The August Wilson Theatre is on 245 West 52nd Street, on the north sidewalk between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City.

[10] The facade of the August Wilson Theatre was designed to resemble a 15th-century Tuscan villa,[7][11] with a stucco surface and a heavy use of quoins around openings.

[26][29] This room had blue walls, frescos, and furniture in an Italian style, with paneled walnut doors leading to the adjacent women's bathroom.

[34] Unlike typical theaters of the time, the Guild Theatre lacked box seats, a design feature intended to give the appearance of coziness.

It also did not have a traditional proscenium arch; the auditorium's side walls ended at the stage rather than curving in front of it, thereby creating an unusually wide opening.

[27] A frieze, depicting scenes from the Theatre Guild's plays and important figures in the theater's construction, ran atop the auditorium walls.

The balcony ceiling was made of milky green plaster with gilded stars and was lit indirectly by golden glazed discs.

The attic's ceiling ranges from 4 to 14 ft (1.2 to 4.3 m) high, requiring some bookcases and other furniture to be installed at a slant, parallel to the sloping roof.

One architectural publication wrote that "the number of such flights the actor has to climb to reach his room accurately [indicates] his position in the company, for the higher he ascends the farther he is from stardom.

[41][42] The Guild had been founded in 1919 by Lawrence Langner, Philip Moeller, Helen Westley, and Theresa Helburn as an outgrowth of the Washington Square Players.

[3][4] Helburn hosted a groundbreaking ceremony for the Guild Theatre on December 2, 1924, with New York governor Al Smith and four hundred theatrical personalities in attendance.

[68][69] The couple's appearances included Goat Song, At Mrs. Beam's, and Juarez and Maximilian in 1926; The Brothers Karamazov, The Second Man, and The Doctor's Dilemma in 1927; Caprice in 1928; and Meteor in 1929.

[82][87][88] W. Somerset Maugham's translation of the Italian play The Mask and the Face opened in 1933 with Judith Anderson, Humphrey Bogart, Shirley Booth, and Leo G.

[118][119] The United Booking Office leased the Guild Theatre for one year starting in April 1940, sharing the theater's profits and losses.

[123][124] Over the next month, MBS added loudspeakers and made acoustic modifications to the theater's interior, which The New York Times said had long suffered from "tonal defects".

[127] The proposed sale faced resistance, in part because the Shuberts already operated 98 percent of all legitimate theaters in the United States, but there were no other bidders[131] and federal judge Henry W. Goddard approved the plan that March.

[137][139][140] U.S. president Harry S. Truman dedicated the ANTA Playhouse in April 1951,[141] and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts leased space in the building the same year.

[142] Revivals continued for a short time,[137] with productions of Mary Rose[143][144] and The School for Wives in 1951,[145][146] as well as Desire Under the Elms[147][148] and Golden Boy in 1952.

[6] The renovations were funded by Robert W. Dowling of the City Investing Company, as well as ANTA treasurer Roger L. Stevens, who held the theater's second mortgage.

[109][181] The ANTA Theatre staged two hits in 1964: James Baldwin's play Blues for Mister Charlie[174][182][183] and the two-person comedy The Owl and the Pussycat with Diana Sands and Alan Alda.

[206][209][210] Two years later, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof opened with Elizabeth Ashley, Fred Gwynne, Keir Dullea, and Kate Reid.

[248][249] Carrie lost about $7 million during its five performances (including $500,000 just on a renovation of the Virginia), and The New York Times called it "the most expensive quick flop in Broadway history".

[263][264] Subsequently, Jujamcyn hired Campagna & Russo Architects to design a $2.2 million renovation of the theater's interior, except the lobby and restrooms.

[275][276] Next, in 2002, the theater hosted revivals of the Arthur Miller play The Crucible[277][278] and the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical Flower Drum Song.

[296][297] In 2009, Roth acquired a 50 percent stake in Jujamcyn and assumed full operation of the firm when Landesman joined the National Endowments of the Arts.

[304][305] It was followed at the end of the year by a concert, Home for the Holidays with Candice Glover, Josh Kaufman, Bianca Ryan, Peter and Evynne Hollens, and Danny Aiello.

[310][313] As part of a settlement with the United States Department of Justice in 2021, Jujamcyn agreed to improve disabled access at its five Broadway theaters, including the August Wilson.

[316][c] The theater reopened on August 4, 2021, with Antoinette Nwandu's play Pass Over, making it the first Broadway house to resume performances during the COVID-19 pandemic.

[326] Jujamcyn and Ambassador Theatre Group (ATG) agreed to merge in early 2023; the combined company would operate seven Broadway theaters, including the August Wilson.

[327][328] In July 2023, Jordan Roth sold a 93 percent stake in Jujamcyn's five theaters, including the August Wilson Theatre, to ATG and Providence Equity.