Theater for the New City, founded in 1971 and known familiarly as "TNC", is one of New York City's leading

off-off-Broadway Off-off-Broadway theaters are smaller New York City theaters than Broadway theatre, Broadway and off-Broadway theaters, and usually have fewer than 100 seats. The off-off-Broadway movement began in 1958 as part of a response to perceived commerc ...

theaters, known for radical political plays and community commitment. Productions at TNC have won 43

Obie Awards The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

and the

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

for Drama. TNC currently exists as a 4-theater complex in a space at 155 First Avenue, in the East Village of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

History

1970s

Crystal Field and

George Bartenieff George Michael Bartenieff (January 24, 1933 – July 30, 2022) was an American stage and film actor. He was noted both for his character roles in commercial and non-commercial films and on television, and for his work in the avant-garde theatr ...

founded Theater for the New City in 1971 with Theo Barnes and

Lawrence Kornfeld Lawrence Kornfeld (May 21, 1930 – August 14, 2023) was an American theater director known for his off-off-Broadway and underground theater performances in New York City. He was an artistic director of The Living Theater in the late 1950s and ...

, who was the Resident Director of

Judson Poets Theatre The Judson Memorial Church is located on Washington Square South between Thompson Street and Sullivan Street, near Gould Plaza, opposite Washington Square Park, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of the New York City borough of Manhattan ...

, where the four had met. Feeling that

had peaked,Interview with George Bartenieff,
The Long Run: A Performer's Life
, New York Foundation for the Arts, summer 2003. they decided to form a theater of their own for poetic work that would also encompass a community ideal. The impulse to form a company coincided with the availability of a space at the

Westbeth Artists Community Westbeth Artists Housing is a non-profit housing, nonprofit housing and commercial complex dedicated to providing affordable living and working space for artists and New York City arts organizations, arts organizations in New York City. The comp ...

in the

West Village The West Village is a neighborhood in the western section of the larger Greenwich Village neighborhood of Lower Manhattan, New York City. The West Village is bounded by the Hudson River to the west and 14th Street (Manhattan), 14th Street to ...

. Bartenieff, Field, Barnes and Kornfeld named their new company "Theater for the New City" after a speech in which then-mayor

John V. Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, the mayor of New York City, and a candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regu ...

envisioned a "new city" for all. The theater officially opened in March 1971. Its initial two seasons included plays by

Richard Foreman Richard Foreman (born Edward L. Friedman; June 10, 1937 – January 4, 2025) was an American avant-garde experimental playwright and the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater. Though highly original and singular, his work was influenced by ...

Charles Ludlam Charles Braun Ludlam (April 12, 1943May 28, 1987) was an American actor, director, and playwright. Biography Early life Ludlam was born in Floral Park, New York, the son of Marjorie (née Braun) and Joseph William Ludlam. He was raised in ...

Miguel Piñero Miguel Piñero (December 19, 1946 – June 16, 1988) was a Puerto Rican born American playwright, actor and co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Café. He was a leading member of the Nuyorican literary movement. Early years Piñero was born on ...

and

Jean-Claude van Itallie Jean-Claude van Itallie (May 25, 1936 – September 9, 2021) was a Belgian-born American playwright, performer, and theatre workshop teacher. He is best known for his 1966 anti-Vietnam War play '' America Hurrah;'' ''The Serpent'', an ensemble p ...

. Theater for the New City also began its Annual Summer

Street Theater Street theatre is a form of theatrical performance and presentation in outdoor public spaces without a specific paying audience. These spaces can be anywhere, including shopping centres, car parks, recreational reserves, college or university ...

