Thursday, December 26, 2019

Favorite Theater of the Year

Normally, we select a Broadway theater each year where we have had a particularly grand experience for our annual review. This year, we didn't select one whole theater, but rather the upstairs lobbies of two! If you've ever had mezzanine seats at either the Al Hirschfeld Theatre or the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, you probably understand what we mean.

Both exude a sense of history; one can envision the glamour of days gone by, patrons milling about, dressed to the nines, sipping champagne as they wait for the curtain or between acts. Both are spacious and elegantly appointed, and both are much more comfortable than the lobbies where you enter the building.

The Al Hirschfeld Theatre

The Byzantine-Moorish style of the building mandates the terracotta colors and iron-work aesthetic is punctuated with classic stained glass. In keeping with the theater's namesake, the walls up there are lined with Hirschfeld famous Broadway drawings. The spacious comfort is worth mentioning again.

The entrance.
Up the stairs to the spacious mezzanine lobby.

The wall, lined with the legendary drawings of Al Hirschfeld

There's even a fireplace! Can we just move in?

The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre

The theater itself is in the Beaux-Arts style, while the interior features 18th century-style appointments. The upstairs lobby is, by New York standards, enormous with room for a lot of people to stand comfortably, with a large bar and (usually) two merchandise booths. My favorite parts of the lobby are the gold leaf ceiling, the theater mural behind red velvet curtains and rope, flanked by metal palm trees. Somehow, it all works.

Up those unassuming stairs is the way to...

...metal palm trees, gold ceiling & chandeliers...

Note the hardwood floors, the mural to the right...

Do you have a favorite theater or part of a theater? Let us know! Maybe your pick will be our pick in 2020!

#2240

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