Arena Theatre | |
.jpg) The Edison Theater in 2021 as the Edison Ballroom | |
 | |
| Address | 240 West 47th Street New York City United States |
|---|---|
| Owner | Hotel Edison |
| Type | Broadway theatre |
| Capacity | 541 |
| Current use | Ballroom |
| Opened | May 31, 1950 |
| Closed | February 24, 1991 |
TheEdison Theatre was aBroadway theatre in theHotel Edison at 240 West47th Street inMidtown Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1931 as the hotel's ballroom, it became the Arena Theatre on May 31, 1950, with a revival ofGeorge Kelly'sThe Show Off. The following year it was returned to the hotel's ballroom and remained as such until the early 1970s, when it was re-converted to a theatre. Its most notable production wasOh! Calcutta!, which opened on September 24, 1976, and ran for 13 years, with a total of 5,959 performances. Other shows staged here includedDon't Bother Me, I Can't Cope,Me and Bessie,Sizwe Banzi is Dead,The Island, andLove Letters.
The theatre closed on February 24, 1991. Its final production wasThose Were the Days, amusicalrevue celebratingKlezmer, featuringBruce Adler,[1] who was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical. In 1991, Maria DiDia, the Edison Theater General Manager, returned the property to the owners of the Edison Hotel, who promptly removed the theater seats and restored it to its original art deco ballroom configuration.[2]
Media related toHotel Edison at Wikimedia Commons40°45′34.92″N73°59′10.31″W / 40.7597000°N 73.9861972°W /40.7597000; -73.9861972