, and founded the Village Halloween Parade with puppeteer Ralph Lee. The Parade won an

Obie Award The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given since 1956 by ''The Village Voice'' newspaper to theater artists and groups involved in off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in New York City. Starting just after th ...

under TNC administration, but a desire to be much more commercially viable than TNC's anti-establishment spirit would allow caused Ralph Lee to form his own Parade Committee and split from TNC in 1973. TNC subsequently inaugurated its ''Village Halloween Costume Ball'', which it still holds to this day. TNC saw some major changes in its first year. Kornfeld and Barnes resigned, leaving Bartenieff as Executive Director and Field as Artistic Director. TNC also moved from

and found a new home in the Jane West, a former seaman's hotel at 113 Jane Street, in a run-down area of the

by the

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

. Theater for the New City played a large part in rehabilitating the neighborhood, and the theater it created would later be known as the

Jane Street Theater The Jane is a boutique hotel at 505–507 West Street, on the northeastern corner with Jane Street, in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was constructed in 1908 by the American Seaman's Friend Society (ASFS) as a ...

and house successes such as ''

Hedwig and the Angry Inch Hedwig and the Angry Inch may refer to: * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (musical), 1998 ** ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (soundtrack), 1999 * ''Hedwig and the Angry Inch'' (film), 2001 {{disambig ...

''. During its time at the Jane West, Theater for the New City cemented its reputation for being the most avant of

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

theater, offering radical political plays, experimental poetic works,

dance theater Concert dance (also known as performance dance or theatre dance in the United Kingdom) is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and perf ...

musical theater Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, moveme ...

and even film.

Mabou Mines Mabou Mines is an experimental theatre company founded in 1970 and based in New York City. Founding and history Mabou Mines was founded by David Warrilow, Lee Breuer, Ruth Maleczech, JoAnne Akalaitis, and Philip Glass, at the house of Akalaiti ...

found a home at Theater for the New City as did playwrights such as Romulus Linney,

Harvey Fierstein Harvey Forbes Fierstein ( ; born June 6, 1952) is an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter, known for his distinctive gravelly voice. He gained notice for his theater work in '' Torch Song Trilogy'', winning both the Tony Award for Best ...

, H. M. Koutoukas, Arthur Sainer,

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn ...

, and

Maria Irene Fornes Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

. A musical adaptation of

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry Antoine Marie Jean-Baptiste Roger, vicomte de Saint-Exupéry (29 June 1900 – 31 July 1944), known simply as Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (, , ), was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator. Born in Lyon to an French nobility, aristocratic ...

’s ''

The Little Prince ''The Little Prince'' (, ) is a novella written and illustrated by French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. It was first published in English and French in the United States by Reynal & Hitchcock in April 1943 and was published po ...

'' in 1973 featured a young

Tim Robbins Timothy Francis Robbins (born October 16, 1958) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Andy Dufresne in the film '' The Shawshank Redemption ''(1994), and Jacob Singer in '' Jacob's Ladder'' (1990), as well as winning an Academy ...

in the title role. The 1976 play ''Dinosaur Door'' by

Barbara Garson Barbara Garson (born July 7, 1941) is an American playwright and author, perhaps best known for the 1966 play '' MacBird!'' Education and personal life Garson attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a B.A. specializi ...

featured a young

Vin Diesel Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor and film producer. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for portraying Dominic "Dom" Toretto in the '' Fast & Furious'' fra ...

. In 1977, the theater moved from the West Village to the East Village, converting a former Tabernacle Baptist church at 156 2nd Avenue, near East 10th Street, into a cultural complex with a rehearsal room and three theaters named after

Joe Cino Joseph Cino (November 16, 1931 – April 2, 1967), was an Italian-American theatre producer. The Off-Off-Broadway theatre movement is generally credited to have begun at Cino's Caffe Cino in the West Village, West Village of Manhattan. Caffe Cin ...

, Charles Stanley and James Waring. Notable productions in the late 1970s and 1980s include the American premiere of two of

Heiner Muller __NOTOC__ Heiner is a German male name, a diminutive of Heinrich, and also a surname. Given name * Heiner Backhaus (born 1982), football player *Heiner Baltes (born 1949), football player * Heiner Brand (born 1952), West German handball player ...

’s plays, ''

Hamletmachine ''Hamletmachine'' () is a postmodernist drama by German playwright and theatre director Heiner Müller, loosely based on ''Hamlet'' by William Shakespeare. It was written in 1977, and is related to a translation of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet'' that M ...

'' in 1984 and ''Quartett'' in 1985; and ''

Buried Child ''Buried Child'' is a play written by Sam Shepard that was first presented in 1978. It won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and launched Shepard to national fame as a playwright. The play depicts the fragmentation of the American nuclear family ...

