New York Theatre Workshop
79 East 4th Street | East Village | built 1944
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The city photographed every building for its tax records around 1940 and again in the 1980s. NYC Municipal Archives.
Written with AI from the source each entry cites, then fact-checked.
- 1944
Washton Realty builds an industrial building at 79-81 East 4th Street to Herman Kron's design
The brick structure at 79-81 East 4th Street goes up in 1944 for Washton Realty Corporation, designed by the architect Herman Kron for industrial use. It stands on lot 46 of block 460.
- 1969
Bruce Mailman opens the Truck & Warehouse Theater in a one-story building on East 4th Street
Bruce Mailman, an East Village entrepreneur and a leading gay advocate, opened the Truck & Warehouse Theater here in 1969. It became one of several small Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway houses on East 4th Street, near La MaMa at number 74 and other stages at numbers 83 and 85. The Landmarks Preservation Commission counts the street's cluster of small theaters among the ways artists and bohemians settled the western East Village.
“Bruce Mailman, a leading gay East Village entrepreneur and advocate, opened the Truck & Warehouse Theater at 79 East 4th Street in 1969.”
- 1971
John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves opens at the Truck and Warehouse Theatre and runs 337 performances
Mel Shapiro directed the original Off-Broadway production, with Katherine Helmond, Anne Meara, Harold Gould, Frank Converse and William Atherton in the cast. It ran for 337 performances and won both the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award and the Obie for best American play. Helmond also received a Clarence Derwent Award for her performance.
“Opened February 10, 1971 at the Truck and Warehouse Theatre; 337 performances; Drama Critics' Circle Award and Obie Award for Best American Play.”
Source: Wikipedia
- 1992
New York Theatre Workshop buys the building and moves in, two decades after the Chicago Project took over the theater
In 1972 the Chicago Project, a New York theater group, assumed control of the former Truck & Warehouse space. In 1992 New York Theatre Workshop bought the building and opened its home here. The Landmarks Preservation Commission's building notes record both changes, along with the 1996 premiere of Rent on the premises.
- 1993
Jonathan Larson's Rent has its first staged reading at New York Theatre Workshop
In fall 1992 Larson brought a tape and script of Rent to the company's artistic director, James Nicola. The first staged reading followed in March 1993, and it exposed structural problems in the long, complicated show. A two-week workshop in 1994 featured Anthony Rapp in the role of Mark and Daphne Rubin-Vega as Mimi, and Larson kept revising for another year.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1995
Mitchell Kurtz gives a 1944 one-story brick building a new facade and roofline for the theater
Herman Kron designed the one-story brick building in 1944 for Washton Realty Corporation. In 1995 architect Mitchell Kurtz altered it for New York Theatre Workshop, adding the present facade and roofline, a signboard, lighting and security gates. The building is within the East Village/Lower East Side Historic District, designated in 2012.
- 1995
Mitchell Kurtz remakes the building as the home of New York Theatre Workshop
In 1995 the architect Mitchell Kurtz alters the 1944 building for New York Theatre Workshop, which becomes its owner. The present facade and roof line date from this work, along with a signboard, lighting and security gates.
- 1996
Jonathan Larson dies hours before Rent's first preview, and the company sings the show through in his memory
Larson gave his first and only newspaper interview after the final dress rehearsal on January 24, 1996, and died of an aortic dissection early the next morning. Friends and family gathered at the theater, and the first preview became a sing-through of the score. Rent opened on January 26, sold out its run in the small house, and moved to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre on April 29.
Source: Wikipedia
- 1996
Rent begins its off-Broadway run at New York Theatre Workshop just after Jonathan Larson's death
Rent begins performances at New York Theatre Workshop on January 26, 1996. Its creator Jonathan Larson has died suddenly of an aortic dissection on January 25. The show sells out its run at the 150-seat theater and moves to Broadway's Nederlander Theatre, opening there on April 29, 1996.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2011
Once opens off-Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop before heading to Broadway
The stage adaptation of the film Once has its off-Broadway debut here on December 6, 2011, after previews that began on November 15. Directed by John Tiffany, it stars Steve Kazee and Cristin Milioti. The run goes through January 15, 2012, and the show then transfers to Broadway.
“…made its Off-Broadway debut on 6 December 2011, following previews from 15 November…”
Source: Wikipedia
- 2016
Hadestown premieres here under Rachel Chavkin's direction
Anaïs Mitchell's musical Hadestown has its off-Broadway premiere at New York Theatre Workshop in May 2016, directed by Rachel Chavkin. The run lasts through July 31. After productions in Edmonton and London, the show reaches Broadway in 2019 and wins eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical.
Source: Wikipedia
- 2018
Jeremy O. Harris's Slave Play debuts at New York Theatre Workshop
Slave Play, which Jeremy O. Harris first wrote as a student at Yale School of Drama, has its major-stage debut here on November 19, 2018, in a staging directed by Robert O'Hara. On October 6, 2019, it opens on Broadway at the John Golden Theatre, and it receives 12 Tony nominations.
“…debuted on a major stage on November 19, 2018, in an Off-Broadway New York Theatre Workshop staging directed by Robert O'Hara…”
Source: Wikipedia
Further reading
- New York Theatre WorkshopWikipedia
- 79 East 4th Street; 79-81 East 4th StreetVillage Preservation: East Village Building Blocks
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