TICKET TIME Dottie and her friends spent a lot of time in theaters such as The Cort, at 138-146 West 48th Street.

One of the highlights of Dorothy Parker's career were days and nights as a New York drama critic. The tales of her reporting and reviewing the theatre scene are the stuff of legends, and very few critics have surpassed her in the 80 years since she first took up the aisle seat. The Cort Theater is one of the places where she plied her craft (and sharpened her knives).

PLAYBILLS HERE The Cort is just one block from the MTV Studios

Parker's tenure as a drama critic, first at Vanity Fair where she made her reputation as the only female theatre critic on Broadway, and later at the New Yorker, provides some of the most colorful chapters in her life. She and her friends from the Algonquin Round Table where all intimate with the theatre scene and for 20 years she was wrapped up in it.

The Cort, at 138-146 West 48th Street is among the oldest and most beautiful of the Broadway theaters. It was built in 1912 by Thomas W. Lamb for producer John Cort. The small, elegant interior is decorated with French neoclassical detail and mural depicting the gardens of Versailles. Among the famous shows that have been housed at the Cort are The Diary of Anne Frank, Sarafina, and The Heiress. Not long ago, it was the home to The Blue Room starring Nicole Kidman in the buff.

Like the Biltmore, the Cort and the other theaters in the district are where Parker and Robert Benchley spent long hours. Some of her most famous reviews were "No More Fun" and "A Few Minutes of Your Time."

The Cort is open for business today.