The auditorium's ground floor has an entrance under a marquee, above which is a loggia of three double-height arches, as well as a entablature and balustrade at the top.

The facade's western section, comprising the stage house, is seven stories high and is faced in buff-colored brick.

The auditorium contains neo-Renaissance detailing, steep stadium seating in the orchestra level, a large balcony, and a shallow domed ceiling.

Over the years, the Richard Rodgers has hosted eleven Tony Award-winning productions: Guys and Dolls, Redhead, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, 1776, Raisin, Nine, Fences, Lost in Yonkers, In the Heights, and Hamilton.

The Richard Rodgers Theatre is on 226 West 46th Street, on the south sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, near Times Square in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City.

[20][23] Running above the facade is a entablature, containing a frieze with panels, shields, and rinceaux, as well as a cornice supported by terracotta modillions.

[22][23] Above the stage house's seventh floor is a cornice with modillions; it is made of sheet metal and decorated in the Adam style.

[33] The front railing has molded wave decorations and friezes with foliate motifs; these are obscured by light boxes.

He subsequently recalled that he had been "humiliated" by having to use a separate door whenever he bought cheap seats in an upper balcony level.

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.

[10] The New York Times quoted Irwin as saying: "We hope with this particular theater to carry out the new modern thought in the art of the theatrical world.

[54][55] Following this were John Colton's The Shanghai Gesture in 1926[54][56] and an eight-week long engagement by Sacha Guitry and his wife Yvonne Printemps later that year.

[54][60] The 46th Street's first hit was Laurence Schwab's musical Good News, which opened in September 1927[61][62] and ran 551 performances.

[72][73] With the Chanins experiencing financial trouble,[31] the Shuberts acquired the fee to the theater's site in January 1931 for about $1.2 million.

[74][75] The Chanins' name was removed from the theater in 1932,[76] and Margaret Sullavan appeared in the drama Happy Landing the same year.

[84][85] The Farmer Takes a Wife, which opened the next year,[86][87] featured Henry Fonda in his Broadway premiere alongside Margaret Hamilton.

[85] Olsen and Johnson's hit revue Hellzapoppin opened at the 46th Street in 1938,[69][91] succeeded by Porter's DuBarry Was a Lady in 1939.

[96][97] During the early 1940s, the 46th Street hosted productions including Junior Miss (1941),[98][99] Beat the Band (1942),[100][101] and Sons o' Fun (1943).

[104] One Touch of Venus appeared at the 46th Street in 1944, running 567 performances,[105][106] and the hit Dark of the Moon followed the next year.

[140][141] After short runs of Christine[142][143] and a revival of Finian's Rainbow,[144][145] the theater continued to produce major musicals into that decade.

[150] The 46th Street then hosted Do I Hear a Waltz?, which opened in 1965[131][151] and was the only collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

[158][159] The theater subsequently hosted Clare Boothe Luce's The Women in 1973,[158][160][161] followed the same year by Raisin,[131][162] the latter of which ran for 847 performances.

[163][168] The theater hosted Working briefly in 1978,[106][169] and that production's producers Stephen R. Friedman and Irwin Meyer bought Osterman's ownership stake.

[205] On March 27, 1990, at a luncheon to benefit the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Nederlanders renamed the theater to honor the composer Richard Rodgers.

[11][12] The first production to be staged at the renamed theater was Alexander H. Cohen and Hildy Parks's Accomplice,[206][207] and the musical Oh, Kay!

[221][222] This was followed by two musicals with scores by John Kander and Fred Ebb:[223] a revival of Chicago in 1996[224][225] and Steel Pier in 1997.

[237] In 2001, several Broadway performers and directors launched a celebration of Rodgers's work at the theater, a year before what would have been his 100th birthday.

[251] The theater's other productions of the early 2010s included Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo in 2011; Porgy and Bess and Lewis Black's Running on Empty in 2012; and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Rascals: Once Upon a Dream in 2013.

[257][258] 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 Richard Rodgers.

[264] The Richard Rodgers Theatre has housed 11 Tony Award-winning Best Plays and Best Musicals, more than any other Broadway theater.