Neil Simon Theatre

Best Seats In The House

• Seats: 1428

Parking for Neil Simon Theatre

The closest parking garages for Neil Simon Theatre are located at:

52 Broadway Garage Corp.

233 West 52nd Street
New York, NY 10019

212-245-2125

CHAMPION 53

159 West 53th Street
New York, NY 10019

212-245-1299

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

The are restrooms at the Neil Simon Theatre located both upstairs and downstairs, however, there are no facilities on the orchestra level.

Landlord: Nederlander Organization

Official Ticketer: Ticketmaster

Elevator: No

Escalator: No

Disabled Access Notes:

The theatre has no elevators or escalators and the main bar of the concession stand is located on the lower lounge making accessibility often a challenge.

Neil Simon Theatre History

The Alvin Theatre (later renamed to the Neil Simon Theatre) was opened in 1927 and named for Alex Aarons and Vinton Freedley who produced a string of hits such as Lady Be Good, Tip Toes and Oh Kay, with scores by George and Ira Gershwin.

Producers Lose Control

The producers lost control of the Alvin Theatre in 1932, due to the failure of the show Pardon My English and the Great Depression that engulfed the U.S. in the early thirties.

The Shubert Organization purchased the Alvin Theatre, and in 1983 named it the Neil Simon Theatre for one of the world’s most successful playwrights. Neil Simon has four Tony Awards, two Emmys, a Screen Writers Guild Award, and a Pulitzer Prize. Neil Simon had back to back productions at the theatre in the 1980s and the Neil Simon Theatre is now part of the Nederlander Organization.

Notable Shows

Many great musicals have opened at the Neil Simon Theatre (and formerly known as the Alvin).

The hit musical Funny Face, by George and Ira Gershwin, was the opening show at the Alvin Theatre. The 1934 production of Anything Goes was a Depression-era hit with Ethel Merman, in her Broadway debut, delivering the title song.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum opened in 1962 and won six Tony Awards, including one for Zero Mostel, the star of the musical. The 1977 production of Annie won the Tony for best musical; Brighton Beach Memoirs, a Neil Simon play, was the first production at the Neil Simon Theatre, and won a Tony for star Matthew Broderick in 1983; and in 1985, Biloxi Blues, another Neil Simon hit, won a Tony for director Gene Saks.

Notable productions since then include Simon's Jake's Women, Danny Gans on Broadway, Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can and MJ The Musical.

Since the theatre it has a large stage and an orchestra pit that can accommodate forty-eight musicians, the Neil Simon Theatre is ideal for the production of large musicals.

Neil Simon Theatre Design

The Neil Simon Theatre has a red brick façade, dominated by three double height arched windows. It was built with a spacious lobby in black marble. The auditorium is wide and deep with a single balcony.