Eugene O'Neill Theater

The Forrest Theater was named to honor America's first internationally known actor, Edwin Forrest, the histrionic tragedian partly responsible for the Astor Place riots of 1849. This is a typical Shubert-built, Krapp-designed theater: a simple facade shrouding an elegant Adamesque interior

The theater opened on November 24, 1925 with a performance of Mayflowers. In 1934, Tobacco Road, which had opened at Theater Masque in 1932, moved to the Forrest. The bulk of the show's 3,182 performances were staged at this theater. In 1945 the theater's name was changed to the Coronet. Then, on November 11, 1959 the theater was renamed for Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, author of Anna Christie, Long Day's Journey into Night, Mourning Becomes Elektra and The Iceman Cometh, among other intense psychological dramas. You'll notice below a string of Neil Simon hits played the theater, starting with The Last of the Red Hot Lovers in 1969. Simon then owned the Eugene O'Neill and sold it to the Jujamcyn organization in 1982. The interior of the theater was designated a New York City landmark in December 1987.