Lena Horne Theatre
256 West 47th Street, New York, NY 10019
Directions & Box Office
- Directions: By Subway, take the C/E to 50th Street, walk south on Eight Avenue and then turn left onto 47th Street. Or take the 1 to 50th Street, walk south on Broadway and then make a right onto 47th Street.
- Entrance: 47th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue The Lena Horne Theatre is located on the south side of 47th Street between Broadway and Eighth Avenue.
- Box Office Hours:
- Monday - Saturday:
- 10am - 8pm
- Sunday:
- 12pm - 6pm
Best Seats In The House
- Seats: 1069
Steer clear of the side orchestra seats, which aren't very comfortable. Your best bet is the center orchestra or the front of the mezzanine. The box seats offer an extremely skewed view and are not recommended.
Lena Horne Theatre Seating Chart
Gallery
Parking for Lena Horne Theatre
The closest parking garages for Lena Horne Theatre are located at:
- Quik Park Theater Lot
- 223 W 46th Street
New York, NY 10019 - 212-997-1636
- ICON Alva 47 Parking
- 257 W 47th Street
New York, NY 10019 - 212-262-9778
The closest parking is not always the best as it often takes longer to park and retrieve your vehicle as fellow theatre goers have the same idea. A better choice of parking may be the second choice or further away by a couple of Avenues.
Additional Notes
Landlord: Nederlander Organization
Official Ticketer: Ticketmaster
Notes:
This theatre was named for the renowned former New York Times drama critic and then a civil rights activist.
Elevator: No
Escalator: No
Disabled Access Notes:
The disabled are poorly served at this theatre.
Now Playing Six
- Previews Began: September 17, 2021
- Opens: October 3, 2021
- Show Closes: Open ended
Get Tickets
Previous Shows
Waitress 2018
- Opened: April 24, 2016
- Show Closed: January 5, 2020
Spring Awakening
- Opened: September 27, 2015
- Show Closed: January 24, 2016
It Shoulda Been You
- Opened: April 14, 2015
- Show Closed: August 9, 2015
Love Letters
- Opened: September 18, 2014
- Show Closed: December 14, 2014
Lena Horne Theatre History
Built in 1926, this theatre began as The Mansfield Theatre, named for British actor Richard Mansfield. It was later renamed to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre and then later the Lena Horne Theatre.
1960: The Mansfield Theatre Was Renamed to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
Long-time New York Times drama critic Brooks Atkinson had just retired from his post when, in 1960, he suddenly came back to haunt Broadway again in the form of his own theater.
The theatre was originally named for the esteemed Broadway actor Richard Mansfield when it was built by Henry and Irwin Chanin in 1926.
2022: Brooks Atkinson Theatre Was Renamed To Lena Horne Theatre
The Brooks Atkinson Theatre was renamed to The Lena Horne Theatre in Fall 2022. This is to honor entertainer and civil rights activist Lena Horne. This marks the first time a Black woman will have a Broadway theatre named in her honor.
Theatre Background
With just over 1,000 seats, the Lena Horne Theatre tends to favor plays, but it also houses the occasional musical, particularly specialty shows by "personalities" (Victor Borge and Peter, Paul, and Mary, to name a few), and it even hosted a recent musical version of Jane Eyre.
Versatile playwright Michael Frayn has had much of his work here, including the initial hit run of Noises Off and its successful 2001 revival, and, more recently, his drama Democracy.
Like many theaters on the Great White Way, Lena Horne Theatre has spent some time dark and has also served as a television studio during its long history, but these days this popular theater is seldom empty.
Previous Notable Shows:
The Lena Horne Theatre (previously known as The Brooks Atkinson Theatre and prior to that, the Mansfield Theatre) has been home to such shows as The Green Pastures, Shuffle Along of 1933, Moon Over Mulberry Street, Come Blow Your Horn, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Lenny, Same Time, Next Year, Bedroom Farce and Talley's Folly,
The theatre also hosted more contemporary shows like The Dresser, Beyond Therapy, Noises Off, Benefactors, The Cemetery Club, Shadowlands, Death and the Maiden, Play On!, and Fool Moon
Other hit shows to grace its stage include: The Iceman Cometh starring Kevin Spacey, the musical Jane Eyre, the short-lived The Blonde in the Thunderbird, The Odd Couple with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick, and Rock of Ages.
Brooks Atkinson Theatre Renamed to Lena Horne Theatre on November 1, 2022
The Brooks Atkinson Theatre was renamed the Lena Horne Theatre in a ceremony on Nov. 1, 2022 marking the first time a Black woman had a named in their honor. This follows a similar renaming in 2022 of the Cort Theatre to the James Earl Jones Theatre.
Horne worked onstage, in film and in music and became the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Tony Award in 1958. She won a special Tony Award later in her career for the yearlong run of her show “Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music,” which ran at the Nederlander Theatre in 1981. Horne passed away in 2010.
Lena Horne Theatre Design
The Lena Horne Theatre, designed by Herbert J. Krapp, has a pleasant facade with interesting trim around the windows, but the beige brick looks a bit worn and eroded in places.
Though the interior is attractive, from the restrooms to many of the seats, the Lena Horne Theatre is noted for being small and cramped.