What is the oldest Broadway theater?
Hudson Theatre
In 2015 it was announced that the British-based Ambassador Theatre Group would assume management of the Hudson from the hotel and convert it back into a legitimate Broadway theater. Upon reopening in 2017, the Hudson became the 41st theater operating on Broadway and also the oldest, having originally opened slightly earlier in 1903 than the Lyceum and New Amsterdam Theatres. The Tony Awards Administration Committee ruled in October 2016 that the Hudson Theatre is deemed to be a Tony-eligible theatre, with "970 seats without the use of the orchestra pit and 948 seats when the orchestra pit is utilized by a production."
Old Broadway Theatre
The Broadway Theatre (September 27, 1847 – April 2, 1859), called the Old Broadway Theatre since its demise, was at 326–30 Broadway, between Pearl and Anthony (now Worth) Streets in Manhattan. With over 4000 seats, it was the largest theater ever built in New York when it opened. During its brief existence, many prominent performers of the era appeared on its stage. It presented plays, opera, ballet, hippodrama, and circus performances in a space that was reconfigured several times. The operators always struggled to make money, however, and after twelve years the Broadway Theatre was replaced by a more profitable building, for the textile trade.