Abrons Arts Center
Encyclopedia
The Abrons Arts Center is the performing and visual arts program of Henry Street Settlement
. It mounts exhibitions and productions in music, dance and theater and provides arts training for children and adults.
The facility links the 350-seat proscenium Playhouse, originally constructed as the Neighborhood Playhouse
by philanthropists Alice Lewisohn
and Irene Lewisohn
in 1915 to the main art center building, which opened in 1975. The development added a black box theater, an underground recital hall, and an outdoor amphitheater facing Grand Street. Visual arts exhibitions are mounted in the Abrons Main Gallery and the ground-floor Culpeper Gallery. The second floor of Abrons is a shared artist studio space, and classrooms and dance studios are located on all floors for arts training and instruction.
Between 2006 and 2010, performers have included John Zorn, Philip Glass, Jonah Bokaer, The Rodney Graham Band, Mark Leckey, Justin Bond, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, Banana Bag & Bodice, The Citizens Band, Heidi Latsky Dance, Rufus Wainwright, Armitage Gone! Dance, Taylor 2, and the Gotham Chamber Opera. The Abrons Arts Center has partnered with organizations such as PS122, DanSpace Project, Public Art Fund, Performa, MoMA, and the Center for Performance Research.
and founded the Neighborhood Playhouse in 1915. The sisters donated it to the Henry Street Settlement as the site of a new theater that would provide better performance space and teaching facilities, but it also was the home of for the Neighborhood Players, an amateur acting troupe for adults and children. The Players participated in pageants and festivals sponsored by the Settlement and produced plays that highlighted the ethnic diversity of the neighborhood.
The modest three-story red brick structure, designed by architects Harry C. Ingalls and F. Burrall Hoffman, Jr., showed both motion pictures and theatrical performances. By 1920, professional actors had replaced the amateurs and the Playhouse became renowned for its avant-garde productions, often incorporating dance, music, and poetry, and for its popular revue, The Grand Street Follies. Many early 20th century modern dancers and artists found a professional home at the Neighborhood Playhouse, including composers Ernest Bloch, Kurt Schindler, and Louis Horst, who also worked with Martha Graham. Other notables whose works were produced at the Neighborhood Playhouse include Agnes de Mille, Laura Elliott, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. This experimental theater and two other off-Broadway "little theaters" (Providence Playhouse and Washington Square Players) were to form the foundation for modern American dramatic theater.
The Playhouse officially closed in 1927 and fell under the control of Henry Street Settlement, renamed the Henry Street Playhouse. The Lewisohn sisters and Rita Wallach Morganthau went on to establish the Neighborhood Playhouse
School of the Theatre in 1928, still in operation at 340 East 54th Street. Irene Lewisohn would also found the Museum of Costume Art in 1937, which would later merge with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is now known famously as the Met Costume Institute.
In 1938, it was the site of the premiere of Aaron Copland
's opera The Second Hurricane, starring Eartha Kitt
and directed by Orson Welles
.
In 1948, Alwin Nikolais
was appointed director of the Henry Street Playhouse, where he formed the Playhouse Dance Company, later renamed and known as the Nikolais Dance Theatre. It was at Henry Street that Nikolais began to develop his own world of abstract dance theatre, portraying man as part of a total environment. Nikolais redefined dance, as "the art of motion which, left on its own merits, becomes the message as well as the medium". It was also at the Henry Street Playhouse that Mr. Nikolais was joined by Murray Louis
, who was to become a driving force in the Playhouse Company, Nikolais' leading dancer and longtime collaborator.
The Playhouse was renamed a third time to honor Harry De Jur, a Henry Street Settlement board member who attended the Settlement as a young boy.
Funded by the Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation, the Abrons Arts Center was designed by architect Lo Yi Chan of the firm Prentice & Chan, Ohlhausen and built adjacent to the Harry De Jur Playhouse. The architects sought to sensitively respond to the scale, proportion and mass of the older structure without imitating the neo-classical style of the Playhouse. The guests at the dedication included First Lady Betty Ford
, New York City Mayor Abraham Beame
, former Mayor Robert F. Wagner
, and the National Endowment for the Arts Chair, Nancy Hanks
.
