Helen Hayes Theater (Former Little Theater)

History and architecture

The building of the Little Theater marked a new direction in the history of the Broadway stage, and in the design of Broadway theaters. Designed by Ingalls & Hoffman and built in 1912, the Little Theater's neo-Colonial styling lent an air of charm and mild eccentricity to a Broadway then accustomed to a more formal Classical or Beaux-Arts design. Commissioned by Winthrop Ames, an independently wealthy producer with an architectural background and unusual ideas about drama, the Little Theater was designed to house the new, detailed type of drama called "intimate theater."

Ames had observed and listened to intimate drama in the United States and particularly in Europe where he traveled extensively; he had seen the architectural prototypes, such as London's Little Theater and Berlin's Chamber Theater, for what he envisioned would be his own Broadway showcase for this alternative theater. "The purpose," he stated referring to his new house, "is the production of plays which can be rendered by the most delicate shade of expression." In fact, the Little Theater seated only 299 when it opened on March 11, 1912. Although alterations have been made and its capacity increased, today the Little Theater, seating 499, is still the "littlest" theater on Broadway.

As one of the theaters in the Broadway theater district, the Little Theater has participated for three-quarters of a century in the history of both Broadway and the American theater. As one of the pre-World War I theater buildings, it is among the oldest group of theaters surviving in New York. As a manifestation of the theatrical and architectural theories of Winthrop Ames, it represents a special aspect of the nation's theatrical history. As an unusual neo-Georgian design, it has a striking presence within the theater district. As one of the theaters in the Shubert Alley grouping, it contributes to the visual identity of the Broadway theater district's symbolic core. The Little Theater survives today as one of the historic Broadway theaters that symbolize American theater for both New York and the nation.