Editing Late Show with David Letterman (section)

===Studio and set design===
[[File:Michelle Obama on the Late Show with David Letterman.jpg|thumb|Letterman interviewing [[Michelle Obama]] in 2012]]
The show was taped at the [[Ed Sullivan Theater]] at the corner of [[Broadway (Manhattan)|Broadway]] and [[53rd Street]] in midtown Manhattan during its entire run. Formerly called CBS Studio 50, it had been home to several TV programs over the years, most notably ''[[The Ed Sullivan Show]]''. Letterman made use of the immediate neighborhood surrounding the theater for his show on occasion, closing off the portion of 53rd Street that goes past his studio for various stunts. Nearby merchants gained fame after making frequent appearances on the program, including [[Rupert Jee]], owner of the [[Hello Deli]] at 213 W. 53rd St., and [[Mujibur and Sirajul]], Bengali immigrants who worked at a souvenir shop close to the studio.

The stage layout followed the same basic structure Letterman employed on ''Late Night'': the house band appeared on the far left, followed by the performance area and then the interview set.

In May 2015, days before Letterman retired, [[Seth Stevenson (journalist)|Seth Stevenson]] described what it was like to attend a taping of ''Late Show'':

{{Blockquote|It felt almost regal to enter the Ed Sullivan Theater beneath a lit marquee on 53rd and Broadway instead of through some unmarked, dented metal door on an industrial block of Hell's Kitchen. The theater for ''Late Show with David Letterman'' seats 450 people instead of 100, and its rococo balcony offers a glorious vista over the sprawling stage where the [[The Ed Sullivan Show#Beatles|Beatles first performed in America]]. Instead of bathing us in washed-out, piped-in music, or a half-hearted pop quintet, Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra rocked us with a wall of sound, including a horn section that blasted riffs clear to the theater rafters ...

It was hard not to sit in that ''Late Show'' studio audience and feel—for the first time—indispensable. Letterman puts on a show. He presents fully-rounded entertainment, and he feeds off the energy in the room. This is a big, brassy venue with a live orchestra, instead of a cramped black-box studio with somebody's [[iPod]] plugged into ceiling speakers. And Letterman needed us there.<ref>{{cite web|title= YouTube Killed the Studio Audience: What I Learned from Going to Tapings of Every Late-Night Show | url= http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/television/2015/05/late_night_s_live_tapings_what_it_s_like_to_be_in_the_studio_audience_for.2.html|work=Slate|date= May 10, 2015 |first=Seth |last=Stevenson |access-date= May 11, 2015}}</ref>}}

Pieces of the set were later acquired for use on ''[[The Chris Gethard Show]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.avclub.com/article/chris-gethard-show-rescued-letterman-set-221282|title=The Chris Gethard Show rescued the Letterman set|website=[[The A.V. Club]]|date=June 23, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/letterman-late-show-bridges-saved-chris-gethard-show-article-1.2269210|title=David Letterman's 'Late Show' bridges rescued by 'The Chris Gethard Show' - NY Daily News|first=Kirthana|last=Ramisetti|website=nydailynews.com|date=June 24, 2015 }}</ref><gallery widths="240" heights="180" perrow="4">
File:Late Show with David Letterman proscenium.jpg|View from the [[proscenium]] of the Ed Sullivan theater
File:Late Show with David Letterman - Ed Sullivan Theater stage.jpg|View of the stage with David Letterman's desk and guest seats
File:Late Show with David Letterman - Ed Sullivan Theater balcony view.jpg|View from the balcony
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