August Wilson Theatre


August Wilson Theatre The August Wilson Theatre, located at 245 West 52nd Street in New York City, is a legitimate Broadway theatre.

Designed by architects C. Howard Crane and Kenneth Franzheim and constructed by the Theatre Guild, it opened as the Guild Theatre in 1925 with a revival of George Bernard Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra.

In 1943, the building was leased as a radio station. The American National Theater and Academy purchased it in 1950 and renamed it the ANTA Theatre. In 1981, the theatre was purchased by Jujamcyn Amusement Corporation and named the Virginia Theatre for owner and Jujamcyn Board member Virginia McKnight Binger.
After her husband James H. Binger's death in 2004, producer and president of Jujamcyn Rocco Landesman announced that he planned to buy Jujamcyn. He told the New York Times he had a long-standing understanding with Binger that he would buy the corporation's five playhouses. The theatres had an estimated net asset value of $30 million.

On October 16, 2005, fourteen days after American playwright August Wilson's untimely death, the theatre was renamed in his honor.

Notable productions since 1961
2006: Jersey Boys
2005: Little Women
2003: Little Shop of Horrors
2002: Flower Drum Song
2002: The Crucible
2000: The Wild Party
1995: Smokey Joe's Cafe
1993: My Fair Lady
1992: Jelly's Last Jam
1989: City of Angels
1988: Carrie - The Musical
1983: On Your Toes
1981: Annie; Copperfield
1978: First Monday in October
1976: Bubbling Brown Sugar
1974: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
1971: Purlie
1969: Our Town
1968: Maggie Flynn
1965: The Royal Hunt of the Sun
1964: The Owl and the Pussycat
1961: A Man for All Seasons



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