The New Theater

Wonderful space. very intimate. Great for private screenings. I definitely enjoyed the show, «Around the World in 80 Days» with my colleagues. The theater now was recently acquired by Cedric Yau, the producer of that show and later renamed the Yow! Theater.

If it weren’t for the modest signs indicating your arrival at The New Theater at 45^th Street, you could easily miss it – especially given the looming presence of the Al Hirschfeld Theatre just down the block (currently housing the runaway Broadway hit, Kinky Boots).
This recently renovated theater (completed May 30, 2013) is quaint and intimate. With only 14 rows on the floor and 4 rows in the balcony, there is absolutely no bad seat in the house.
The new additions are nice, especially the paintings on the wall (see the «Around the World in 80 Days» Unilocal page to catch a glimpse of them), but there are definitely some problems that I don’t think the renovations quite fixed. For one, the rows of seats don’t feel very secure. I don’t say this in the sense that I feel like the seats are going to fall over (because I don’t), but rather every source of vibration in the theater can be acutely felt through the seats: from people walking up and down the aisle to the sounds waves that boom from the speakers. It got to be annoying, especially when there were little kids running up and down the aisle and stomping the floor.
The sound and light design of the theater is very good. In fact, there is something to the extent of «surround sound» in the theater, likely making any show you see here very immersive in nature.
The staff is incredibly down-​to-​earth, friendly, and very willing to help. I haven’t ever experienced such friendliness at a theater in NYC. Perhaps, they are too nice, as the ushers did not stop the patrons behind me from chewing gum loudly during the performance nor stop the little girl (also behind me) from kicking and putting her feet up on the seat next to me. Given how sensitive to vibrations the chairs already are, having to deal with this kicking irked me all the more.
The theater just switched to a new ticketing system, so it is possible — at least in the near future — that seats may be double-​booked. This should not be a problem, however, as the ushers are more than happy to move you to a different row (which is actually the reason I had to deal with the rude patrons behind me in the first place!). Just a tip: I heard from an usher that Rows F and G have more legroom. I also would not personally recommend sitting any closer than Row F, as the stage is elevated, and you could possibly miss some action on stage by sitting closer.
The women’s bathroom is on the 2^nd floor and the men’s bathroom is on the 3^rd floor. There is a (slow and old) elevator that can bring you up to either floor. I can’t speak to the women’s bathroom, but the men’s bathroom is very small: a room about 8 ft x 8 ft that has one stall, one urinal, and one sink. In fact, the bathroom is so small, they had to install the paper towel dispenser ABOVE the soap dispenser on the wall.
Overall, this theater is okay. Seats are quite comfortable (likely because they are new) and the sound design is really good. However, the small bathrooms and the irksome sensitivity of the seats to vibrations were not the most pleasant to deal with.