Unspecified/General

High above the streets of the Theater District, the Minskoff Theatre occupies an upper floor of the One Astor Plaza office tower on Broadway, a modern Broadway house that opened in 1973. With around 1,710 seats spread across a steeply raked orchestra and a mezzanine, it is one of the larger theatres in the district and was built as part of a wave of redevelopment that replaced an older landmark on the site. The theatre was named for Sam Minskoff and Sons, the developers of the building, and is operated by the Nederlander Organization. Its design broke with tradition in several ways: the auditorium sits on the third floor rather than at street level, reached by escalators, and it used a continental seating plan with no central aisle, allowing very long rows. It was also the first fully wheelchair-accessible Broadway theatre in the city. Over the years the Minskoff has hosted a wide range of musicals, dance companies and concerts, its large stage and capacity suiting big productions. Since 2006 it has been the long-term home of Disney's The Lion King, which moved here from another Broadway house and has run ever since, its puppetry and spectacle filling the broad stage. The building it sits in rose on the site of the demolished Astor Hotel, and the theatre forms part of the dense cluster of venues that crowd the blocks around Times Square. For audiences the Minskoff offers a big-house experience in the heart of the district, with generous sightlines despite its size. Tickets are sold through the resident production, performances run several times a week with matinees, and its location directly on Broadway places it among the restaurants, hotels and transit lines at the centre of the theatre district. The escalator ride up to the third-floor lobby is a small ritual for theatregoers, opening onto views over the bustle of Broadway below. The continental seating, with its very long rows and no central aisle, means seats toward the ends can ease getting in and out, while the central blocks offer the best sightlines for the spectacle on stage.

Type: Tourist Attraction

Address: 200 W 45th St, New York City, NY, United States

Capacity: 1710

Opening Date: 13/03/1973