Palladium Times Square (formerly PlayStation Theater, Best Buy Theater and Nokia Theatre Times Square) is an indoor live events venue in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, located in

One Astor Plaza One Astor Plaza, also known as 1515 Broadway and formerly the W. T. Grant Building, is a 54-story office building on Times Square in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Designe ...

, at the corner of Broadway and 44th Street. It was designed by architect

David Rockwell David Rockwell (born July 21, 1956) is an American architect and designer. He is the founder and president of Rockwell Group, a 250-person cross-disciplinary architecture and design practice based in New York City with satellite offices in Madrid ...

and opened in September 2005. The venue has a large standing room orchestra section, combined with a large area of seating towards the rear of the auditorium. The venue was originally built as the Loews Astor Plaza Theatre, a

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

operated by

Loews Theatres Loews may refer to: * Loews Cineplex Entertainment, formerly Loews Incorporated, a defunct North American cinema chain which formerly owned Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer **''United States v. Loew's Inc.'', a United States Supreme Court case involving Loews ...

, which opened in 1974 and closed in August 2004. The space was leased by the

Anschutz Entertainment Group Anschutz Entertainment Group, Inc. (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of the Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports ...

(AEG), who converted it to a live-event venue at an estimated total cost of $21 million.http://www.allbusiness.com/retail-trade/miscellaneous-retail-retail-stores-not/4379406-1.html Due to the expiration of its lease, the PlayStation Theater closed on December 31, 2019, after a set of shows by Philadelphia trance fusion band

Disco Biscuits The Disco Biscuits are an American jam band from Philadelphia. The band consists of Allen Aucoin (drums), Marc "Brownie" Brownstein (bass guitar, vocals), Jon "The Barber" Gutwillig (guitar, vocals), and Aron Magner (keyboards, synths, voca ...

. The venue reopened in 2020 as Palladium Times Square.

Features

With a capacity of 2,100, the theater features an LED screen that is one of the largest marquees on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. The venue is also capable of presenting live footage from the stage or anywhere else in the theater. The theater's marquee sign was directly connected to MTV Studios and allowed for live footage from there to be displayed. The building also includes two private mezzanines, several dressing rooms, and a

green room In show business, the green room is the space in a theatre, or a similar venue, that functions as a waiting room and lounge for Performing arts, performers before, during, and after a performance or show when they are not engaged on Stage (thea ...

for up to 30 people. The theater hosts concerts, event parties, live television, web broadcasts, and award shows, including the

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

ceremony, which took place at the theater from 2005 to 2019.

Gallery

File:Best Buy Theater.jpg, Exterior of the venue when it was Best Buy Theater File:Nokia-theatre.jpg, Exterior of the venue when it was Nokia Theatre Times Square

References

External links

Palladium Times Square's Official Website
{{Coord, 40, 45, 28, N, 73, 59, 11, W, type:landmark, display=title 1974 establishments in New York City 2019 disestablishments in New York (state) Music venues in Manhattan Times Square buildings Theater District, Manhattan Best Buy PlayStation (brand) 2004 disestablishments in New York (state) 2005 establishments in New York City