Broadway History - The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre

The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, originally The Biltmore, was the second theater built by the Chanin Organization. Designed by Herbert J. Krapp, the interior plan was unusual in that it sat slightly askew on the site and the auditorium was rectangular with a horseshoe at one end and the proscenium arch at the other. The ornamentation was in the Adamesque, or eighteenth-century neoclassical, style used frequently by Krapp. In 1987 the interior of the theater was destroyed by fire and remained vacant for fourteen years until the Manhattan Theatre Club, a subscription-based nonprofit organization rescued it and extensively renovated it. The theater reopened in 2003 with Violet Hour. Five years later it was renamed for Samuel J. Friedman, the first theatrical press agent to have a theater named in his honor. Dedicated to nurturing and promoting new American plays, the Manhattan Theatre Club has presented such productions as Rabbit Hole, Reckless, Doubt, and Time Stands Still.