Orpheum Theatre

The story

There may have been a concert garden on this Second Avenue corner as early as the 1880s, which makes the Orpheum one of the oldest continuously theatrical sites in Manhattan. It rose through Yiddish theatre's golden age as part of the Jewish Rialto, spent decades as a film house, then converted back to drama in 1958. What followed is a remarkable roll call: Little Shop of Horrors, Sandra Bernhard, Eric Bogosian, John Leguizamo. At 299 seats, it remains one of off-Broadway's most storied rooms.