Ambassador Theatre Group has agreed to combine operations with Jujamcyn Theaters, per a report in The New York Times. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, would expand the Broadway portfolio of ATG, one of the UK’s largest theater landlords.
The UK-based ATG is relatively new to Broadway, entering the New York City market when it took over the management of the Lyric Theatre (then the Foxwoods) in 2013. The ATG group then added the then newly reopened Hudson Theatre in 2017. The company’s largest presence is in the UK, where it manages 10 West End and 27 regional theaters. The group additionally operates 14 regional theaters in the U.S. (including Boston’s Emerson Colonial) and five other venues across Europe. Current Jujamcyn President Jordan Roth will reportedly become creative director of the new company as well as its largest individual shareholder, and with a position on the board.
Jujamcyn, Broadway’s smallest theater-owning group, controls just five theatres: the August Wilson, the Walter Kerr, the Al Hirschfeld, the Eugene O’Neill, and the St. James. This deal would bring the new combined group closer in size to the Nederlander Organization, which handles nine theatres on Broadway, 15 U.S. regional theaters, and three West End venues; The Shubert Organization will remain Broadway’s largest landlord with 17 theaters. The Shuberts also control the Forrest Theatre in Philadelphia and Off-Broadway’s multi-stage New Work Stages and Stage 42.
Not all Broadway theaters are owned by corporations. Six venues are operated by non-profits, including the Stephen Sondheim, Studio 54, and The American Airlines by Roundabout Theatre Company; the Vivian Beaumont by Lincoln Center Theater; the Hayes by Second Stage Theater; and the Samuel J. Friedman by Manhattan Theatre Club. Disney controls the New Amsterdam, and Circle in the Square is independently owned.
