Nederlander Theatre

The story

The Nederlander is the southernmost Broadway theater in the Theater District, a geographic footnote that belies its outsized history. Designed by William Neil Smith and opened in 1921 for operator Walter C. Jordan, it wore three other names before 1980, when it was renamed for impresario David Tobias Nederlander. Its early Renaissance auditorium was deliberately spare, light on plaster where other theaters gilded everything. Inside, Lena Horne performed, and Rent ran longer than anything else on its stage. It seats around 1,235 people across two levels and is still operated by the Nederlander Organization.