St. James Theatre

St. James Theatre

Erlanger's Theatre
St. James Theatre in July 2019
Address	246 West 44th Street Manhattan, New York United States
Coordinates	40°45′29″N 73°59′17″W / 40.75806°N 73.98806°W / 40.75806; -73.98806
Owner	Ambassador Theatre Group and Providence Equity (93%) Jujamcyn Theaters (7%)
Operator	Jujamcyn Theaters
Type	Broadway
Capacity	1,710
Production	Illinoise
Construction
Opened	1927
Architect	Warren and Wetmore
Website
www.jujamcyn.com/theatres/st-james/
New York City Landmark
Designated	December 15, 1987[1]
Reference no.	1374[1]
Designated entity	Facade
New York City Landmark
Designated	December 15, 1987[2]
Reference no.	1375[2]
Designated entity	Auditorium interior

The St. James Theatre, originally Erlanger's Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 246 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, it was designed by Warren and Wetmore in a neo-Georgian style and was constructed for A. L. Erlanger. It has 1,709 seats across three levels and is operated by Jujamcyn Theaters. Both the facade and the auditorium interior are New York City landmarks.

The facade is made largely of stucco, except for the ground story, which is clad in cast stone above a granite water table. The ground story has several recessed openings to the lobby, auditorium, and upper-story offices. Above that are two marquees and a double-story cast-iron loggia, masking the fire escapes from the auditorium. The top story contains windows from the offices there. The auditorium is decorated largely with murals and ornamental plasterwork. The theater has a sloped orchestra level, two balcony levels, and a flat ceiling with a carved sounding board. The first balcony level contains box seats near the front of the auditorium, above which are murals. In addition, there are several lounges and passageways throughout the theater.

Erlanger had proposed a theater on the site as early as 1921, but two proposals failed to materialize. Erlanger's Theatre opened on September 26, 1927, with the musical The Merry Malones. Erlanger died in 1930, and the theater then passed to Lodewick Vroom in 1932; Vroom renamed it after St James's Theatre in London. The Shubert family acquired the St. James in 1941 but were forced to sell it in 1956 following an antitrust suit. William L. McKnight bought the theater and renovated it in 1958, with Jujamcyn taking over the venue's operation. The theater was further renovated in 1985, 1999, and 2016. The theater has housed several long-running musicals in its history, including original productions of Oklahoma!, The King and I, Hello, Dolly!, The Who's Tommy, and The Producers.