[3] The Lena Horne Theatre is at 258 West 47th Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

Twisting colonettes divide the openings in each Palladian frame, while the outer sections of the windows are bordered by pilasters with Corinthian-style capitals.

Chanin hired Herbert Krapp, an experienced architect who had designed multiple Broadway theaters for the Shubert brothers.

[46][47] At the end of the year, the Mansfield staged three Hebrew-language plays performed by the Habima Players of Moscow,[33][48] including The Dybbuk.

[93] The theater did not have any particularly distinguished shows in 1933 or 1934,[68] but George Abbott directed the moderately successful comedy Page Miss Glory in late 1934.

[101] The theater then hosted a transfer of the long-running What a Life in 1939,[102][103] as well as the Group Theatre's Thunder Rock featuring Lee J. Cobb and Frances Farmer.

[104][105] In 1940, the Mansfield hosted a revival of Juno and the Paycock,[98][106][107] a transfer of the long-running comedy Separate Rooms,[98][108] and the popular revue Meet the People.

[112][113] The theater mostly hosted short runs during 1942 and 1943,[114] and producer Michael Myerberg signed a three-year lease for the Mansfield in June 1943.

[119][120] The New York Herald Tribune said at the time that all-Black casts had performed the only two "outstanding hits" in the Mansfield's two-decade history: Anna Lucasta and The Green Pastures.

[122][125] The Dublin Gate Theatre performed three shows at the Mansfield in February and March 1948,[82][126] followed in April by the Billie Holiday Revue.

[133] The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) leased the Mansfield in August 1950 for five years,[131][134] paying a very favorable annual rental of between $85,000 and $100,000.

[156][157] In early 1964, the Brooks Atkinson staged a five-performance run of Tennessee Williams's The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore[158][159][160] and solo appearances by Josephine Baker.

[171] The next year, the Brooks Atkinson hosted Peter Nichols's A Day in the Death of Joe Egg,[172][173][174] followed by Renée Taylor and Joseph Bologna's Lovers and Other Strangers.

[72] Three successful productions were featured at the theater the same year: Find Your Way Home with Michael Moriarty and Jane Alexander;[181][188][189] My Fat Friend with George Rose and Lynn Redgrave;[181][190][191] and Of Mice and Men with James Earl Jones, Kevin Conway, and Pamela Blair.

[82][198] The Brooks Atkinson then hosted the play Tribute with Jack Lemmon in 1978,[199][200][201] as well as the comedy Bedroom Farce[199][202][203] and the drama Teibele and Her Demon in 1979.

[208][210][211] This was followed in 1982 by a short run of the off-Broadway show Beyond Therapy,[208][212][213] another revival of Ghosts with John Neville and Liv Ullmann,[208][214][215] and the comedy Steaming with Judith Ivey.

[243][244] The same year, the theater had limited appearances by musicians Victor Borge,[245][246] Peter, Paul and Mary,[247][248] and Stephanie Mills.

[249][250] This was followed in 1990 by a two-month-long run of The Cemetery Club[251][252] and an adaptation of William Nicholson's Shadowlands with Jane Alexander and Nigel Hawthorne.

[253][254] The Brooks Atkinson hosted Death and the Maiden with Glenn Close, Richard Dreyfuss, and Gene Hackman in 1992,[255][256] then the Roundabout Theatre Company's version of She Loves Me in 1993.

[261][262] The Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of Buried Child was produced at the Brooks Atkinson in 1996,[263][264] as was the play Taking Sides with Daniel Massey and Ed Harris.

[269] The theatrical adaptation of Wait Until Dark, which featured film actress Marisa Tomei in her Broadway debut,[270] ran for 97 performances in 1998.

[271][272] The next year, the theater hosted a transfer of a West End revival of The Iceman Cometh, featuring Kevin Spacey.

[279] The original chandelier was retrieved from storage and reinstalled; the murals, lobbies, and restrooms were refurbished; and the seats, carpets, and drapes were replaced.

[285] Next to be shown was a limited run of the tragedy Medea in 2002,[286][287] as well as the revue The Look of Love[288][289] and Jackie Mason's short-lived Laughing Room Only.

[283][290] The Brooks Atkinson hosted the dramas Jumpers and Democracy in 2004, as well as limited runs of the solo shows Mark Twain Tonight!

[10][283] The rock-and-roll musical Grease was revived at the theater in August 2007,[283][291] and the show ultimately ran for 554 performances over the next year and a half.

These included Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles and Relatively Speaking in 2011; Peter and the Starcatcher in 2012; Hands on a Hardbody and After Midnight in 2013; and Love Letters in 2014.

[10][13] 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 Brooks Atkinson.

[297][298] The Brooks Atkinson hosted the comedy It Shoulda Been You in 2015,[299][300] as well as Deaf West Theatre's production of the musical Spring Awakening the same year.

[301][302] Subsequently, the musical Waitress opened in 2016, with Sara Bareilles and Jason Mraz both performing in the show before it closed on January 5, 2020.