Belasco's Stuyvesant Theater

History and architecture

The Belasco Theater (originally Belasco's Stuyvesant) was built in 1906-07 as the ideal playhouse of David Belasco. Actor, dramatist, manager and director, he was one of the most important personalities in the history of American stage. Belasco was a pioneer in the development of the American little theater movement where dramatic experience depended on close contact between actors and audience.

He conceived of his house as a "living room" and consciously attempted its domestication with a facade in the neo-Georgian style. Home of all Belasco's theatrical operations (and after 1909 his personal home as well), it was executed by some of the finest talents of the day.

Included are a vestibule and doors by celebrated theater designer John Rapp, light fixtures by Tiffany Studios and murals by the noted Ash Can School artist Everett Shinn. The house itself is the earliest known theater in New York by the important theater architect George Keister.

In addition to being Belasco's personal repertory theater where he featured his proteges David Warfield, Frances Starr and Blanche Bates, the house also served as Belasco's laboratory. In it he developed staging and especially lighting techniques to unprecedented standards of perfection. Their impact was of enduring significance for theater worldwide.

As the sixth oldest playhouse in the Broadway theater district, the Belasco preserves much of its early twentieth-century character. Its splendid combination of art and drama within a domesticated theatrical setting, together with the indelible imprint of its brilliant (and eccentric) namesake, have caused many to see the Belasco as the house which "best express[es] the theater's special intangible glamour."

For three-quarters of a century, beginning with David Belasco's productions, the Belasco Theater has served as home to countless numbers of the plays through which the Broadway theater has come to personify American 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.