Stage 42

Stage 42, formerly the Little Shubert Theatre, is a theatre in New York City, about half a mile west of Broadway. Its address is 422 West 42nd Street between 9th Avenue and Dyer Avenue. It was built in 2002 and has a seating capacity of 499. It was renamed in 2015.The Little Shubert was the first Off-Broadway theatre in New York built from the ground up, and the first to be owned by the Shubert Organization. Built as part of a residential tower and opened in 2002, the Little Shubert was the first new theatre built by the Shubert Organization in New York City since 1928, when the Ethel Barrymore opened on West 47th Street. Features of Stage 42 include an auditorium with stadium seating providing proximity to the stage. The stage itself and the orchestra pit are comparable in size to the dimensions of many Broadway theatres.Stage 42 is one of the largest Off Broadway theatres but has proven to be an expensive venue to mount shows, partly due to contracts with theatrical unions. Theater producers have speculated that Stage 42 might become a Tony-eligible Broadway house, by the addition of one seat to bring it to the 500 seat minimum required for Tony eligibility. On the other hand, going to 500 seats would probably require negotiating new contracts with the unions, raising costs further.