Broadway’s 41st theater will be the Hudson Theatre

Broadway will soon have a new venue -- its 41st theater.

The Ambassador Theatre Group said Wednesday it will reopen and operate Broadway's Hudson Theatre, slated to happen by the 2016-2017 Broadway season.

It's the second Broadway theater for the Ambassador Theatre Group, which bought The Lyric Theatre in 2013. The company, co-founded by Sir Howard Panter and Rosemary Squire, has 46 venues in Britain, the United States and Australia.

The group said it will spend millions "restoring the landmark venue to its former glory as a Broadway playhouse." In a statement, it said: "The venue will receive significant front-of-house improvements to better serve its patrons including all new state-of-the-art seating,

The Hudson sits just off Times Square on 44th Street. The theater opened in 1903 with a production of "Cousin Kate" starring Ethel Barrymore. It was built by producer Henry B. Harris, who died aboard the Titanic.

It was lost to foreclosure in 1933 and sold at auction for $100,000.

The Hudson changed hands many times and was a studio for CBS radio. It was the home for the first nationwide broadcast of "The Tonight Show" starring Steve Allen. It later became a house for burlesque.

In recent years, the theater has been operated by the Millennium Broadway Hotel and was an elegant special events space. It was granted landmark status in 1987.

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