Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre

The Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre opened in 1927 as the Royale Theatre, one of a trio of houses Herbert Krapp designed for the Chanin brothers, alongside the Majestic and the Theatre Masque (now the John Golden). Per the Shubert Organization’s page, the theatre’s interior has a groin-vaulted ceiling carried on archways decorated with two Willy Pogany murals, Lovers of Spain. The venue was renamed in 2005 to honor Bernard B. Jacobs, president of the Shubert Organization from 1972 to 1996.

At 1,072 seats, the Jacobs is larger than the Golden and smaller than the Majestic, its two Chanin/Krapp siblings on the block. The Shubert Organization’s figures put 636 seats in the orchestra and 420 on one mezzanine level, split into a front mezzanine (168) and a rear mezzanine (252), with 16 box seats. The mezzanine is up three short flights of stairs (29 steps) and climbs about two steps per row. In our view, the first rows of the front mezzanine are the seats to price first here, and for a show with high staging, the last rows of the orchestra are the ones to look at in a seat-view photo.

The Jacobs is a Shubert Organization venue and shares the West 45th Street block with the Booth, the Music Box, and the Golden — the cluster makes it easy to walk the four stage doors in sequence on a single visit.