Henry Street Settlement restored both the interior and exterior of the Playhouse in the 1990s. The work was completed under the direction of the preservation architectural firm of J. Lawrence Jones and Associates. The Municipal Art Society
recognized the firm's work with a 1996 Preservation Award.
Henry Street Settlement
The Henry Street Settlement is a not-for-profit social service agency in the Lower East Side neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City that provides social services, arts programs and health care services to New Yorkers of all ages. It was founded in 1893 by Progressive reformer Lillian Wald.The...
. It mounts exhibitions and productions in music, dance and theater and provides arts training for children and adults.
The facility links the 350-seat proscenium Playhouse, originally constructed as the Neighborhood Playhouse
Neighborhood Playhouse
The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is an actor training school at 340 East 54th Street in New York City, generally associated with the Meisner technique of Sanford Meisner.-History:...
by philanthropists Alice Lewisohn
Alice Lewisohn
Alice Lewisohn was the founder of the Neighborhood Playhouse with her sister Irene Lewisohn. Alice was also an actress.-Biography:...
and Irene Lewisohn
Irene Lewisohn
Irene Lewisohn was the founder of the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Museum of Costume Art.-Biography:She was the daughter of Rosalie Jacobs and Leonard Lewisohn. In 1905 she and her sister, Alice Lewisohn, began classes and club work at the Henry Street Settlement House in New York. They produced...
in 1915 to the main art center building, which opened in 1975. The development added a black box theater, an underground recital hall, and an outdoor amphitheater facing Grand Street. Visual arts exhibitions are mounted in the Abrons Main Gallery and the ground-floor Culpeper Gallery. The second floor of Abrons is a shared artist studio space, and classrooms and dance studios are located on all floors for arts training and instruction.
Between 2006 and 2010, performers have included John Zorn, Philip Glass, Jonah Bokaer, The Rodney Graham Band, Mark Leckey, Justin Bond, Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed, Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, Banana Bag & Bodice, The Citizens Band, Heidi Latsky Dance, Rufus Wainwright, Armitage Gone! Dance, Taylor 2, and the Gotham Chamber Opera. The Abrons Arts Center has partnered with organizations such as PS122, DanSpace Project, Public Art Fund, Performa, MoMA, and the Center for Performance Research.
History
In 1914, philanthropist sisters Alice Lewisohn (1883–1972) and Irene Lewisohn (1892–1944) bought a lot on the corner of Grand and Pitt Streets on New York City's Lower East SideLower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
and founded the Neighborhood Playhouse in 1915. The sisters donated it to the Henry Street Settlement as the site of a new theater that would provide better performance space and teaching facilities, but it also was the home of for the Neighborhood Players, an amateur acting troupe for adults and children. The Players participated in pageants and festivals sponsored by the Settlement and produced plays that highlighted the ethnic diversity of the neighborhood.
The modest three-story red brick structure, designed by architects Harry C. Ingalls and F. Burrall Hoffman, Jr., showed both motion pictures and theatrical performances. By 1920, professional actors had replaced the amateurs and the Playhouse became renowned for its avant-garde productions, often incorporating dance, music, and poetry, and for its popular revue, The Grand Street Follies. Many early 20th century modern dancers and artists found a professional home at the Neighborhood Playhouse, including composers Ernest Bloch, Kurt Schindler, and Louis Horst, who also worked with Martha Graham. Other notables whose works were produced at the Neighborhood Playhouse include Agnes de Mille, Laura Elliott, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. This experimental theater and two other off-Broadway "little theaters" (Providence Playhouse and Washington Square Players) were to form the foundation for modern American dramatic theater.