'' by

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American playwright, actor, director, screenwriter, and author whose career spanned half a century. He wrote 58 plays as well as several books of short stories, essays, ...

in 1978. The Theater for the New City production of ''

'' moved

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

to the

Theatre de Lys The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior design is large ...

and in 1979, and became the first off-off-Broadway play to win the

1980s-1990s

Rent in New York City began to increase exponentially in the early 1980s and Theater for the New City was forced to find another home in 1984 after its rent increased 300%. With the help of

Bess Myerson Bess Myerson (July 16, 1924 – December 14, 2014) was an American politician, model, and television actress who in 1945 became the first Jewish Miss America. Her achievement, in the aftermath of the Holocaust, was seen as an affirmation of th ...

Ruth Messinger Ruth Wyler Messinger (born November 6, 1940) is a former American political leader in New York City and a member of the Democratic Party. She was the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City in 1997, losing to incumbent mayor Rudy Giulian ...

and

David Dinkins David Norman Dinkins (July 10, 1927 – November 23, 2020) was an American politician, lawyer, and author who served as the 106th mayor of New York City from 1990 to 1993. Dinkins was among the more than 20,000 Montford Point Marine Associa ...

, the theater was able to purchase an underutilized former WPA building one block east at 155 First Avenue in 1986. The first Halloween Ball to take place in the new location was held in tents pitched on 10th Street because a Certificate of Occupancy hadn't yet been obtained. Refusing to close doors during renovation, TNC threw up two interim theater spaces, which like its predecessors in the 2nd Avenue building, were named after off-off-Broadway founders

and Charles Stanley. The first completed theater was created with the help of sculptor

John Seward Johnson II John Seward Johnson II (April 16, 1930 – March 10, 2020), also known as J. Seward Johnson Jr. and Seward Johnson, was an American artist known for ''trompe-l'œil'' painted bronze statues. He was a grandson of Robert Wood Johnson I, the co-found ...

of the

Johnson & Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American multinational pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Its common stock is a c ...

family and his wife Joyce. In honor of its benefactors, it was named the ''Joyce and Seward Johnson Theater''. It is currently one of the largest theaters off-off-Broadway. Renovation of the building was finally completed in 2001. Responding to the homeless problem of the late 1980s and government cutbacks in the arts, TNC created an after school Arts-in-Education program for shelter children in 1990. Budget cuts also forced the theater to reluctantly raise its admission prices from $4 to $5–$7 in 1993 ($7 was then the price of a movie ticket) and then to $10 in 1994. The current cap on ticket prices is $20. Other major changes in this period include the resignation of George Bartenieff in 1992. Crystal Field remains as Executive Artistic Director.

Current status and events

TNC continues to produce 30-40 new plays per year, along with its Annual Summer Street Theater, the Annual Village Halloween Costume Ball and the Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, which was created in 1996 to celebrate the ethnic and artistic diversity of TNC's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

neighborhood. From 2006 to 2008, TNC presented the NY Uke Fest, a 4 night, 3 day celebration of ukulele music, under the direction of Uke Jackson and the New York Ukulele Ensemble. Many first generation off-off-Broadway

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

s continue to present their work at TNC, among them

Charles Busch Charles Louis Busch (born August 23, 1954) is an American actor, screenwriter, playwright and drag queen, known for his appearances on stage in his own camp style plays and in film and television. He wrote and starred in his early plays off-off- ...

(who premiered his plays ''Shanghai Moon'' at TNC in 1999, ''The Divine Sister'' in 2010, and ''

Judith of Bethulia ''Judith of Bethulia'' (1914) is an American film starring Blanche Sweet and Henry B. Walthall, and produced and directed by D. W. Griffith, based on the play "Judith and the Holofernes" (1896) by Thomas Bailey Aldrich, which itself was an ada ...

'' in 2012),

and

Tom O'Horgan Tom O'Horgan (May 3, 1924 – January 11, 2009) was an American theater and film director, composer, actor and musician. He is best known for his Broadway work as director of the hit musicals ''Hair'' and ''Jesus Christ Superstar''. During his c ...

