Coordinates: 40°45′33″N 73°58′59″W / 40.759210°N 73.983°W / 40.759210; -73.983

The Cort Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 138 West 48th Street in the Theatre District of midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is owned by the Shubert Organization, the largest owner of Broadway theatres.

The Cort Theatre was designated a New York City landmark on November 17, 1987.

John Cort (ca. 1861-1929), founder of the Northwestern Theatrical Association, commissioned architect Thomas W. Lamb to design the theater. Its façade was modeled on the Petit Trianon in Versailles. The resulting 1082-seat Cort Theater is one of the few Lamb theaters still extant and functioning as a legitimate theater. The interior was designed in the style of the era of Louis XVI, with a Pavanozza marble lobby with plasterwork panels. The arch of the proscenium stage consists of perforated plaster treated with art glass, and was designed to be lit during performances. The arch still exists as of 2007, although the lighting feature is no longer in operation.

Paul Stephen Rudd (born April 6, 1969) is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He has primarily appeared in comedies, and is known for his roles in the films Clueless, Wet Hot American Summer, Anchorman, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Dinner for Schmucks, The Object of My Affection, Role Models, I Love You, Man, and Our Idiot Brother. In television, he appeared on the NBC sitcom Friends, playing Mike Hannigan, Phoebe Buffay's boyfriend and later husband, and is commonly featured on the Tim and Eric show.

Rudd was born in Passaic, New Jersey. His parents, both natives of London (England), were Jewish, and were descended from immigrants from Russia and Poland; the family's original surname, "Rudnitzky", was changed by his grandfather to "Rudd". Rudd had a bar mitzvah. His father, Michael, was a historical tour guide who was formerly the vice president of World Airways, while his mother, Gloria, was a sales manager at the television station KSMO-TV. When he was ten, Rudd's family moved to Overland Park, Kansas, where he was raised; his family also spent three years living in Anaheim, California, because of his father's occupation. He attended high school at Shawnee Mission West and college at the University of Kansas, where he was a member of the Nu Chapter of Sigma Nu. He spent three months studying Jacobean drama at the British American Drama Academy based in Oxford, U.K.

Sir Patrick Stewart, OBE (born 13 July 1940) is an English film, television and stage actor, who has had a distinguished career in theatre and television. He is most widely known for his television and film roles, such as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation and its successor films, Professor Charles Xavier in the X-Men film series, and as the voice of Avery Bullock in American Dad!.

Stewart was born on 13 July 1940 in Mirfield, near Dewsbury in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. He is the son of Gladys (née Barrowclough), a weaver and textile worker, and Alfred Stewart, a Regimental Sergeant Major in the British Army who served with the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry and previously worked as a general labourer and as a postman.

In a 2008 interview, Stewart said: "My father was a very potent individual, a very powerful man who got what he wanted. It was said that when he strode onto the parade ground, birds stopped singing. It was many, many years before I realised how my father inserted himself into my work. I've grown a moustache for Macbeth. My father didn't have one, but when I looked in the mirror just before I went on stage I saw my father's face staring straight back at me."

Sir Ian Murray McKellen, CH CBE (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has won multiple Laurence Olivier Awards, a Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, and five Emmy Award nominations. His work has spanned genres from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is known for film roles such as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Magneto in the X-Men films, and as Sir Leigh Teabing in The Da Vinci Code.

McKellen was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979, was knighted in 1991 for services to the performing arts, and was made a Companion of Honour for services to drama and to equality, in the 2008 New Year Honours.

McKellen was born in Burnley, Lancashire, England, though he spent most of his early life in Wigan. Born shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the experience had some lasting impact on him. In response to an interview question when an interviewer remarked that he seemed quite calm in the aftermath of the 11 September attacks, he said: "Well, darling, you forget — I slept under a steel plate until I was four years old."

William James "Bill" Pullman (born December 17, 1953) is an American film, television, and stage actor. Pullman made his film debut in the supporting role of Earl Mott in the 1986 film Ruthless People. He has since gone on to star in other films, including Spaceballs, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Casper and Scary Movie 4. He has starred in a number of plays and is also a Jury Member for Filmaka.

Pullman was born in Hornell, New York, the son of James Pullman, a physician, and his wife Johanna (née Blaas), a nurse. His father's family descends from England, and his maternal grandparents immigrated from the Netherlands. After graduating from Hornell High School in 1971, he attended the State University of New York at Delhi and the State University of New York at Oneonta in the 1970s. He eventually received his Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Pullman taught theater at SUNY Delhi and Montana State University's School of Film and Photography, where he was convinced by his students to attempt film.