Lucille Lortel Theatre
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 is largely unchanged to this day.
Theatre de Lys | |
![]() (2013) | |
![]() | |
Address | 121 Christopher Street Manhattan, New York City USA |
---|---|
Owner | Lucille Lortel Foundation |
Type | proscenium |
Capacity | 299 |
Opened | June 9, 1953 |
Website | |
www |
In the early 1950s, the site was converted to an off-Broadway theater as Theatre de Lys, opening on June 9, 1953, with a production of Maya, a play by Simon Gantillon starring Kay Medford, Vivian Matalon, and Susan Strasberg.[1] It closed after seven performances. Much more successful was The Threepenny Opera which opened March 10, 1954, with a cast that included Bea Arthur, John Astin, Lotte Lenya, Leon Lishner, Scott Merrill, Gerald Price, Charlotte Rae and Jo Sullivan.[2] Because of an incoming booking, it was forced to close after 96 performances. Re-opening September 20, 1955, with largely the same cast, The Threepenny Opera this time played until December 17, 1961, a then record-setting run for a musical in New York City.[3]
In 1955, financier Louis Schweitzer acquired the building as an anniversary present for his wife, actress-producer Lucille Lortel. In 1981, the year of her 81st birthday, the theatre was renamed in her honor. After Lortel's death, the theatre was left to the Lucille Lortel Foundation.[4]
Timeline of productions
- 1953: Maya
- 1953: The Scarecrow
- 1953: The School for Scandal
- 1953: The Little Clay Cart
- 1953: Little Red Riding Hood
- 1953: End as a Man
- 1953: The Knight of the Burning Pestle
- 1953: Moon in Capricorn
- 1954: Bullfight
- 1954: The Threepenny Opera
- 1955: The Immortal Husband
- 1955: Teach Me How to Cry
- 1955: The Threepenny Opera
- 1956: Cry, the Beloved Country
- 1956: Lovers, Villains and Fools of Shakespeare
- 1956: U.S.A.
- 1957: The Happy Prince
- 1957: The Birthday of the Infanta
- 1957: Hamlet
- 1957: Pelléas and Mélisande
- 1957: Metamorphosis
- 1957: Candida
- 1957: World Famous Dramatic Recitals
- 1957: Pale Horse, Pale Rider
- 1957: Santa Claus
- 1957: For the Time Being
- 1958: Edward II
- 1958: Guests of the Nation
- 1958: Aria Da Capo
- 1958: Maidens and Mistresses at Home at the Zoo
- 1958: The Catbird Seat
- 1958: Riders to the Sea
- 1958: Blood Wedding
- 1958: Curtains Up
- 1959: Philoctetes (Andre Gide play)
- 1959: Philoctetes (Sophocles play)
- 1959: Sweet Confession
- 1959: I Rise in Flame, Cried the Phoenix
- 1959: Soul Gone Home
- 1959: Shakespeare in Harlem
- 1959: This Music Crept by Me Upon the Waters
- 1959: A Masque of Reason
- 1959: The Purification
- 1959: Glory in the Flower
- 1960: Victims of Duty
- 1960: Notes from the Underground
- 1960: Too Close for Comfort
- 1960: The Gay Apprentice
- 1960: The Coggerers
- 1960: Time to Go
- 1960: Nekros
- 1960: Fam and Yam
- 1960: Embers
- 1960: The Lady Akane
- 1960: Hanjo
- 1960: The Shepherd's Chameleon
- 1964: As You Like It
- 1967: The Viewing, (Lyle Kessler); The Deer Park
- 1968: House of Flowers; Private Lives
- 1969: Dames at Sea
- 1971: Black Girl
- 1973: Moonchildren
- 1976: Eden
- 1981: Cloud 9; A Soldier's Play
- 1984: 'night, Mother
- 1987: Steel Magnolias
- 1990: Falsettoland
- 1992: Lips Together, Teeth Apart; The Destiny of Me
- 1996: The Boys in the Band
- 1997: As Bees In Honey Drown
- 2004: Fat Pig
- 2007: In a Dark Dark House
- 2007: Seussical
- 2008: reasons to be pretty
- 2009: Coraline
- 2012: Carrie
- 2016: The School for Scandal [5]
- 2017: The Lightning Thief
In popular culture
- In 1970, the theatre was used in "Manhattan Manhunt", a first-season episode of McCloud. It used both interior and an exterior shots with the original marquee "Theatre de Lys".
- In 1996–97, for the TV comedy Friends , the theatre was used for the filming of 3 episodes of season 3: episode 19 ("The One with the Tiny T-Shirt"), episode 20 ("The One with the Dollhouse"), and episode 22 ("The One with the Screamer"), which guest-starred Ben Stiller as Rachel's crazy boyfriend Tommy.
References
- Maya, Lucille Lortel Theatre at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- The Threepenny Opera (1954), Lucille Lortel Theatre at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- The Threepenny Opera (1955), Lucille Lortel Theatre at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- "Preserving a Theater Legacy in Westport"
- Review: The School for Scandal by Helen Shaw, Time Out, New York
External links
![]() |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lucille Lortel Theatre. |
- Official website
- Productions, past and future
- Lucille Lortel Theatre at the Internet Broadway Database
- Lucille Lortel Theatre at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Saia, Stephanie (1981). "Lucille Lortel in front of the theatre named for her (formerly the Theatre de Lys)". Digital Collections. NYPL. 484825.