The Playhouse officially closed in 1927 and fell under the control of Henry Street Settlement, renamed the Henry Street Playhouse. The Lewisohn sisters and Rita Wallach Morganthau went on to establish the Neighborhood Playhouse
Neighborhood Playhouse
The Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre is an actor training school at 340 East 54th Street in New York City, generally associated with the Meisner technique of Sanford Meisner.-History:...
School of the Theatre in 1928, still in operation at 340 East 54th Street. Irene Lewisohn would also found the Museum of Costume Art in 1937, which would later merge with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and is now known famously as the Met Costume Institute.
In 1938, it was the site of the premiere of Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland
Aaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
's opera The Second Hurricane, starring Eartha Kitt
Eartha Kitt
Eartha Mae Kitt was an American singer, actress, and cabaret star. She was perhaps best known for her highly distinctive singing style and her 1953 hit recordings of "C'est Si Bon" and the enduring Christmas novelty smash "Santa Baby." Orson Welles once called her the "most exciting woman in the...
and directed by Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
.
In 1948, Alwin Nikolais
Alwin Nikolais
Alwin Nikolais was an American choreographer.Nikolais studied piano at an early age and began his performing career as an organist accompanying silent films. As a young artist, he gained skills in scenic design, acting, puppetry and music composition...
was appointed director of the Henry Street Playhouse, where he formed the Playhouse Dance Company, later renamed and known as the Nikolais Dance Theatre. It was at Henry Street that Nikolais began to develop his own world of abstract dance theatre, portraying man as part of a total environment. Nikolais redefined dance, as "the art of motion which, left on its own merits, becomes the message as well as the medium". It was also at the Henry Street Playhouse that Mr. Nikolais was joined by Murray Louis
Murray Louis
Murray Louis is an American modern dancer and choreographer. He grew up in Manhattan, not far from Henry Street where his company was to be founded years later. At the same time, his sister took him to many of the early modern dance concerts. After his discharge from the Navy in 1946, Mr...
, who was to become a driving force in the Playhouse Company, Nikolais' leading dancer and longtime collaborator.
The Playhouse was renamed a third time to honor Harry De Jur, a Henry Street Settlement board member who attended the Settlement as a young boy.
Funded by the Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation, the Abrons Arts Center was designed by architect Lo Yi Chan of the firm Prentice & Chan, Ohlhausen and built adjacent to the Harry De Jur Playhouse. The architects sought to sensitively respond to the scale, proportion and mass of the older structure without imitating the neo-classical style of the Playhouse. The guests at the dedication included First Lady Betty Ford
Betty Ford
Elizabeth Ann Bloomer Warren Ford , better known as Betty Ford, was First Lady of the United States from 1974 to 1977 during the presidency of her husband Gerald Ford...
, New York City Mayor Abraham Beame
Abraham Beame
Abraham David "Abe" Beame was mayor of New York City from 1974 to 1977. As such, he presided over the city during the fiscal crisis of the mid-1970s, during which the city was almost forced to declare bankruptcy....
, former Mayor Robert F. Wagner
Robert F. Wagner
Robert Ferdinand Wagner I was an American politician. He was a Democratic U.S. Senator from New York from 1927 to 1949.-Origin and early life:...
, and the National Endowment for the Arts Chair, Nancy Hanks
Nancy Hanks
Nancy Hanks Lincoln was the mother of Abraham Lincoln and of Sarah Lincoln after her marriage to Thomas Lincoln. After the family moved from Kentucky to Spencer County, Indiana, Nancy Lincoln died of milk sickness at the Little Pigeon Creek settlement...
.
Henry Street Settlement restored both the interior and exterior of the Playhouse in the 1990s. The work was completed under the direction of the preservation architectural firm of J. Lawrence Jones and Associates. The Municipal Art Society
Municipal Art Society
The Municipal Art Society of New York, founded in 1893, is a non-profit membership organization that fights for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation through education, dialogue and advocacy in New York City....
recognized the firm's work with a 1996 Preservation Award.