Lyric Theatre

Reconstructed from the combined vintage 1903 Lyric and 1920 Apollo music theatres by entrepreneur Garth Drabinsky, the Hilton Theatre, on New York’s reinvigorated 42nd Street, is an 1,821-seat theatre with an atmosphere of pure fantasy.

The theatre, which re-opened in 1997 as the Ford Center for the Performing Arts before being renamed the Hilton, was designed to adhere to the guidelines for development established by The New 42nd Street to “promote the preservation, restoration and reconstruction of the historically significant elements of each theater.”

The challenge was to find a way to take two theaters that were sadly deficient in most areas required for a Broadway musical house-such as seating capacity, size of stage, proscenium opening, handicapped access, dressing rooms, lobby areas and public toilets, to name a few-and create a theater that adhered to today’s standards. The Hilton Theatre incorporates many elements from the Apollo and Lyric theaters, such as the Lyric’s magnificent Turn of the Century 42nd and 43rd street facades. Key historic interior elements of the Apollo also were used to establish the look of the rebuilt theater.