at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., in 1968. The Circle's productions in Washington, D.C., were initially successful, contrasting with the theatrical company's failure on Broadway. The company's productions at Ford's included revivals of such plays as Moon for the Misbegotten, and Ah, Wilderness!, and Arsenic and Old Lace. However, the company's offerings were ultimately constrained by the fact that the managers of Ford's Theatre were selective about what constituted "acceptable audience entertainment". The Washington's Ford's Theatre Society sought to take over operation of Ford's Theatre in 1971, prompting the Circle to sue the society. The Circle lost the lawsuit and severed its partnership with Ford's in September 1971, citing large financial losses. Broadway theater In September 1967, Uris Buildings Corporation leased the site of the Capitol Theatre on Broadway, between 50th and 51st Streets, for 100 years. Uris announced it would build an office tower and a Broadway theater on the site; initially, the corporation only proposed a single theater, which later became the Gershwin Theatre. In October 1967, the New York City Planning Commission (CPC) proposed the Special Theater District Zoning Amendment, which would directly allow theaters in One Astor Plaza and the Uris Building. The New York City Board of Estimate approved the amendment that December. The Uris Buildings Corporation agreed in February 1968 to build a second theater in the basement upon the CPC's request. The new theater was originally supposed to be an experimental theater with 300 to 375 seats. Richard Weinstein, the head of the CPC's Lower Manhattan office, asked Mann whether he was interested in occupying the Uris Building's second theater. Mann initially was uninterested in relocating to a theater with such small capacity, but he changed his mind after seeing that the space could fit 650 seats, large enough to qualify as a Broadway theater. The CPC approved the new theaters the same year, as did the Board of Estimate. Lease negotiations between Mann and Percy Uris had been completed by January 1969, and Mann and Libin formed the for-profit Thespian Theater Inc., which subleased the smaller theater to the Circle. The Circle's Broadway theater was intended as a "more elegant" version of the off-Broadway house, although the company was initially unsure whether it would retain its off-Broadway location. Mann believed that the development of relatively small Broadway theaters, such as the Circle's, would allow "more specialized plays" to be produced, as compared