Manhattan Theatre Club, the longtime award-winning Off-Broadway operation, has taken residence there, constructing a new Broadway space for itself in the hull of the historic 47th Street playhouse that was once home to Hair and other hits and misses.
MTC's new Broadway bow is Richard Greenberg's The Violet Hour, starting peviews Oct. 16. In the past, the troupe has seen its Off-Broadway shows transfer to commercial Broadway runs, and only once launched a show directly on Broadway: A Small Family Business by Alan Ayckbourn at the Music Box in 1992. The company remains a not-for-profit organization.
The 10 AM sale of the first ticket represents the first time cash has changed hands at the wicket there since Stardust, which closed on May 17, 1987. The theatre "subsequently suffered tremendous deterioration and damage due to weather, fire, neglect and vandalism," according to MTC.
Manhattan Theatre Club is run by Lynne Meadow (artistic director) and Barry Grove (executive producer).
The Biltmore is at 261 West 47th Street. From Monday, Sept. 15 through Sunday, Oct. 12, The Biltmore Theatre box office will be open Monday through Saturday 10 AM-6 PM. Beginning Monday, Oct. 13, The Biltmore Theatre box office will be open Monday through Saturday 10 AM-8 PM, Sunday 11 AM-7 PM.
Tickets ($76-$26) are also available by calling TeleCharge at (212) 239-6200.
Visit manhattantheatreclub.com.
*
Evan Yionoulis directs the New York debut of The Violet Hour, which stars Laura Benanti, Mario Cantone, Scott Foley, Jasmine Guy and Robert Sean Leonard. Opening is set for Nov. 6.
What's The Violet Hour about? According to MTC, "John Pace Seavering (Robert Sean Leonard) is a driven young publisher at the start of his career in New York in 1919. Faced with limited finances, Seavering must choose between publishing the memoirs of his lover, the singer Jessie Brewster (Jasmine Guy) or an unwieldy novel by his friend Denis McCleary (Scott Foley), whose marriage to heiress Rosamund Plinth (Laura Benanti) depends on the success of his book. Meanwhile, Seavering's high-strung assistant Gidger (Mario Cantone) attempts to find Seavering's missing theatre tickets while contending with a strange machine, which has mysteriously appeared at their office door."
