The stage of Broadway’s St. James Theatre, which has accommodated memorable hits like Oklahoma!, The King and I, The Pajama Game, Hello, Dolly!, The Producers and the current Something Rotten! is going to get a little bigger, according to Variety.
Work will begin this summer to coincide with similar expansion plans at the neighboring Helen Hayes Theatre. Jujamcyn, which owns the St. James, purchased (price unreported) an alleyway that runs between the two theatres and will expand the stage by a reported 10 feet, “in order to accommodate the hefty technical demands of many of today’s splashy musicals.”
One of those is the stage adaptation of Disney's Frozen, which reportedly is considering the St. James after the run of Something Rotten! ends. However the expansion reportedly was being planned before Frozen was announced. Frozen is scheduled to open in Denver in summer 2017 and has announced that the production is slated to join Aladdin and The Lion King on Broadway in spring 2018, though no specific theatre has been booked.
Variety also reported “rumors” that the Shubert Organization is planning to build a brand-new Broadway theatre on the long-empty plot on 45th Street adjacent to the Imperial Theatre. It would include site of the recently-closed parking garage on that block. Shubert has never confirmed such plans.
