AMT Theater

The AMT Theater is an Off-Broadway theater venue located at 354 West 45th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It was previously called the 45th Street Theatre from 2007 to 2012 and the Davenport Theatre from 2014 to 2018, during which time it was leased by producer Ken Davenport renamed after his great-grandfather, Delbert Essex Davenport, a producer, publicist, and author in the early 1900s.

In 2019, the theater was converted to NYC Tango, a dance hall. Following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, the building reopened in 2022 as AMT Theater with An Unbalanced Mind.

Theatre history

• 1984–2004 – Primary Stages
• 2007–2012 – 45th Street Theatre (some overlap with Primary Stages)
• 2013 – New Theatre at 45th Street
• 2014–2018 – Davenport Theatre
• 2019–2022 – New York City Tango
• 2022–Present – AMT Theatre (Renovated and Funded by Albert Tapper)

Building history

The five-story building was built in 1915 as an electric substation by the United Electric Light & Power Company which promoted alternating current in the war of the currents while New York Edison was promoting direct current. Although the direct current standard lost to AC in the war, Edison had continued to electrify lower Manhattan with direct current and accounted for 90 percent of the electric power at the time against United's 10 percent. The substation in particular was aimed at providing reliable power to Broadway theatres and Times Square signs at a time when most theatres had direct current. In 1928, New York Edison began the process to adopt the AC standard and by 1935 had totally acquired United.

After the building was decommissioned as a substation it became a Masonic Lodge. The masonic emblem with the inscription "Gran Logia de Lengua Española Vales De Nueva York" still hangs over the entrance and the abbreviation ALGDGADU is also above the entrance. The abbreviation is interpreted from Spanish "A La Gloria Del Gran Arquitecto Del Universo" to say "to the Glory of the Great Architect of the Universe."

According to the building's certificate of occupancy from 1959, the space was intended to be used as offices and a recording studio and had been used illegally as a theater space for several decades.

During its period as the Davenport Theatre from 2014 to 2018 there were two performances spaces, a 149-seat main stage on the ground floor and a 99-seat black box, which was renovated and renamed, The Loft at the Davenport Theatre on the third floor.

In 2019, the theater was converted to NYC Tango, a dance hall. Following the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, the building reopened in 2022 as AMT Theater with An Unbalanced Mind.

Productions

Selected productions at the theater.

References

External links

• Official website