When Stephen Colbert signs off from his talk show on Thursday, the spotlight falls on the Ed Sullivan Theater. The venue, almost a century old with a cathedral‑like interior that helped define late-night television, is now awaiting the cue for its next role.
Tucked into a midblock stretch of Broadway between West 53rd and 54th streets, the Gothic‑style Ed Sullivan sits on the northern edge of the Theater District less than a 10‑minute walk from Times Square’s bowtie street layout. Its bright marquee and tall vertical “Colbert” sign stand out along an otherwise quiet block, where the entrance is flanked by longtime fixture Angelo’s Pizza and a newer omakase restaurant.
Inside, a soaring dome, rows of red seats, stained glass and architectural details give the theater a gravity rarely found in modern broadcast studios while limiting how the space can be adapted.
Because the theater is a designated landmark, major alterations are tightly constrained. Still, that hasn’t stopped speculation about what could come next. Theater owner CBS, part of Paramount Skydance following Skydance Media's roughly $8 billion purchase last year of CBS parent Paramount Global, hasn't outlined any plans for the site.
"The space could remain a television studio, or finally return to Broadway usage — but it must remain a theater. ... It's thrilling to think that the Ed Sullivan, which originally opened in 1927 as Hammerstein's Theatre, could return to Broadway usage someday soon," Jennifer Ashley Tepper, a Broadway historian, author and producer, told CoStar News.
“I don’t know what’s gonna happen to the Ed Sullivan Theater, but something should happen,” Colbert said during a set tour with Architectural Digest in a video released Monday. “It’s too beautiful a space. Over the past 11 years, too much work has been put into it to make it a great television or broadcast performance space. … In my opinion, it’s the best broadcast space in New York City, and the fact that nothing’s going to come in here breaks my heart, but someone will figure something out.”
Cultural institution
The theater is named for Ed Sullivan, the influential television host whose Sunday night variety show ran for more than two decades and introduced generations of Americans to performers including Elvis Presley and the Beatles — cementing the venue’s place in the country’s broadcast and cultural history. The 13-story brick building also features so-called elephant columns beneath the stage, designed to support the weight of live elephants brought in from Ringling Bros. for "The Ed Sullivan Show."
CBS, which first became involved with the venue in the 1930s when it converted the theater for radio and later television use, bought the property in the early 1990s to house David Letterman’s late‑night show after he moved from NBC. The network’s long tenancy has helped cement the theater’s identity as a broadcast venue as much as a historic Broadway house.
"What struck me the most is the procession into the main auditorium," William Eng, an architect and developer who attended a taping last month with his wife when Paul Simon was the featured guest, told CoStar News.
"We were shepherded through a low, but beautiful, vaulted ceiling and as we passed through the main doors of the theater, it opened into a larger vaulted dome with its ribs illuminated by colorful projections," Eng said. "In front of us was [Colbert's] beautiful set with perfectly curated memorabilia flanking each side. This is not something the audience appreciates from their homes but it certainly leaves an indelible impression to people seated for the show."
The Colbert show declined to comment to CoStar News. Spokespeople for CBS and Paramount Skydance did not respond to requests for comment.
Many of the theater’s distinctive historic details had been out of sight for decades, concealed behind layers of lighting, sound baffling and mechanical equipment, until CBS undertook a major restoration in 2015 ahead of Colbert’s takeover of “The Late Show” from Letterman. Charles Ciccarelli, vice president of interiors at JRM Construction Management and the project’s manager at the time, understood the contrast firsthand.
"If you looked up [at the ceiling], all you saw was layers upon layers of old lighting and ... cabling," Ciccarelli said in an interview. "That beautiful dome was completely covered."
JRM crews worked around the clock in two shifts to complete the restoration and related upgrades in about 10 weeks.
“It was one of the biggest highlights of my career,” Ciccarelli said. “It’s just a remarkable experience to take something that was covered up and not seen or used and bring it back to its original element.”
‘Like the Bellagio’
The restoration quickly became a point of pride for Colbert and a source of fascination for guests. When Letterman returned to the theater May 14, he looked up at the digitally illuminated dome and remarked, “This is like the Bellagio,” referencing the lavish Las Vegas hotel.
Singer Dionne Warwick, whose connection to the theater dates back to her appearances on “The Ed Sullivan Show” in the 1960s, similarly described the restored venue as “beautiful” during a 2022 appearance when Colbert asked about her impression of it.
The decision by CBS to pull the plug on Colbert’s show comes as traditional broadcast television continues to lose ground to digital audiences. Streaming surpassed broadcast and cable viewing combined for the first time last year, according to a report from the consumer data company Nielsen, underscoring the forces reshaping the late‑night business.
Still, the Ed Sullivan occupies a category of its own. Its interior was designated a landmark by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission in 1988, a status that protects the auditorium and limits redevelopment options. The building is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“It feels like you are walking into one of the most important places in the world for broadcasting and TV,” said Matthew Kwatinetz, an assistant professor at New York University’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.
The theater’s layout — designed for spectacle first before adaptation for modern broadcast production — has become one of its defining advantages. Unlike many soundstages in New York, it can accommodate a live audience while functioning as a broadcast studio.
“That combination is very rare,” Kwatinetz said. “It’s very expensive to build. ... This is very well positioned to how things are changing.”
CBS occupies nearly 50,000 square feet of the 87,438‑square‑foot, 13‑story structure at 1697 Broadway, according to CoStar data. Also part of the property is an adjacent office building whose tenants include the city’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
A hybrid soundstage
Kwatinetz expects the venue to remain a studio that blends live and broadcast uses after Colbert’s exit, calling that “the highest and best use of it.” He said it could appeal to streaming companies such as Netflix looking for a hybrid soundstage — or any production seeking the symbolic weight of a marquee theater.
“I can’t imagine anybody turning it into something else,” Kwatinetz said. “People will be lined up around the block to have their show there.”
The theater has had a long impact on American culture. TV programs such as “The Honeymooners” and “The Merv Griffin Show” were taped at what was called CBS TV Studio 50 at the time, before the name was changed in 1967 to honor Sullivan, whose 23-year-run ended in 1971, according to the official website for “The Ed Sullivan Show” and distributor of its content.
CBS in 1993 bought the theater for what’s said to be $4 million, not including the cost of a planned major overhaul, to serve as a new studio for Letterman to keep his late-night show from moving to Los Angeles.
Spirits of the past
Unlike many Broadway houses built in neoclassical styles, the Ed Sullivan’s neo‑Gothic design gives it a distinctly cathedral‑like character.
“The theater that Herbert Krapp designed for Hammerstein was and remains unique not just in Krapp's oeuvre, but among all theaters in New York and perhaps in the country,” the Landmarks Preservation Commission said in 1988. “Unlike the other Broadway playhouse interiors of the late 1920s, almost invariably adorned with Adamesque or neo‑classical style plasterwork, Hammerstein's was an extraordinary extravaganza of Gothic.”
That atmosphere continues to resonate with visitors today. "One can feel the spirits of the theatrical past within the auditorium," Tepper said.
Paul Whalen, a partner with the RAMSA architecture firm, said older theaters that are redeveloped tend to remain entertainment‑focused, particularly when landmark status restricts alterations.
“Redevelopments of older theaters in general could include a revival movie theater, a venue for other types of live entertainment, or high‑end retail,” Whalen said, adding that outcomes depend on size, location and cost.
Thomas Doherty, a cultural historian and professor of American studies at Brandeis University, said he expects the venue will become a “multipurpose entertainment site,” well suited to midsize music acts.
“A musical might also be welcome,” he said.