Architect Francesca Russo's detailed drawing for the new Belasco marquee

The new marquee is larger than the original, which was in two pieces (one over the ticket lobby and one over the balcony entrance). As part of the renovation, the balcony has now been connected with the main theatre by breaking through a wall to the balcony stairway, so everyone enters from the same lobby now, and the marquee stretches the entire length. Photos of the original exterior and marquee reveal its design elements of pressed metal with a structural frame (decorative pieces of pressed metal attached to a sub structure of steel), a metal facia piece, and glass panels all the way around the bottom. Russo found that the WF Norman Company had original pressed metal sign molds that could be used to give the proper period feel to the new marquee, which includes floral appliqués and a pressed tin ceiling with chase lights around the perimeter. Underneath are a total of 3-W cold-cathode lamps enclosed in glass globes to evoke the look of traditional incandescent bulbs. ”By replacing each 25-W lamp, we went from 13,000 watts to 1,600,” says Ted Jacobi of The Shubert Organization. The 2,000 letters on the vertical Belasco sign, formerly fitted with 25-W lamps, are illuminated with the same 3-W cold-cathode lamps. Sternberger Lighting provided the globe fixtures used in the marquee design.

View the full drawing in PDF form here. (will open in a new window)