Theatre de Lys | |
 (2013) | |
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| Address | 121Christopher Street Manhattan, New York United States |
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| Coordinates | 40°44′00″N74°00′21″W / 40.73333°N 74.00583°W /40.73333; -74.00583 |
| Public transit | Christopher Street–Stonewall,West Fourth Street–Washington Square |
| Owner | Lucille Lortel Foundation |
| Type | proscenium |
| Capacity | 299 |
| Opened | June 9, 1953 |
| Website | |
| www | |
TheLucille Lortel Theatre is anoff-Broadway playhouse at 121Christopher Street inManhattan'sWest Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior design is largely unchanged, though as of 2024[update] it had 295 seats.
In the early 1950s, the site was converted to an off-Broadway theater asTheatre de Lys, opening on June 9, 1953, with a production ofMaya, a play bySimon Gantillon starringKay Medford,Vivian Matalon, andSusan Strasberg.[1] It closed after seven performances. Much more successful wasThe Threepenny Opera which opened March 10, 1954, with a cast that includedBea Arthur,John Astin,Lotte Lenya,Leon Lishner, Scott Merrill, Gerald Price,Charlotte Rae andJo Sullivan.[2] Because of an incoming booking, it was forced to close after 96 performances. Re-opening September 20, 1955, with largely the same cast,The Threepenny Opera this time played until December 17, 1961, a then record-setting run for a musical in New York City.[3]
In 1955, financierLouis Schweitzer acquired the building as an anniversary present for his wife, actress-producerLucille Lortel. In 1981, the year of her 81st birthday, the theatre was renamed in her honor. After Lortel's death in April 1999, she left the theatre to the Lucille Lortel Foundation.[4][5]
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