East 74th Street Theater

Theater in Manhattan

40°46′10″N 73°57′22″W / 40.76944°N 73.95611°W / 40.76944; -73.95611Capacity199-204 seatsConstructionOpened1959[1]ArchitectBarrie B. Greenbie[1]

The East 74th Street Theater,[2] sometimes spelled as the East 74th Street Theatre, was an Off-Broadway theater at 334 East 74th Street in Manhattan in New York City in the United States.

History

Frank Day Tuttle, a theatrical and radio producer and director, purchased, renovated, and converted the Bohemian Club into the East 74th Street Theater.[3][4] Barrie B. Greenbie designed the theater in 1959.[1]

The Off-Broadway theater was located at 334 East 74th Street, between First Avenue and Second Avenue, on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, New York City.[5][6][7] It had 199-204 seats.[7][8] Its stage was described as "miniscule."[9] The Players Magazine described it in 1959 as "small and attractive."[10]

In 1961, the Phoenix Theatre rented the theater for 30 weeks, during which time it called it the Phoenix 74th Street.[5]

Performances

In 1959, the theater put on the comedy The Tempest by William Shakespeare.[7]

Among the other plays presented at the theater were The Crystal Heart (1960; with Mildred Dunnock, and Virginia Vestoff in her first professional appearance, with top seats selling for $4.96 ($51.08 in current dollar terms),[11] George Gershwin's Oh, Kay! (1960; with Linda Lavin, Penny Fuller, and Marti Stevens, and with high school student Daniel Lewis working a follow spot in the lighting), The Shoemaker and the Peddler (1960), One Way Pendulum by N. F. Simpson (1961), Hotel Passionato (1965), The Bernard Shaw Story (1965-66), Jean Erdman's The Coach with the Six Insides (1967), Stephen D. (1967; with Roy Scheider), and The Victims (1968).[12][13][14][15][16][17]

In the fall of 1965, Jack Moore and Jeff Duncan formed the Dance Theater Workshop, and produced a series of Monday evening concerts at the theater.[18][19] In 1966, the theater hosted a subscription series devoted to modern and ethnic dance.[20][21]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Greenbie, Barrie B.", Robert S. Cox Special Collections & University Archives Research Center, UMass Amherst Libraries.
  2. ^ Lewis Funke (October 23, 1965). "Theater: 'Hotel Passionato', Musical; Paris-set show opens at 74th Street," The New York Times.
  3. ^ "Frank Day Tuttle, 86, Radio Producer, Dies". The New York Times. May 23, 1989. p. 47.
  4. ^ Orlin Corey, Irene Corey, Ken Holamon (1990). An Odyssey of Masquers; The Everyman Players, p. 17.
  5. ^ a b Sam Zolotow (August 10, 1961). "PHOENIX IS MOVING TO SMALLER HOME; Constant Deficit Prompts Switch to 74th Street," The New York Times.
  6. ^ Richard Chigley Lynch (1987). Broadway on Record; A Directory of New York Cast Recordings of Musical Shows, 1931-1986, pp. 51, 172.
  7. ^ a b c Sam Zlotow (December 3, 1959). "'TEMPEST' SLATED ON UPTOWN STAGE; Comedy to Open at East 74th Street Dec. 28 -- 'A Mighty Man Is He' Due Jan. 7". The New York Times.
  8. ^ Phyllis Hartnoll, Peter Found (2000). 牛津戏剧词典, p. 378.
  9. ^ Educational Theatre Journal, 1969, American Theatre Association, vol. 21, p. 103.
  10. ^ The Players Magazine, 1959, National Collegiate Players, vol. 36-37, p. 86.
  11. ^ "Atlantic in Legit Tie-Up," Billboard, February 15, 1960, p. 4.
  12. ^ John Corry (September 24, 1976). "Broadway". The New York Times.
  13. ^ "East 74th Street Theatre - Theater Information". Broadway World.
  14. ^ "VIRGINIA VESTOFF, 42; HAD LEADING ROLES IN SEVERAL MUSICALS". The New York Times. May 5, 1982.
  15. ^ Diane C. Kachmar (2015). Roy Scheider; A Film Biography
  16. ^ Donna H. Krasnow, Daniel E. Lewis (2020). Daniel Lewis; A Life in Choreography and the Art of Dance
  17. ^ Joseph Campbell (2020). The Ecstasy of Being; Mythology and Dance
  18. ^ Larry Warren (2012). Anna Sokolow; The Rebellious Spirit
  19. ^ Barnes, Clive (December 28, 1965). "Dances From Korea and Ghana Presented in 'Mondays at Nine'". The New York Times.
  20. ^ The Many Worlds of Music. Broadcast Music, Incorporated. 1966. p. 14.
  21. ^ Clive Barnes (January 4, 1966). "EAST 74TH ST. ENDS ETHNIC DANCE SERIES," The New York Times, p. 20.
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