The Lunt-Fontanne Theatre is on 206 West 46th Street, on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

[7][16][18] This arrangement, described as being in a modified Italian Renaissance style,[7][19] was reminiscent of Carrère and Hastings's earlier design for the Century (New) Theatre on Central Park West.

The marquee above the doorways was added after the theater opened; it contains a band with foliate decorations, above which acanthus leaves rise vertically.

The spandrels at the arches' corners contain semi-nude or nude female figures, holding theatrical masks that depict comedy and tragedy.

[18] The fourth floor of the center bays has square openings with sash windows, which are surrounded by eared frames and flanked by carvings of caryatids.

While the Broadway elevation physically existed for half a century afterward, it did not serve as an entrance, and tall signs were built in front of the four-story facade.

[30] The Globe Theatre's original interiors included ornamental plaster from Crane & Mahoney, metal lath from Arthur Greenfield Inc., and limestone from Farnum Cheshire.

[32] The theater had an Italian Renaissance design with a color palette of gold, blue, and ivory white, as well as "rose du Barry" curtains.

[40] According to contemporary sources, the ceiling had a retractable oval panel, which would be moved "when weather permits" to allow starlight and keep the auditorium cooler in summer.

[62][63] The year of its opening, the Globe also hosted The Echo,[64][65] which featured the now-popular song Skidamarink,[64] as well as a four-week limited engagement from French actress Sarah Bernhardt.

[36] The Slim Princess with Elsie Janis, which premiered in 1911, was the next musical by Dillingham to be staged at the Globe,[62][68] and Bernhardt returned for another limited engagement the same year.

[23] The play featured Manners's wife Laurette Taylor along with young British actress Lynn Fontanne (a later namesake of the theater).

[79][80] The Canary, featuring Julia Sanderson and Joseph Cawthorn, premiered in 1918;[81][82] the Globe also hosted a limited run of that year's Ziegfeld Follies.

[83][84] The decade ended with She's a Good Fellow with Joseph Santley and the Duncan Sisters in 1919,[85][86] the run of which was truncated by the 1919 Actors' Equity Association strike.

[95][96] The 1921 edition of the Ziegfeld Follies was staged at the Globe,[97][98] and Kern and Caldwell's production Good Morning, Dearie opened the same year.

[102] Dillingham leased the theater to Oliver Morosco in January 1923 for the production of Lady Butterfly at the then-exorbitant price of $6,000 a week.

[111][114] Fred Stone also planned to return to the Globe in 1928, appearing in Three Cheers with Dorothy, but he was replaced at the last minute with Will Rogers;[115][116] the play ran through early 1929.

[144] Among the other films screened at the theater were Souls at Sea (1937),[145] One of Our Aircraft Is Missing (1942),[146] Eagle Squadron (1942),[147] Somewhere in France (1943),[148] The Macomber Affair (1947),[149] Anna (1951),[150] and On the Threshold of Space (1956).

[154] The next June, Stevens partnered with William Zeckendorf in another bid to acquire the theater, with Cy Feuer and Ernest Martin as the producers.

[162][163] In February 1958, the Globe was renamed in honor of Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, who planned to retire after the inaugural show at the theater.

[42] Feuer and Martin obtained total control of the Lunt-Fontanne the same year, when they bought the remaining ownership stake from the Kratter Corporation for $1 million.

[227][228] In addition to these, the Lunt-Fontanne hosted special appearances,[229] including illusionist Doug Henning (1984);[230] Grateful Dead vocalist Jerry Garcia (1987);[231] rock band Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (1989);[232][233] and singer Freddie Jackson (1989).

[234] Stahl and James M. Nederlander considered leasing out the Lunt-Fontanne as a movie theater in 1989, citing a downturn in theatrical bookings;[235] The Threepenny Opera opened later that year.

[247] A second revival of Peter Pan, featuring Cathy Rigby, was staged at the Lunt-Fontanne in 1990,[248][249] as was a concert by Harry Connick Jr.[229][250] A 1991 transfer of Oh, Kay!

closed during previews;[251][252] The comedy Catskills on Broadway opened later the same year and ran for 13 months;[253] multiple box-office employees were suspended after stealing ticket revenue from the show.

[254] Several flops were then staged at the Lunt-Fontanne,[255] including the musical Ain't Broadway Grand in 1993,[256][257] as well as The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public[258][259] and Comedy Tonight in 1994.

[264][265] The Royal Shakespeare Company produced A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1996,[266][267] and the Sovremennik Theatre had eight Russian-language performances of two productions later that year.

[271] After Titanic's run ended in March 1999,[272][273] the theater was closed for much of the year while Sachs Morgan Studio renovated it, changing the lighting and paint scheme.

[291][292] As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2014, the Nederlanders agreed to improve disabled access at their nine Broadway theaters, including the Lunt-Fontanne.

[307][308] A revival of Sweeney Todd starring Josh Groban and Annaleigh Ashford opened at the theater in early 2023[309][310] and concluded its run in May 2024.