Hudson Theater
Location
New York, NY
Services
Materials
Glass
Plaster
Painted Finishes
Awards
JBC was retained by Stonehill & Taylor Architects, PC to perform a selective interior paint color investigation for the historic Hudson Theater, located at the Millennium Broadway Hotel in Times Square. The investigation was originally intended to focus on what was believed to be decorative painting around the proscenium and box seats of the theater, but JBC uncovered something more: century-old Tiffany glass mosaics.
Historic photographs of the theater’s interior showed decorative motifs in several areas. To better understand the original finishes, “reveals” or windows were made in locations where the finishes were thought to still remain. As the reveals were made, luminous green and gold mosaics tiles were uncovered. Over the next several weeks the JBC team worked to remove the layers covering the original mosaics along the proscenium. A variety of methods were used to remove the paint and plaster layers including paint strippers and mechanical removal with wood clay sculpting tools, scalpels and dentil picks.
Further research revealed that the mosaics were original to the 1903 theater and were made by the Tiffany Company. They had been covered with plaster in the 1930s for acoustical reasons when the theater was used for CBS radio programs.
Following on JBC’s extraordinary discovery, the mosaics were completely exposed and restored. Theater goers today can marvel at their beauty.
Hudson Theater before restoration.
Hudson Theater after restoration.
Proscenium before restoration.
Collage of proscenium after restoration.
Exposing historic finishes around the tiffany stained glass dome.
Reveal test area.
Reveal test area.
JBC conservators removing plaster from Tiffany mosaics.
JBC conservator exposing Tiffany glass mosaics.
Tiffany glass mosaics after restoration.
Detail of restored Tiffany mosaics.
Proscenium arch after restoration.