Located on Madison Place NW, just north of Pennsylvania Avenue, the theater faced Lafayette Square and the White House.

The site, originally the home of Commodore John Rodgers,[4] was noted for a history of tragic events.

Following the Civil War, John Wilkes Booth's co-conspirator, Lewis Powell, attempted to take the life of Secretary of State William H. Seward, who was living there at the time.

The main entrance was thirty-six feet wide, and opened directly to the sidewalk on Madison Place.

On the asbestos stage curtain was a copy of Fernand Cormon's painting, Les Vainqueurs de Salamine.

[7] In September 1905 it was purchased by the S. S. Shubert Amusement Company and David Belasco[8] for 225,000 dollars ($7.63 million in present day terms).

The theater, with its seats removed, was used as a warehouse until World War II, when parts of it were used by the American Theatre Wing as a Stage Door Canteen.