. More recent TNC alumni include

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

-winning director

Moises Kaufman Moises or Moisés is a male name common among people of Iberian origin. It is the Spanish, Portuguese and Tagalog equivalent of the name Moses. Notable people bearing the name include: * Moisés (footballer, born 1948) (1948–2008), Brazilian ...

, who directed his first American plays at TNC after emigrating from his native

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...

winner Gao Xinjian, whose first play in America was staged at TNC in 1997. Other notable playwrights to have their work presented at TNC include Bina Sharif, Barbara Kahn, Laurence Holder,

Raymond J. Barry Raymond John Barry (born March 14, 1939) is an American film, television, and stage actor. He was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male for his performance in the film '' Steel City''. Personal life Raymond John Ba ...

, Trav S.D. and Matt Morillo. TNC continues to be a haven for Emerging playwrights, and in 2006, a play reading series, ''New City, New Blood'', was created in order to further showcase new works. In addition to their Community Festivals, several outside groups are presented at TNC. Annually, the

Bread & Puppet Theater The Bread and Puppet Theater (often known simply as Bread & Puppet) is a politically radical puppet theater, active since the 1960s, based in Glover, Vermont. The theater was co-founded by Elka and Peter Schumann. Schumann is the artistic directo ...

and the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers are presented by TNC, and each December, noted Playwright and TNC Alum

holds a staged reading of his play '' Times Square Angel''. In 2004, TNC began holding an annual

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

Benefit. The ''Love N' Courage'' Benefit is held on a Monday night, near Valentine's Day. Beginning in 2007, this benefit is held at

The National Arts Club The National Arts Club is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and members club on Gramercy Park, Manhattan, New York City. It was founded in 1898 by Charles DeKay, an art and literary critic of the ''New York Times'', to "stimulate, foster, and promote publ ...

. The event, presented in a pageant style, is meant as a fundraiser for TNC, and has honored friends of TNC, patrons of the arts, and, in 2006, the City of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. TNC donated a portion of the proceeds raised from this Benefit to Southern Rep, a theater company in New Orleans whose space was destroyed in the floods resulting from

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

. This event often features a star-studded lineup of performers; it has been hosted by

and

Julie Halston Julie Halston (born December 7, 1954) is an American actress and comedian who appeared on television, film, and theatre. She received four Drama Desk Award nominations for her Broadway performances, and in 2020 was awarded the Isabelle Stevenson ...

, and performers have included

Kitty Carlisle Hart Kitty Carlisle Hart (born Catherine Conn; September 3, 1910 – April 17, 2007) was an American stage and screen actress, opera singer, television personality and spokesperson for the arts. She was the leading lady in the Marx Brothers movie '' ...

Elaine Stritch Elaine Stritch (February 2, 1925 – July 17, 2014) was an American actress, singer, and comedienne, known for her work on Broadway and later, television. She made her professional stage debut in 1944 and appeared in numerous stage plays, music ...

Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal; January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. She is well known for, among other roles, playing World WarII widow Helen Benson in ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' (195 ...

Tammy Grimes Tammy Lee Grimes (January 30, 1934 – October 30, 2016) was an American film and stage actress and singer. Grimes won two Tony Awards in her career, the first for originating the role of Molly Tobin in the musical '' The Unsinkable Molly Brow ...

, F. Murray Abraham,

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach ( ; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. Known for his character actor roles, his entertainment career spanned over six decades. He received a British Aca ...

and

Anne Jackson Anne Jackson (September 3, 1925 – April 12, 2016); retrieved April 16, 2016Archivedfrom the original on April 16, 2016. was an American actress of stage, screen, and television. She was the wife of actor Eli Wallach, with whom she often co-sta ...

. The 2008 benefit honored playwright

Edward Albee Edward Franklin Albee III ( ; March 12, 1928 – September 16, 2016) was an American playwright known for works such as ''The Zoo Story'' (1958), ''The Sandbox (play), The Sandbox'' (1959), ''Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), ''A Delicat ...

and included performances by

Marian Seldes Marian Hall Seldes (August 23, 1928 – October 6, 2014) was an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for '' A Delicate Balance'' in 1967, and received subsequent nominations ...

