Ed Sullivan Theater

Categories: David Letterman | Broadway theatres | New York City landmarks | Buildings and structures in Manhattan

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Ed Sullivan.

The Ed Sullivan Theater is a venerable radio and television studio located at 1697 Broadway in Manhattan. The 1200-seat theatre — of which 400 seats are currently used for TV audiences — has been used as a venue for live and taped CBS broadcasts since 1936.

It is best known as the longtime home of The Ed Sullivan Show, though since 1993, it has been the home for The Late Show with David Letterman. The theater has also been home to several quiz and talk shows. During its tenure as a Reeves Entertainment teletape facility, it hosted the sitcom Kate & Allie.

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First 66 years

The facility was designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp. It was built by Arthur Hammerstein in 1927 and named after his father, Oscar Hammerstein I. It later went by the Manhattan Theater, Billy Rose's Music Hall, and the Manhattan once again. In the 1930s, it became a popular nightclub; after CBS obtained a long-term lease on the property, the network began broadcasting from there in 1936. It had various names during the network's tenancy, including Radio Theater #3 and the CBS Radio Playhouse. It was converted for television in 1950, when it became CBS-TV Studio 50.

The theater was renamed for Sullivan at the beginning of the 1967-68 season, though it is still TV Studio 50 in CBS's numerical list of New York television facilities, according to both the network and the actors' monthly Ross Reports. Sullivan, who started hosting his variety show from the Maxine Elliott Theatre (CBS Studio 51) on 39th Street in 1948, moved to Studio 50 a few years later.

In the 1960s, Studio 50 was one of CBS's busiest stages -- not only for Sullivan's program but also for several quiz shows. What's My Line?, To Tell the Truth and Password called the studio home after CBS began broadcasting regularly in color (they had usually been taped around the corner at CBS-TV Studio 52, now the disco-theatre Studio 54). Line and Truth remained at Studio 50 even after they moved from CBS to first-run syndication.

The Ed Sullivan Theatre was also the first home for The $10,000 Pyramid, with its huge end-game board at the rear of the set.

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Marquee for the theatre during its tenure as the home of The Late Show with David Letterman.
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The Late Show

When David Letterman switched networks from NBC to CBS in 1993, CBS bought the theatre it had leased for nearly sixty years and had it reconfigured into a more intimate 400-seat studio, with lighting and sound adjustments. The architectural firm that did the work, Polshek Partnership, notes on its website that "to preserve the architectural integrity of the landmark, all interventions are reversible."

In 2005, it took nearly four months to retrofit the theater with the cabling and equipment necessary to broadcast high definition television.

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External links and sources