Ambassador Theater

History and architecture

The Ambassador Theater survives today as one of the historic playhouses that symbolize American theater for both New York and the nation. Built shortly after, the end of World War I, the Ambassador was among the numerous theaters constructed by the Shubert Organization, to the designs of Herbert J. Krapp, that typified the development of the Times Square/Broadway theater district.

Founded by the three brothers Sam S., Lee and J.J. Shubert, the Shubert organization was the dominant shaper of New York' s theater district. Beginning as producers, the brothers expanded into the building of theaters as well, and eventually helped cover the blocks east and west of Broadway in Midtown with theaters whose auditoriums were defined by proscenium arches. Herbert J. Krapp, who designed almost all the Shuberts' post-World War I theaters, was the most prolific architect of the Broadway theater district. Having worked in the offices of Herts & Tallant, premier theater designers of the pre-war period, Krapp went on to design theaters for the two major builders of the post-war era, the Shubert and Chanin organizations.

The Ambassador represents a typical and important aspect of the nation's theatrical history. For half a century the Ambassador Theater has served as home to countless numbers of the plays through which the Broadway theater has arisen to personify American theater. Characterized by its blank brick facade, its marquee, its signage, and its line of entrance doors, the Ambassador Theater is clearly identified as a typical Broadway theater.

As such, it continues to help define the Broadway theater district, the largest and most famous concentration of legitimate stage theaters in the world.