John Golden Theatre

The John Golden Theatre opened in 1927 as the Theatre Masque — one of a trio of houses Herbert Krapp designed for the Chanin brothers, alongside the Majestic and the Royale (now the Bernard B. Jacobs). All three sit on the block between West 44th and West 45th Streets. The Theatre Masque was the smallest of the three; the Shubert Organization’s page calls it the most intimate, designed for serious dramas. It was renamed for producer John Golden in 1937.

At 802 seats, the Golden is among Broadway’s smallest active venues. The Shubert Organization’s figures put 465 seats in the orchestra and 337 on one mezzanine level, up three flights of stairs (28 steps), split into a front mezzanine (110) and a rear mezzanine (227); there are no box seats. In our view, the room is warm rather than grand, and its size keeps the seats fairly close to the stage, so the top price tier buys less of an advantage here than it does in a large house.

It’s operated by the Shubert Organization and sits on the same West 45th Street block as the Booth, the Music Box, and the Imperial.