with larger and older theaters. 1970s The venue in Paramount Plaza's basement opened for inspection on October 2, 1972. The Broadway house was named the Circle in the Square–Joseph E. Levine Theatre, for Joseph E. Levine, a longtime benefactor of the Circle. Prior to the Broadway house's opening, the theater hosted a gala on October 26, 1972. featuring several actors who had performed at the Circle's off-Broadway locations. The Levine Theatre hosted its first performance, a revival of Mourning Becomes Electra, on November 15, 1972. In the months after the Circle's Broadway house opened, it hosted numerous performers whose portraits were hung in the lobby. Twelve thousand people were paying for annual subscriptions to the Broadway house by the beginning of 1973. Unlike at other Broadway theaters, the Circle tended to host multiple opening nights for each show. Headliners were paid a flat rate of $1,000 a week, less than in comparable Broadway theaters. During the Broadway house's first two seasons, the Circle staged productions such as Medea, Here Are Ladies, Uncle Vanya, The Waltz of the Toreadors, and The Iceman Cometh in 1973, as well as The American Millionaire and Scapino in early 1974. Despite its early popularity, the theater could only earn up to $35,000 per week, and it relied heavily on grants. By March 1974, the theater was in danger of closing due to a shortfall of nearly $200,000. The musical Look, Homeward, as well as the 1973–1974 season, would have been canceled. The Circle announced in April 1974 that it would not close, having raised the necessary funds, including emergency grants, nearly $34,000 in individual donations, and even a grant from rival producer Joseph Papp. The success of Scapino, which featured Jim Dale, was also cited as a factor in the theater's survival. For the 1974–1975 season, the Circle staged The National Health, Where's Charley?, All God's Chillun Got Wings, and Death of a Salesman. The following season, the theater hosted Ah, Wilderness!, The Glass Menagerie, The Lady from the Sea, and Pal Joey. The Circle celebrated its 25th anniversary on March 8, 1976, which New York City mayor Abraham Beame proclaimed as Circle in the Square Day. The same year, at the 30th Tony Awards, the company received a Special Tony Award "for twenty-five continuous years of quality productions". For 1976–1977, the Circle continued its tradition of staging four Broadway shows per season. During that