Broadway’s historic Hudson Theatre, which opened in 1903 on West 44th Street, will be reopened and restored as a Broadway playhouse thanks to the Ambassador Theatre Group.
The curtain will rise again for the 112-year old establishment sometime during the 2016-2017 Broadway season.
Until then, the Hudson -- which began as a legitimate theater and has been everything from a radio studio, television studio and porn house to comedy theater -- will go through an extensive, multi-million dollar renovation.
The front-of-house will get new seating, lounges and improved women’s bathrooms. Backstage, dressing rooms, technical upgrades and a new fly system will get the Hudson up to par with Broadway’s other houses.
The restoration is happening in association with the Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, which has owned the Hudson since 1987, using it for Comedy Central tapings, private parties, conferences and corporate events.
The Hudson Theatre will be Broadway’s 41st Theatre, and its first “new” theater to open since 2009’s Henry Miller’s Theatre (now known as the Stephen Sondheim Theatre).
This will be the second Broadway theater the Ambassador Theatre Group owns. It previously bought The Lyric, which housed last season’s celebrated revival of “On the Town” and will house Cirque du Soleil’s first Broadway production, “Paramour,” later this season.
