The Hulu Theater is a theater located in New York City's Madison Square Garden. It seats between 2,000 and 5,600 for concerts and can also be used for meetings, stage shows and graduation ceremonies. No seat is more than from the stage. Since it is located beneath the main Madison Square Garden arena, the theater has a relatively low ceiling at stage level and all of its seating except for boxes on the two side walls is on one level slanted back from the stage. There is an lobby at the theater.
History
When the Garden opened in 1968, the theater was known as the Felt Forum, in honor of then-president Irving Mitchell Felt. In the early 1990s, at the behest of then-owner Paramount Communications, the theater was renamed the Paramount Theater after the Paramount Theatre in Times Square had been converted to an office tower. The theater received its next name, The Theater at Madison Square Garden, in the mid-1990s, after Viacom bought Paramount and sold the MSG properties. In 2007, the theater was renamed the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden through a naming rights deal with Washington Mutual. After Washington Mutual's collapse in 2009, the name reverted to The Theater at Madison Square Garden. In 2018, the theater signed a deal with Hulu to become the "Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden".
Events
It was the host for Mike Tyson's fourteenth professional fight against Sammy Scaff on December 6, 1985. The theater occasionally hosts boxing matches on nights when the main arena is unavailable, or fights between promising boxers who management believe will not fill up "the big room". Notable boxing fights at the Theater include Juan Manuel López vs Rogers Mtagwa in 2009, Juan Manuel López vs Steven Luevano in 2010, Nonito Donaire vs Omar Narváez in 2011, Mikey Garcia vs Orlando Salido in 2013, Mikey Garcia vs Juan Carlos Burgos in 2014, Vasyl Lomachenko vs Román Martínez in 2016, Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Guillermo Rigondeaux in 2017, Vyacheslav Shabranskyy vs Sergey Kovalev in 2017, Music band Menudo's February 5, 1983, concert at the Madison Square Garden was held at the Felt Forum. It was member Xavier Serbia's last official concert with the band and the first for member Ray Reyes. This concert was transmitted live to most Latin American countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela, and to the United States. On December 8, 1991, the draw for the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification was held at the theater. WCW held two live events there—on April 13, 1993, marking the first time an WCW event was ever held in New York City, and on June 30, 1996. NXT held one event in the theater on November 16, 2016. Lucha Libre AAA and Impact Wrestling hosted Lucha Invades NY on September 15, 2019. On January 14, 1995, the Family Double Dare Live Tour was held at the theater. Hosted by Nick Arcade host Phil Moore, the show featured the game, stunts, and slop of Double Dare, as well as games and activities from Nickelodeon's What Would You Do. It was the home of the NFL draft from 1995 until 2004. In 2005 the NFL Draft moved to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, after MSG management opposed a new stadium for the New York Jets. It also hosted the NBA draft from 2001 to 2010. The fall 1999 Jeopardy! Teen Tournament as well as a Celebrity Jeopardy! competition were held at the theater. Wheel of Fortune did tapings at the theater twice in 1999 and 2013. In 2004, it was the venue of the finale. From 2004-2006 and in 2008 Theatre of MSG hosted the Jammy Awards, honoring improvisational music. The first ever mixed martial arts event held at the theater was on December 31, 2016.
Future
In January 2016, New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo announced a redevelopment proposal for Penn Station that would involve the removal of The Theater at Madison Square Garden.
