Eugene De Rosa designed the building as the Gallo Opera House for the producer Fortune Gallo, who planned a 16-story office building with a theater at its base. Ida Louise Killam designed the original gold, blue and rose interior. The engineer David M. Oltarsh suspended the foundation, orchestra and balcony from the roof to avoid disturbing subway construction. It opened in 1927, on November 7 in the infobox and November 8 in the text.
Its later uses included a nightclub, a Palladium Music Hall, and a CBS radio and television studio, called Studio 52 in CBS documents. The Studio 54 nightclub ran from 1977 to 1980. Roundabout Theatre Company converted it to a Broadway theater in 1998 and bought it in 2003 for $22.5 million.
The theater now seats 1,006 on two levels. The CBS-era proscenium was 27 by 43.7 feet (8.2 by 13.3 m).
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