Fire Breaks Out at Broadway's Eugene O'Neill Theatre; The Book of Mormon on Hold

The Eugene O'Neill Theatre, home to the Broadway blockbuster The Book of Mormon since 2011, was seriously damaged in a fire on May 4. According to CBS News, it broke out at 10am and quickly built into a three-alarm event. No serious injuries were reported.

The New York Times reports that David Simms, an assistant chief at the city's fire department, said, "The building is going to be out of service, pending repairs. There's been substantial damage on the fourth floor, in the electrical room, which contains lighting equipment and hanging chandeliers."

A statement from the show's producers and Ambassador Theatre Group, which owns the O'Neill, says, "Out of an abundance of caution and concern for the safety of the cast and company of The Book of Mormon and our audiences, performances for The Book of Mormon will be cancelled on Tuesday, May 5, and Wednesday, May 6. The show will continue to work with theatre owners, ATG Entertainment, the FDNY, and other relevant parties to assess the damage resulting from a fire at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre this morning. Ticket holders will be notified by point of purchase for exchanges or refunds."

Built in 1925, the theatre, designed by the noted theatre architect Herbert Krapp, was previously known as the Forrest and the Coronet. It acquired its current name in 1959. It has housed many notable productions, including Tobacco Road (1934, at one time, Broadway's longest-running play), Arthur Miller's All My Sons (1947), Terence Rattigan's The Browning Version (1949), Lillian Hellman's The Autumn Garden (1951), the Alfred Lunt and Lynne Fontanne vehicle The Great Sebastians (1956), Herb Gardner's hit comedy A Thousand Clowns (1962), She Loves Me (1963), The Odd Couple (1966, the first of many plays there by Neil Simon, who ultimately owned the theatre for a time), Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1969), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1971), California Suite (1976), Big River (1985), David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly (1988), an acclaimed revival of Death of a Salesman starring Brian Dennehy (1999), The Full Monty (2000), Fela! (2009), and The Book of Mormon.