Circle in the Square Theatre New York
Circle in the Square Theatre Tickets
About the Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square was originally founded in 1951 by a collective of directors, actors and producers in Greenwich Village in Lower Manhattan. Over the first 20 years, the theatre group occupied several different locations, staging acclaimed productions of plays by Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill and Thornton Wilder.
The current building in Midtown Manhattan was built in 1970 and is one of two theaters, alongside the Gershwin Theatre, within the Paramount Plaza office tower. The auditorium was built to replicate the amphitheatres of Ancient Greece and Rome and is one of only two Broadway houses to use a thrust stage – the other being the Vivian Beaumont Theater within the Lincoln Center complex.
The first production at the venue was a revival of Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra in 1972. Circle in the Square operated as a non-profit producing house for the next 25 years when it mounted several Broadway premieres including Peter Nichols' The National Health, alongside revivals of classic American plays. However, it suffered a string of commercial and critical flops which lead to the founders filing for bankruptcy in 1997.
A revitalised Circle in the Square reopened in 1999, now as a receiving house for major Broadway producers and commercial theater companies. Profits are invested into the Circle in the Square Theatre School, which operates within the venue, and offers students training programs in musical theatre and acting.
Notable recent productions at Circle in the Square include the Tony Award-winning revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill starring Audra McDonald, the acclaimed revival of the musical Once on this Island, and the Broadway premiere of Fun Home, which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.
Map and Address
1633 Broadway / 235 West 50th Street, New York, New York, NY 10019
