As part of a renovation proposed in 2018, the theater building will be substantially expanded with a glass annex, the original facade will be raised, and some of the interior elements will be preserved.

It also shares the block with the Hotel Carter building and the Todd Haimes Theatre to the west, as well as the New Victory Theater and 3 Times Square to the east.

[4] In the first two decades of the 20th century, eleven venues for legitimate theatre were built within one block of West 42nd Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues.

[6][7] The Times Square Theater, along with the Apollo Theatre immediately to the north and west, was developed by brothers Edgar and Archibald Selwyn in 1920.

The outermost bays in the second floor contained sash window panes, flanked by pilasters that support a round arch.

On either side of the auditorium were emergency exits leading to passageways; the New-York Tribune said these were capable of emptying the theater "in a matter of seconds".

[10][13][27] To the west of the Times Square's auditorium was the Apollo's entrance, which consisted of a corridor with paneled walls and several types of marble.

[14][58] That November, the Clemence Dane play A Bill of Divorcement moved from George M. Cohan's Theatre to the Times Square;[59] it was one of the first hits that featured actress Katharine Cornell.

[67][68] The play Helen of Troy, New York, transferred from the Selwyn Theatre in October 1923;[66][69] this was followed in December by Pelléas and Mélisande with Jane Cowl,[70] which flopped after 13 performances.

[66][71] During early 1924, André Charlot presented his eponymous musical revue, featuring Gertrude Lawrence, Beatrice Lillie, and Jack Buchanan.

[76][77] That September, the theater hosted Jerome Kern and Howard Dietz's musical Dear Sir, featuring Oscar Shaw and Walter Catlett.

[14][78] It was followed in November by Clifford Grey, Clare Kummer, and Sigmund Romberg's musical Annie Dear, which featured Billie Burke.

[83][84] The musical Kosher Kitty Kelly also ran for 166 total performances at the Times Square Theater and Daly's 63rd Street Theatre,[85] in spite of negative critical reception.

[88] The Times Square Theater then showed a variety of films in early 1926,[82] including The Volga Boatman[89] and a double feature of Silence and The Prince of Pilsen.

[93][94] During the play's run, the theater also hosted a speech by explorer Richard E. Byrd,[95] a documentary presented by aviator Alan Cobham,[96] and a ballet show.

[97] After Blondes relocated from the Times Square in March 1927, A. H. Woods planned to move his production of the play Crime into the theater.

[93] Jed Harris leased the theater in mid-1928[93][103] and presented the original Broadway production of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur's comedy The Front Page, which opened in August 1928.

[108] The next hit was George and Ira Gershwin's musical Strike Up the Band, which opened at the theater in January 1930[109][110] and ran for 191 performances over the next five months.

[132][133] The proscenium arch was infilled in 1939 when the former stage house was converted to a haberdashery, since the theater no longer needed these facilities after its conversion into a cinema.

[149] The Brandts' movie theaters on 42nd Street continued to operate through the mid-1980s, at which point the Times Square was showing "obscure horror/action triple-bills".

[151] The same year, the City University of New York's Graduate Center hosted an exhibition with photographs of the Times Square Theatre and other theaters to advocate for the area's restoration.

[167] The Urban Development Corporation (UDC), an agency of the New York state government, then proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981.

[172][173] In June 1982, the Brandts' five theaters on the north side of 42nd Street, including the Times Square, were added to the redevelopment plan.

[118] From 1987 to 1989, Park Tower and Prudential hired Robert A. M. Stern to conduct a study on the Apollo, Lyric, Selwyn, Times Square, and Victory theaters on the north side of 42nd Street.

[194][198][199] Government officials hoped that development of the theaters would finally allow the construction of the four towers around 42nd Street, Broadway, and Seventh Avenue.

[16][221] By November 1998, Livent had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection,[222][223] and the company canceled its plans to redevelop the Times Square Theater.

[16][118][221] New 42nd Street Inc. president Cora Cahan said she had received several proposals for potential uses of the theater, though most bidders said they did not want to build a performance space there.

[236] The Times Square had proven so hard to lease that the Real Estate Board of New York granted an award to the brokers who had arranged the deal.

[24] The developers filed partial demolition plans for the Times Square Theater with the New York City Department of Buildings in July 2019.

[244] The New York City government proposed increasing the theater's monthly rent from $50,000 to $160,000 in 2024, citing the fact that no progress had been made on the project.