Bouwerie Lane Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Bouwerie Lane Theatre is a former bank building which became an Off-Broadway theatre, located at 330 Bowery
at Bond Street in Manhattan
, New York City
.
The cast-iron building, which was constructed from 1873-1874, was designed by Henry Engelbert
in the Italianate
style for the Atlantic Savings Bank, which became the Bond Street Saving Bank before the building was completed. When the bank failed in 1879, the building was sold to the German Exchange Bank, which served the German immigrant community. Prior to the 1960s, the building was used for the storage of fabrics. Then in 1963, the building was converted into a theater by Honey Waldman, who produced several plays there. From 1974 to 2006, it was the home of the Jean Cocteau
Repertory Theatre.
Among the many plays and musicals that were produced at the theatre, the first was The Immoralist (1963) with Frank Langella
, Dames at Sea
(1968), Night and Day
(2000) by Tom Stoppard
, Brecht's The Threepenny Opera
(2003), and the Cocteau's final production, Jean Genet's The Maids X 2 (2006).
The building was purchased by Adam Gordon in 2007 for conversion into a private mansion with a climbing wall, and the Bowery street front used for retail.
In 1967, the building was designated a New York City landmark, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The AIA Guide to New York City calls it "One of the most sophisticated cast-iron buildings."
Bowery
Bowery may refer to:Streets:* The Bowery, a thoroughfare in Manhattan, New York City* Bowery Street is a street on Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y.In popular culture:* Bowery Amphitheatre, a building on the Bowery in New York City...
at Bond Street in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
The cast-iron building, which was constructed from 1873-1874, was designed by Henry Engelbert
Henry Engelbert
Henry Engelbert was an architect best known for buildings in the French Second Empire style, which emphasized elaborate mansard roofs with dormers. New York's Grand Hotel on Broadway is the most noteworthy extant example of Engelbert's work in the French Second Empire Style...
in the Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
style for the Atlantic Savings Bank, which became the Bond Street Saving Bank before the building was completed. When the bank failed in 1879, the building was sold to the German Exchange Bank, which served the German immigrant community. Prior to the 1960s, the building was used for the storage of fabrics. Then in 1963, the building was converted into a theater by Honey Waldman, who produced several plays there. From 1974 to 2006, it was the home of the Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
Repertory Theatre.
Among the many plays and musicals that were produced at the theatre, the first was The Immoralist (1963) with Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
, Dames at Sea
Dames at Sea
Dames at Sea is a musical with book and lyrics by George Haimsohn and Robin Miller and music by Jim Wise.The musical is a parody of large, flashy 1930s Busby Berkeley-style movie musicals in which an understudy steps into a role on Broadway and becomes a star...
(1968), Night and Day
Night and Day (play)
Night and Day is a 1978 play by Tom Stoppard. The sets and costumes were designed by Carl Toms and it ran for two years at the Phoenix Theatre in central London, UK. The lead roles of Richard Wagner and Ruth Carson were created by John Thaw and Diana Rigg, respectively.The play is post-colonial in...
(2000) by Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
, Brecht's The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
(2003), and the Cocteau's final production, Jean Genet's The Maids X 2 (2006).
The building was purchased by Adam Gordon in 2007 for conversion into a private mansion with a climbing wall, and the Bowery street front used for retail.
In 1967, the building was designated a New York City landmark, and it was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The AIA Guide to New York City calls it "One of the most sophisticated cast-iron buildings."
External links
- "Bouwerie Lane Theatre" at the Internet Off-Broadway Database