Event Recap: D23 Tours the New Amsterdam Theatre

On Thursday, April 24th, I had the pleasure to attend D23’s Tour of New Amsterdam Theatre event in New York City. With D23 events in New York City being few and far between, it was such a thrill to head into the heart of the theater district to celebrate The Walt Disney Company’s distinct contribution to Broadway.

The event was brief, and thus priced, running for about 45 minutes. While the tour wasn’t necessarily a “tour" of the Disney-owned theatre on 42nd street, the experience was still awe-inducing for a theater fan like myself.

We were brought into the orchestra immediately after check-in to sit and take in the expanse of the space. Once the morning officially began, we were treated to a brief history of the space. Originally opening in 1903, “The House Beautiful" is the oldest operating theater on Broadway. It remains the largest display of art nouveau architecture in North America, highlighting the natural world through its ornate, earth toned decor.

The theater opened with a rather awful production of A Midsummer’s Night Dream, but the space itself was deemed a triumph. After years of short runs and semi-successes, the Ziegfeld Follies premiered and turned the theater into a true event. The musical revue changed the course of the theater’s trajectory. (For those unfamiliar with the Ziegfeld Follies, be sure to check out Sondheim’s musical of the same name.) Ziegfeld also staged a secondary, adults-only show called the Midnight Frolics elsewhere in the theater…eight floors up in New Amsterdam’s second, full-fledged theater. (That space is now used for offices, but the proscenium and ornate ceiling have been kept in tact.)

After Ziegfeld left the theater, the space became a movie house in the ‘30s, but never the biggest films of the time. Your typical B westerns, romances, and more filled the screen as, slowly but surely, the theater fell into disrepair.In the 1950s when CinemaScope was all the rage, the theater owner at the time chopped off the space’s box seats to avoid having a shadow on the screen. The more advances that occurred in the movie theatrical experience, or the more strapped for cash the owner was, the more heinous the space became.

In the 1980s, with the owner having had enough, he looked into selling the theater for demolition and for it to be replaced with a parking garage. Alas, a group of historians went under his nose to have the outside and inside of the theater deemed an official New York City landmark. Once the paperwork was approved, the owner’s hands were tied. He then closed the doors and left the space to rot, with it standing empty for over a decade.

Once Mayor Giuliani's plan to bring Times Square and 42nd Street into a modern and safe future, he contacted The Walt Disney Company and showed off this space as a potential spot for their fledgling theatrical branch. Upon the tour with then CEO Michael Eisner, the place was in shambles. The broken gate meant the team had to climb through a 3ft tall hole, entering to find flora and fauna filling the open air space (thanks to numerous holes in the ceiling).

After the promise of a 99-year, $1 a year lease, Disney agreed, working with the state to spend $36 million on a top to bottom renovation. During this process, and thanks to various art nouveau architects and artists brought out of retirement (and original blueprints found within the abandoned theater), The New Amsterdam Theatre reopened in 1997 with a staged concert production of King David, followed by the juggernaut that is The Lion King.

After we were treated to the historical background, we had the opportunity to step onto the stage. The view from the stage of a Broadway theatre is unlike anything in the world. The knowledge of what these brilliant performers get to witness every night is such a treat and forever a reminder to keep pushing towards personal greatness. It’s also hard to see the intricacies of a Broadway stage if not sitting in the mezzanine, so seeing all the slots, lifts, and stair units was also interesting. (Though the New Amsterdam does have some of the largest storage space on Broadway in the wings, in the hopes of saving space, most items are stored mid-air.)

After stepping on to the stage, guests were then treated to a “free roam" period, allowing us to take pictures around the orchestra and with a variety of costumes and props we were allowed to try on as part of the experience. Many shows were represented (Mary Poppins, Aladdin, Newsies, The Lion King, and The Little Mermaid, among others), with Jasmine’s crown being a real treat (and out for the first time as part of a tour, according to staff). After the 45 minute period was over, we were all given D23-branded mini-pennants of our time at the New Amsterdam.

Being the most detailed and distinct of the Broadway houses, it remains a thrill to walk through the hallowed doors of the space and enter over a century of history. Here’s to you, the New Am. May your celebration of the arts continue for centuries to come.