to 1920, forty-three theaters were built around Broadway in Midtown Manhattan, including the Little Theatre. Winthrop Ames, a member of a wealthy publishing family, did not enter the theatrical industry until 1905, when he was 34 years old. After being involved in the development of two large venues, Boston's Castle Square Theatre and New York City's New Theatre, Ames decided to focus on erecting smaller venues during the Little Theatre Movement. The New Theatre had failed quickly, as Ames's New Theatre Company only occupied the theater from 1909 to 1911. Ames saw the New as too large and too far away from Times Square. Initial Broadway run Development and early years In September 1911, Ames announced his intention to build a 300-seat playhouse around Times Square. Two months later, Ingalls and Hoffman filed plans with the New York City Department of Buildings for the Little Theatre, a 299-seat theater at 238–244 West 44th Street, to cost $100,000. The 299-seat capacity exempted Ames from New York City Fire Department regulations, wherein theaters with at least 300 seats required emergency-exit alleys on either side. Ames also formed a corporation to operate the theater. The corporation issued stock, with Ames being the sole stockholder. Ames released further details about the theater in December 1911. The Little was to be a single-level auditorium without balconies or boxes, and it was to host "plays of wide appeal" and "novelties". Ames wanted the theater to host "the clever, the unusual drama that has a chance of becoming a library classic". Some critics said the site was too far from Times Square, but Ames countered that the Belasco Theatre, one block east, was the same distance from Times Square. Another criticism was that Ames's theater was elitist because all seats had equally good views of the stage, with one ticket price for all seats. Construction progressed quickly, with over 150 workers being employed at one point. The Little opened on March 12, 1912, with John Galsworthy's play The Pigeon. This was followed by a special matinee with Charles Rann Kennedy's The Terrible Meek and Ma Tcheu-Yuen's The Flower of the Palace of Han. The Little's productions of the 1912–1913 season included a revival of The Affairs of Anatol, as well as the original productions Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Rutherford and Son. Ames financed several of the initial shows at the theater, including Prunella and