind the theater. When groups rent the theater, it is empty. They must bring their own sound, lighting, etc.

There is one lead dressing room, all the others are smaller and higher up based on status. When Plaza Suite was at The Hudson Sarah Jessica Parker and her husband Matthew Broderick had to decide who got the good dressing room. She won, and a separate one was built for him within earshot of the orchestra seats. Brady reminded us of the five-block radius rule before saying anything bad about a show.

There are 28 exit signs. The theater can be evacuated in five minutes. Originally there was only one exit sign, but after a devastating fire at Chicago's Iroquois Theater on December 30, 1903, the other signs were quickly added (and updated).

When the theater was built in 1903, it had many restrooms for men, and only one for women. In that day, women dressed in a way that was far more complicated than today. To get around the landmark commissions rules about renovating spaces, they converted janitor's closets into women's restrooms.

We moved downstairs to a picture of the Harrises, Henry and Renee. The met in Prague in 1899. It was his dream to own a theater. They were a good team. She complimented him, and was responsible for their hits. The 1905 American play, "Lion and the Mouse" about corporate corruption was their first hit, and the first hit of an American play.

Harris decided to expand by purchasing a dinner theater. Overall it was a flop, but it had a couple of success stories. It had the first black conductor of white musicians; Irving Berlin wrote Alexanders Ragtime Band, which debuted there; and it launched Mae West's career.

The Harrises traveled to England, Italy, Paris, and Egypt. They bumped into a friend, Edgar Selwinger who was planning to return to the states aboard the brand-new unsinkable ship, the Titanic. Edgar missed the board, but Renee and Henry were on it. Renee broke her arm while on the boat and refused to wear the life jacket. Instead she famously wore her fur coat and put her jewels in her pockets. She and her husband decided they were either both going on the boat, or neither, so they turned down other boats. She was finally convinced to go on the last lifeboat while Henry went down with the ship. While on the boat, she protected two orphans under her fur coat. The one turned out to be the oldest Titanic survivor when he died at the age of 101. The children were part of a custody case and were reunited with their mother after the press shared their pictures. Their father went down with the ship.

Renee tried to run the theater without Henry. They had a play called "Damaged Goods" about syphilis, a word the newspapers of the day could not print. It had its last hit show, "Hot Chocolate," in 1929. It featured the song "Ain't Misbehaving," featuring Louis Armstrong on trumpet. Featuring an all-Black cast, the song "Black and Blue" was included as as comedic relief about how funny it is to be Black in America. The first Broadway protest song.

In 1929 she tried to sell the theater for $1.5 million. The stock market crashing did not help. It ended up selling for $100,000. She refused to step in the theater again, and died in 1993 always looking for someone as wonderful as Henry. She married three more times.

The Hudson has the first cantilevered balcony on Broadway, meaning there are no columns blocking the view. My seat for Plaza Suite is about the only partial view seat in the theater. Fortunately, it was a lottery win. 

In 1934 CBS bought the theater and used it for their live radio shows. The two lower box seats were ripped out to build the control booth.

In 1950 NBC filmed TV shows including The Tonight Show with Steve Allen (famous for Elvis's TV debut), and Jack Paar's Tonight Show (famous for Barbra Streisand's interview).

The Price is Right moved in.

In the  1960s-1970s it was a movie theater, then an adult film theater.

1980s was the era of the Savoy Rock Club.

The 1990s it was a hotel conference center.

In 2015 ATG bought it, reopening two years later. 

We were able to stop into the Ambassador Lounge where anyone (for an extra $40 each) can sit before the show. 

Above the opulent Ambassador Lounge is another story. The two floors above were built as offices. Robert Breen came across the space while CBS owned the building. In 1944, he asked if he could rent it. They agreed. He turned it into an eight room apartment where he lived until 1992. Because he lived there, it was saved by the wrecking ball on at least one occasion. One of the problems with the 1987 landmark designation is that nothing can be changed to the exterior. Other than a staircase from the theater, there is no way to add a fire escape (many buildings add one to the front). The two floors have been sealed off. Tim being Tim, was able to get inside and take some pictures.

The theater is not known to be haunted, but whenever someone visits that apartment, strange things happen to the water. On his visit, a toilet mysteriously backed up.

After taking a few more pictures, we stopped by the gift shop in Times Square.