The Public Theater
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The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as The Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers. It is headquartered at 425 Lafayette Street in the former Astor Library in the East Village section of Lower Manhattan. The venue opened in 1967, mounting the world-premiere production of the musical Hair as its first show. It currently is led by Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson.
The Public Theater is known for presenting "challenging work."[citation needed] This has a variety of meanings, including artistic heterodoxy. It also reflects the Public Theater's role as a voice for the American social and political Left. Many of its productions are considered avant-garde and not likely to find a home in theaters catering to a mainstream audience.
In addition to five theater spaces, the site includes Joe's Pub, a cabaret-style setting used for new work, musical performances, spoken-word artists and soloists. The Public also operates the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, where it presents its free Shakespeare in the Park performances during the summer months. These productions feature popular actors and tickets are disbursed quickly. The Public Theater also invests in theater education, training classical actors through the annual summer acting intensive known as the Shakespeare Lab. It also hosts the Under the Radar Festival, directed by Mark Russell.
The Public Theater Musical Theatre Initiative Director is Ted Sperling, named in 2008. This program is intended to expand and develop new works for the American musical theatre. [1]
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[edit] Notable works and awards
The most famous work to emerge from The Public, other than the original production of Hair, is the Michael Bennett musical A Chorus Line, based on the lives and careers of Broadway dancers, commonly known as "gypsies." The announced opening created such a stir of anticipation among the theatrical community that the entire limited run sold out long before opening night. Demand for tickets was such that the show moved uptown to the Shubert Theater, where it remained "one singular sensation" for fifteen sell-out years. Over the years, revenue from the many worldwide productions, both professional and amateur, of the show has been a steady and main source of income for the Public.
Public Theater productions have won a total of 138 Obie Awards, 40 Tony Awards, 39 Drama Desk Awards, 19 Lucille Lortel Awards, and 4 Pulitzer Prizes. The Public has brought more than 50 shows to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, The Water Engine, The Human Comedy, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, That Championship Season, Plenty, The Pirates of Penzance, The Tempest, Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk, On the Town, The Ride Down Mt. Morgan, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, and Take Me Out.
[edit] Astor Library building
The Public has been housed since 1967 in a landmarked neo-Renaissance structure built in 1854 as the Astor Library. The Astor later merged with the Tilden and Lenox collections to become the New York Public Library. The library was built by William B. Astor, son of the library's founder, John Jacob Astor. A German-born architect, Alexander Saeltzer, designed the building in Rundbogenstil style, then the prevailing style for public building in Germany. Astor funded two expansions of the building toward Astor Place, designed by Griffith Thomas (1859) and Thomas Stent (1881). Both large expansions followed Saeltzer's original design so seamlessly that an observer cannot detect that the edifice was built in three stages.
In 1920, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society purchased the building. By 1965 it was in disuse and faced demolition. The Public Theater (then the New York Shakespeare Festival) persuaded the city to purchase it for use as a theater. It was converted for theater use by Giorgio Cavaglieri between 1967 and 1976.[2] In 2009 the Public was in the midst of a campaign to raise funds for a major renovation of the historic building.[3][4]
[edit] References
- ^ Hetrick, Adam."Tony Winner Sperling Joins Public Theater as Director of Musical Theatre Initiative,"playbill.com, January 2008
- ^ Dimonstein, Barbaralee. The Landmarks of New York, Harry Abrams, 1998 p. 107
- ^ "Enter Theatergoers, Gently Welcomed," Robin Pogrebin, The New York Times, April 27, 2009
- ^ Morrone, Francis (2002). The Architectural Guidebook to New York City. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith. ISBN 1586852116.
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Joseph Papp Public Theater at the Internet off-Broadway Database
- Joseph Papp Public Theater/Newman Theater at the Internet off-Broadway Database
- Joseph Papp at the Internet Broadway Database
Coordinates: 40°43′45.1848″N 73°59′30.4548″W / 40.729218°N 73.991793°W
