The first Booth Theatre was built by 18th century actor Edwin Booth in the year 1869. It stood at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue in New York City. Edwin was widely known for being the brother of John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of President Abraham Lincoln, but also managed to break from this shadow and be remembered for his talent as an actor. He decided to build his own theatre after the theatre in which he regularly performed, The Winter Garden Theatre, was tragically burned down. Booth opened his theatre with an extremely successful production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, in which he played Romeo. Unfortunately, the theatre only lasted five years before Booth filed for bankruptcy, and ironically the closing performance was the same as the opening. Many years later Edwin Booth’s memory lived on when a new theatre was built in his name. The second Booth Theatre was built in 1913 by Lee Shubert and Winthrop Ames. Ames’s father was a fan of Edwin Booth’s acting and wished to preserve his name by having the new theatre built in his honor. The Booth Theatre still stands today on West 45th Street and 8th Avenue in New York City. It has been home to many famous Broadway musicals and plays. Currently, the Booth Theatre is occupied by eight performances a week of the Tony award winning Broadway musical Next to Normal. 
http://www.shubertorganization.com/theatres/booth.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Booth's_Theatre
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