In 1924, when theater impresario Martin Beck was forced out of management of the Orpheum Theatre circuit, he built the Martin Beck, now the Al Hirschfeld.

He hired architect G. Albert Lansburgh, a native San Franciscan known for his elaborate West Coast movie palaces, to design the theater. Lansburgh incorporated Byzantine, Moorish, and Islamic elements into much of his work, including this theater’s façade, a long, three-story Moorish arcade that was very three dimensional. The ornate interior was decorated with stained glass doors, mosaics, and murals. In 2003 the theater’s owner, Jujamcyn Theaters, renamed it the Al Hirschfeld in honor of the great Broadway caricaturist whose drawings appeared weekly in the New York Times until his death that same year. This is the only Broadway theater that was built west of 8th Avenue. Its large seating capacity has proven ideal for presenting musical productions including such hits as Bye Bye Birdie and Man of La Mancha.