, Basil Twist and

Bill Irwin William Mills Irwin (born April 11, 1950) is an American actor, choreographer, clown, and comedian. He began as a vaudeville-style stage performer and has been noted for his contribution to the renaissance of American circus during the 1970s. ...

. The 2009 benefit honored

and in 2010,

and

were honored. In 2012, TNC honored the 100th birthday of

Bel Kaufman Bella Kaufman (May 10, 1911 – July 25, 2014) was an American teacher and author, well known for writing the bestselling 1964 novel ''Up the Down Staircase.'' Early life Bella's father, Michael Kaufman (Mikhail Y. Koyfman) and her mother, Lal ...

. The benefit in 2013 will honor

. TNC is featured in the 2007

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

-nominated film '' The Savages''. TNC announced in January 2013 that the

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...

on their space at 155 1st Avenue, which had begun in 1987 at $717,000, had been retired, 5 years ahead of schedule, thanks to a two-year "Burn The Mortgage" campaign that included widespread support from individual donors and independent foundations. This ensures TNC will remain a permanent fixture on the landscape of Theater in New York City.

Programs

Through its Resident Theater Program, TNC produces 20-30 new American plays per year, providing a forum for both new and mid-career writers to experiment with their work and develop as artists. For newer writers, TNC offers an Emerging Theater Program that commissions and produces 10 plays by fledgling writers each year. The newest division of the Resident Theater Program, New City, New Blood, is a reading series for worthy plays in earlier stages of development. Scratch Night at TNC (works-in-progress) is a new program that invites artists to try out their ideas in front of an audience at any stage of development. The Annual Summer Street Theater Tour is a free

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...

-for-the-streets that tours 13 locations in all 5 boroughs of New York City. Begun in the early 1970s and embodying the

grassroots A grassroots movement is one that uses the people in a given district, region or community as the basis for a political or continent movement. Grassroots movements and organizations use collective action from volunteers at the local level to imp ...

ideals of that decade, Street Theater aims to raise social awareness in the communities it performs in, creating civic dialogue that inspires a better understanding of the world beyond the communities' geographic boundaries. Written and directed by Crystal Field, TNC's Street Theater features a company of 50 and performs on Weekends in Parks, Playgrounds, Closed-off streets and the like. In 1983, a spokesman for the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs praised the theater's work as "a very valuable asset for the people of this city." The Presenting Theater Program is TNC's vehicle to providing a showcase for performing groups without a permanent base. Each winter, the Presenting Program hosts

, the oldest continuing

experimental theater Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particular ...

company in America and the Thunderbird American Indian Dance Concert and

pow-wow A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity for Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their ...

, which offers ritual and social dances from 17 tribes throughout the United States. TNC's Arts in Education program was developed specifically to foster communication and self-esteem in at-risk and limited English proficient students. It has served P.S. 20, JHS 64, the Regents Family Shelter and the Catherine Street Shelter, and currently consists of a free After School Theater Workshop for low-income Lower East Side children. The Community Festival Program consists of two free annual events, the Village Halloween Costume Ball and th
Lower East Side Festival of the Arts
The

Halloween Halloween, or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve), is a celebration geography of Halloween, observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christianity, Western Christian f ...

Ball showcases over 450 artists and performers at a multi-level theatrical event, with performances that spill out onto the street. The Lower East Side Festival of the Arts is a free three-day weekend long extravaganza celebrating the cultural and artistic diversity of the

. This event has grown tenfold since its inception in 1996, and is currently attended by over 3,000 people annually. TNC's Art Gallery grew out of the annual art exhibit for the Lower East Side Festival of the Arts, and is now a year-round program of curated shows. Theater for the New City's annual summer performance festival known as Dream Up Festival started in 2010. The festival is dedicated to new works and performances run in August and September. Theater for the New City is looking for the best writing and or most original concepts to present to New York City.

