New York Theatre Workshop
Encyclopedia
__notoc__
New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway
theatre
noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second
Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village
neighborhood of Manhattan
, New York City
, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a 75-seat black box theatre for staged reading
s and developing work in the building next door, at 83 East 4th Street.
Some of the theatre's progeny – such as Rent
and Dirty Blonde
– have transferred to commercial productions. The new works of well-established playwrights, such as Caryl Churchill
, Doug Wright
, and Tony Kushner
– a former NYTW associate artistic director – have also been produced at NYTW. In keeping with its mission, NYTW continues to bring new work from theatre legends and emerging artists alike. The theatre maintains connections with many theatrical artists, whom it refers to as "The Usual Suspects".
In 2005, NYTW purchased a vacant building at 79 East 4th Street, which it is developing into set and costume shops. On January 11, 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg
donated several city-owned buildings to arts organizations, including New York Theatre Workshop, on East Fourth Street, designating the block Fourth Arts Block.
New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second
Second Avenue (Manhattan)
Second Avenue is an avenue on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan extending from Houston Street at its south end to the Harlem River Drive at 128th Street at its north end. A one-way street, vehicular traffic runs only downtown. A bicycle lane in the left hand portion from 55th...
Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
neighborhood of 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...
, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a 75-seat black box theatre for staged reading
Staged reading
A staged reading is a form of theatre without sets or full costumes. The actors, who read from scripts, may be seated, stand in fixed positions, or incorporate minimal stage movement....
s and developing work in the building next door, at 83 East 4th Street.
History
Founded by Stephen Graham, New York Theatre Workshop seeks to "provoke, produce and cultivate the work of artists whose visions inspire and challenge all of us." Its mission is to "explore perspectives on our collective history and respond to the events and institutions that shape our lives." NYTW presents five to seven new productions, over 80 staged readings, and numerous workshop productions to an audience of over 60,000 patrons.Some of the theatre's progeny – such as Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
and Dirty Blonde
Dirty Blonde (play)
Dirty Blonde is a play by Claudia Shear.Conceived by Shear and James Lapine and featuring songs from I'm No Angel and She Done Him Wrong, it explores the phenomenon of the legendary Mae West, one of America's most enduring and controversial pop culture icons...
– have transferred to commercial productions. The new works of well-established playwrights, such as Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
, Doug Wright
Doug Wright
Doug Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004 for his play, I Am My Own Wife.-Early years:Wright was born in Dallas, Texas...
, and Tony Kushner
Tony Kushner
Anthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
– a former NYTW associate artistic director – have also been produced at NYTW. In keeping with its mission, NYTW continues to bring new work from theatre legends and emerging artists alike. The theatre maintains connections with many theatrical artists, whom it refers to as "The Usual Suspects".
In 2005, NYTW purchased a vacant building at 79 East 4th Street, which it is developing into set and costume shops. On January 11, 2006, Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
donated several city-owned buildings to arts organizations, including New York Theatre Workshop, on East Fourth Street, designating the block Fourth Arts Block.
Affiliated artists
Some of the notable theatrical artists whose work has been produced at New York Theatre Workshop- Alan BallAlan Ball (screenwriter)Alan E. Ball is an American writer, director, actor and producer for film, theatre and television.-Early life:Ball was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Frank and Mary Ball, an aircraft inspector and a homemaker...
, writer/director - Anne BogartAnne Bogart-Biography:She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Bard College in 1974, followed by a Master of Arts degree from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts in 1977. She served as Artistic Director of the Trinity Repertory Company for its 1989-90 season...
, director - Caryl ChurchillCaryl ChurchillCaryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
, writer - Martha ClarkeMartha ClarkeMartha Clarke is an American theater director and choreographer noted for her multidisciplinary approach to theatre, dance, and opera productions. She is the creator of plotless, dreamlike works that are perhaps described by the term "moving paintings. Her work frequently emphasizes striking...
, writer/director/choreographer - Rinde Eckert, writer/composer
- Elevator Repair ServiceElevator Repair ServiceElevator Repair Service are a New York-based theater ensemble founded by director John Collins and a group of actors in 1991.ERS have performed in various New York including Performance Space 122, The Performing Garage, HERE, The Ontological at St. Mark's Church, The Flea, The Kitchen, and Soho...
, performance group - The Five Lesbian Brothers, performance group
- Deb FillerDeb FillerDeborah Rachel "Deb" Filler is a New Zealand born writer/performer, character artist and producer. Born to a German Jewish mother, , and a Polish Jewish father, Sol Filler who was a survivor of Plascow, Auschwitz, Buchenwald and Thereisenstadt concentration camps...
, solo performer - Les Freres CorbusierLes Freres CorbusierLes Freres Corbusier is a New York based theatre company, founded in 2003 by three then-recent Yale graduates – Alex Timbers, Aaron Lemon-Strauss, and Jennifer Rogien. It is currently led by Artistic Director Timbers.-Productions:...
, performance group - David GordonDavid Gordon (dance)David Gordon is a dancer, choreographer, writer, actor and theatrical director prominent in the world of postmodern dance and performance. Based in New York City, Gordon's work has been seen in major performance venues across the United States, Europe, South America and Japan, and has appeared on...
, director/choreographer/writer - Tony KushnerTony KushnerAnthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
, writer
- Theater MituTheater Mitu"Founded in 1997, Theater Mitu has earned a wide reputation as an adventuresome and dynamic ensemble of artists. Under the leadership of artistic director Rubén Polendo, the Company is dedicated to transliterating a wide variety of performance traditions, exploring theatrical form, and supporting...
, performance group, company-in-residence - Jonathan LarsonJonathan LarsonJonathan Larson was an American composer and playwright noted for the serious social issues of multiculturalism, addiction, and homophobia explored in his work. Typical examples of his use of these themes are found in his works, Rent and tick, tick... BOOM!...
, writer/composer - Charles L. MeeCharles L. MeeCharles L. Mee is an American playwright, historian and author known for his collage-like style of playwriting, which makes use of radical reconstructions of found texts.-Early Life and Early Career:...
, writer - Will PowerWill PowerWilliam Steven Power is an Australian motorsport driver, who currently competes in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske.-Australian Racing:...
, writer - Paul RudnickPaul RudnickPaul M. Rudnick is an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. His plays include I Hate Hamlet, Jeffrey, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Valhalla and The New Century. He also wrote for Premiere magazine under the pseudonym Libby Gelman-Waxner, and for Spy.Rudnick grew up in Piscataway...
, writer - Claudia ShearClaudia ShearClaudia Shear is an American actress and playwright.The Brooklyn-born Shear first came to prominence with her 1994 self-penned solo performance piece Blown Sideways Through Life, which enjoyed a run of 221 performances at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre and won her an Obie Award and a Drama...
, writer/performer - Ivo Van HoveIvo van HoveIvo van Hove is a Belgian theater director best known as the artistic director of Toneelgroep Amsterdam in The Netherlands as well as for his avant garde experimental theater productions on Off-Broadway.-Career:...
, director - Naomi WallaceNaomi WallaceNaomi Wallace is a playwright, screenwriter and poet from Prospect, Kentucky, United States.-Life:Wallace obtained her Bachelor of Arts from Hampshire College and did graduate studies at the University of Iowa....
, writer - Doug WrightDoug WrightDoug Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2004 for his play, I Am My Own Wife.-Early years:Wright was born in Dallas, Texas...
, writer/performer - UNIVERSES, writers/performance ensemble