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The 5th Avenue Theatre (often referred to as 5th Avenue or the 5th) is a landmark theater building located in Seattle, Washington. It has hosted a variety of theatre productions and motion pictures since it opened in 1926. The building and land is owned by the University of Washington and was once part of the original campus. It is operated as a venue for nationally touring Broadway and original shows by the non-profit 5th Avenue Theatre Association. The theatre, located at 1308 Fifth Avenue in the historic Skinner Building, has been listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places since 1978. The 2,130 seat theatre is the resident home to the 5th Avenue Musical Theatre Company, and employs over 600 actors, musicians, directors, choreographers, designers, technicians, stage hands, box office staff, and administrators, making it the largest theatre employer in the Puget Sound region. A non-profit, the theatre company is supported by individual and corporate donations, government sources, and box office ticket sales. Currently, the 5th's subscriber season programming includes 6 to 7 shows per year, a mix of locally produced revivals of musical theatre classics, and premieres of bound-for-Broadway shows, and national touring musicals. The 5th Avenue Theatre has established a tradition of being a "testing ground" for new musicals before they make their debut on Broadway, launching hits such as ''Jekyll & Hyde'', ''Hairspray'', and ''The Wedding Singer''. The theatre also hosts a variety of special events, and offers a number of education and outreach programs to school-age children and adults reaching over 61,000 students, professional performers, and audiences each year. ==Architecture== Located in the Skinner Building, a historic office block ranging from five to eight stories with retail shops on the ground level, the theatre is surrounded on three sides, with its entry facing its namesake avenue. In addition to an auditorium with an original seating capacity of 3,000, the theatre contains a grand entry hall, and a mezzanine that once featured a tea room in addition to a waiting room and women's lounge. The interior design of the 5th Avenue Theatre was modeled to reproduce some of the features of historic and well-known Beijing landmarks. The Norwegian artist Gustav Liljestrom executed the design based on his visit to China, and on ''Chinesische Architecktur'', published in 1925, an illustrated account of Ernst Boerschmann's travels in China. The ornate historical Chinese style of the theatre distinguishes itself from the Neo-Renaissance exterior of the Skinner Building. Only at the street entry under the marquee does the viewer get a preview of the interior design. Here, adorning the ceiling are plaster representations of wood brackets, beams, and carved reliefs painted in a polychromatic scheme and decorated with stenciled dragons and flower patterns. Carved cloud shapes screen light fixtures to create an indirect lighting effect as the viewer approaches the wooden, brass knobbed entry doors. The original central free-standing box office was replaced by the current box office located to the side of the entry as part of a 1979 renovation.〔 The original Imperial guardian lions (''Ruì Shī''), commonly called foo dogs or foo lions, originally located outside the entry were moved inside as part of the 1979 renovation. The interior architecture of the theatre is an "excellent imitation of Chinese wooden temple construction".〔 The two story rectangular lobby features red, stenciled columns wrapped in plaster rising to a timbered roof structure of decoratively painted beams supporting a canopy of bamboo, also imitated in plaster. The original pair of guardian lions, both male, guard the stairway to a second level gallery that serves the theatre balcony. In addition to the Imperial guard lions, other original furnishings, light fixtures, and decoration remain intact. The decorative details continue in the 2,130-seat auditorium, but the highlight and focal decorative feature is the octagonal caisson from which a sculpted five-toed Imperial Chinese dragon springs. A large chandelier of glass hangs from the dragon's mouth, in reference to the Chinese symbol of a dragon disgorging flaming pearls. One claim puts the size of this caisson at twice the size of the model on which it was based in the throne room of the Hall of Supreme Harmony in the Forbidden City.〔 The opening night program spoke effusively of it: The dragon motif is repeated in the radial coffers of the caisson and the timbered coffers throughout the theatre. The Imperial dragon is accompanied by the symbol of the Empress, the Chinese phoenix ''(Fèng huáng)'', sometimes called Ho-Ho or Ho-Oh Bird from the Japanese. This personal symbol of the Empress is also repeated throughout the theatre, but most prominently in relief as part of the grills above false balconies that once screened organ pipes. In addition to these symbols, orange blossoms, chrysanthemums, and lotus flowers appear throughout the theatre. The highly decorated proscenium arch and safety curtain maintain the Chinese design influence.〔 Beyond the decorative features of the building, the 5th Avenue Theatre also contained notable technical features when originally built. An ascending orchestra pit and independent Wurlitzer organ platform allowed the musicians to be raised up to main stage height or to orchestra pit level from the basement below. The ventilation system had thermostatic controls throughout the building, and allowed the air to be 'washed' prior to its introduction into the venue at outlets under every third seat.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「5th Avenue Theatre」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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