The modern configuration of the theater dates to a 2000s renovation, when the auditorium was redesigned to a smaller size, allowing the addition of MTC's lounges and offices behind it.

The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre is on 261 West 47th Street, on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

[21] In contrast to Krapp's earlier works, the auditorium is shaped like a horseshoe in plan and is oriented on a slightly diagonal axis relative to its site.

[45] The modern walls contain paneling in front of the original cast stone; the left-hand doorway leads to the dressing room.

[16] Console brackets support the false boxes at balcony level, which contain rectangular openings with triangular Adam-style pediments above them.

[51][52] The basement also contains the Manhattan Theatre Club's gift shop and restrooms,[10][27] as well as MTC offices and staff spaces.

[5] After Chanin acquired the property title to the two theater sites on 47th Street in March 1925,[63] Krapp filed plans for the Biltmore the same month.

Irwin Chanin, who built the theater with his brother Henry, wished to lure visitors with architecture because they did not have the booking chain or an established reputation in the theatrical industry.

[70][72] The next year, the Biltmore hosted The Barker with Huston and Claudette Colbert,[68][73][74] as well as the comedy Jimmie's Women[67][75][76] and the Noël Coward play The Marquise.

[101] The WPA used the theater for the Federal Theatre Project (FTP)'s Living Newspaper, which presented factual information on current events in theatrical form.

[53][89] The first Living Newspaper, Ethiopia, never opened to the public because the federal government issued a censorship order prohibiting the impersonation of heads of state onstage.

[104][105] Other WPA productions included the Living Newspaper's 1935 in May 1936[96][106][107] and Injunction Granted in July,[69][108][109] as well as the marionette show Stars on Strings in June.

[163] The first production at the revived Biltmore Theatre was Take Her, She's Mine,[164] which opened in December 1961[165] and starred Art Carney and Elizabeth Ashley for 404 performances.

[191][192][193] The Biltmore also staged The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds with Shelley Winters[191][194][195] and The Kingfisher with Claudette Colbert, Rex Harrison, and George Rose in 1978.

[53][225] The Biltmore hosted Boys of Winter with Matt Dillon at the end of the year,[226][227] limiting the audience to 499 seats because a 500-seat house would require negotiations with Broadway theatrical unions.

[228][229] The theater's last productions of the 20th century were the Black vaudeville Honky Tonk, in 1986,[219][230] and the revue Stardust, featuring Mitchell Parish's songs in early 1987.

Trespassers had entered the empty theater several times, and the New York City Police Department found hypodermic needles on the floor.

[239][240] Morris Gluck bought the theater that month for $5.35 million,[242][243] and the New York City Board of Estimate ratified the landmark designation that March.

[244] The Biltmore continued to deteriorate, and the LPC was unable to contact Pfeiffer about the issue; he remained the owner of record because Gluck had not fulfilled several terms of the sale.

In August 1988, after two men walked through the smashed front doors to steal chandeliers,[245] the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) declared the theater to be unsafe.

[247] No further progress occurred until early 1991, when the theater was placed for auction again, without its air rights; this time, Pfeiffer was obligated to take the high bid.

[252][253] Cardwell estimated that a restoration would cost $5–8 million, at which point the theater had falling plaster, charred seats, and water-damaged walls.

[246] Although Moinian was able to obtain additional air rights for his planned hotel, the Nederlanders instead decided to place the property back for sale in April 1999.

[12][270] Duncan Hazard of Polshek Partnership, a longtime friend of MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow, was involved in the search.

[270][34] He contacted MTC director of operations Michael Moody, who had previously considered and rejected the Biltmore, but reconsidered after Hazard requested the architectural drawings for the theater.

[35] Many neighborhood residents supported MTC's renovation but opposed the proposed apartments,[272][273] upon which Biltmore 47 agreed to reduce the size of its building from 61 to 55 stories.

[273] The neighboring apartment complex, also known as the Biltmore, was ultimately built as a 51-story structure; the developers had been allowed to build 18 additional stories in exchange for the theater's renovation.

[14][15] Before work started on the theater, Hazard designed a foam model of his proposed modifications and sent it to Meadow, who approved the plans immediately.

The plans called for making the theater smaller and more intimate by relocating the rear wall, which would also provide a "tower" for MTC functions behind the auditorium.

[278][280] MTC's first season at the Biltmore was marked with difficulties, including a controversy when Terrence McNally's Dedication was swapped out with The Violet Hour as the inaugural production.