Facility

Theater for the New City and New Theater Building

TNC's permanent home is the former First Avenue Retail Market created in 1938 by

Fiorello LaGuardia Fiorello Henry La Guardia (born Fiorello Raffaele Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as the 99th mayor of New Y ...

to take pushcart peddlers off the streets. TNC purchased the building in 1986, but to its later regret, was not able to purchase the

air rights In real estate, air rights are the property interest in the "space" above the Earth's surface. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building includes the right to use and build in the space above the land without interference by oth ...

above the one-story facility. After moving into the space in September 1986. it created two interim theaters to continue production while raising the $2 million needed for renovation funds. The building currently consists of four theaters:

Seward and Joyce Johnson Theater

The Seward and Joyce Johnson Theater was the first theater to finish renovation in 1991. Funding for the theater was provided by sculptor

of the

Johnson and Johnson Johnson & Johnson (J&J) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Pharmaceutical industry, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and Medical device, medical technologies corporation headquartered in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and publi ...

family, and his wife Joyce. Johnson designed and created the silver archway into the theater. One of the largest theaters off-off-Broadway, and the only space that can be used as a 99-seat off-off-Broadway theater or be transformed into a 240-seat off-Broadway theater, the Johnson Theater opened in 1991 with ''Grandchild of Kings'' by

Hal Prince Harold Smith Prince (born Harold Smith; January 30, 1928 – July 31, 2019), commonly known as Hal Prince, was an American theatre director and producer known for his work in musical theatre. One of the foremost figures in 20th-century theatr ...

. The theater is used for large-scale productions, including the annual Bread & Puppet nativity during the holiday season and an annual

coordinated by the Thunderbird American Indian Dancers.

Cino Theater

The Cino Theater is named after

and is the third space in TNC's history to bear Cino's name. A long and shallow theater with 74 seats, the Cino Theater is TNC's most modifiable space, and has been at times arranged as a

thrust stage In theatre, a thrust stage (a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the ...

and an arena stage. The Cino Theater is slated for a full renovation in the near future, which will include leveling of the floor, fully-moveable seating and a balcony performance area.

Cabaret Theater

The Cabaret Theater was renovated along with TNC's basement in 1959 and at 65 seats is TNC's smallest theater. An ersatz-Black Box type space, one-person plays and late-night cabarets often use this space, which as The Womb Room during the Annual Halloween Ball, showcases work by new performance artists and musicians.

Community Space Theater

The Community Space Theater was the last theater to be renovated in 2001. It has 91 seats and a sprung wood dance floor. Initially, this space consisted of risers and a stage concealed from the lobby by a heavy black curtain. During the renovation of 2001, an outer wall was added, and a formal dressing room was created as well.

Lobby Space and basement

TNC's Lobby Space is used as an Art Gallery year-round, and also contains a small concession stand which is open during performances. TNC's Basement houses the Theater's vast collection of Costumes and Props.

Controversy

The renovation of Theater for the New City came at a great cost to its relationship with the community in 2000 when Mayor

Rudolph Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General fr ...

sold the

above the theater (which the city had retained) to a developer. TNC was at that time in default of a loan borrowed against a pledged grant from the Manhattan Borough President's Office, which never materialized. The City put a lien against TNC in 1997 and unable to find a major donor to pay off the $519,634 lien, TNC was forced to agree to the construction of a 12-story tower above their space in order to have the lien forgiven. The

Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...

ian deal was somewhat sweetened by giving TNC an extension on their mortgage and allowing the theater to have one seat on the condo board. Being vastly taller than the 6-story

tenement A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, E ...

buildings prevalent in the Lower East Side, the condo tower was seen as a threat to the character of the neighborhood and construction in 2000 occurred amidst great protest. The tower became even more of a controversy when the developer hired non-union workers to build the tower.

References

Notes

External links

Theater for the New City official websiteTheater for the New City on Facebook15 photos from Robert Patrick’s TNC play, “Orpheus and Amerika”58 photos from Robert Patrick’s TNC play, “The Beaux Arts Ball”
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Dreaming Up New Roles for PerformanceTheater for the New City Hits the Streets
(ALL ARTS) {{Authority control Theatres in Manhattan Performance art in New York City East Village, Manhattan Off-off-Broadway 1971 establishments in New York City Theatres completed in 1971 First Avenue (Manhattan)