The Henry Miller Theater

History and architecture

The Henry Miller Theater survives today as one of the historic playhouses that symbolize American theater for both New York and the nation. Constructed in 1917-18, the Henry Miller was designed to the specifications of producer/director Henry W. Miller, by architects Allen, Ingalls and Hoffman. The theater remained home to Miller's production for the rest of his life.

Henry Miller, as actor, director and producer, was one of the nations's chief theatrical figures of the early 20th century. An early independent breakaway from the Theatrical Syndicate, he championed American plays and playwrights.

Paul Allen, an acquaintance of Miller's, joined Harry Ingalls as architect of the theater. Ingalls, with his partner F.B. Hoffman, had designed a number of handsome, intimate theaters in New York, including Winthrop Ames's Little Theater on West 44th Street and the Neighborhood Playhouse on the Lower East Side.

The Henry Miller Theater, as Henry Miller's own Broadway theater, represents a special and important aspect of the nation's theatrical history. Beyond its historical importance, its facade is an excellent example of the elegant neo-Georgian style popular for intimate theaters designed early in the century.

For over half a century, beginning with Henry Miller's productions, the Henry Miller 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.