 From 1960 to 1982, the mall included the Playhouse on the Mall, a 635-seat theater.The developer, Allied Stores, was persuaded to build the theater by producer (and future novelist) Robert Ludlum, who managed the theater from 1960 to 1970.Productions included a mix of Broadway revivals ("The Best Man", "Two for the Seesaw", "A Little Night Music") and pre-Broadway tryouts ("The Typists and the Tiger", "The Owl and the Pussycat"), and attracted a variety of movie, television, and Broadway talent.