The Cherry Lane Theatre is the oldest continuously running

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 th ...

theater in New York City. The theater is located at 38 Commerce Street between Barrow and Bedford Streets 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 traditional boundaries of the West Village are the Hudson River to the west, West 14th Street to t ...

neighborhood of

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. The Cherry Lane contains a 179-seat main stage and a 60-seat studio.Lee, Felicia R. (December 21, 2010
"Cherry Lane Theater Artistic Director to Leave and Sell Building"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. Retrieved December 24, 2010
WebCitation archive

History

The building was constructed as a farm silo in 1817, and also served as a brewery, tobacco warehouse and box factory before Evelyn Vaughn, William S. Rainey, Reginald Travers & Edna St. Vincent Millay converted the structure into a theater they christened the Cherry Lane Playhouse. It opened in 1923. Its first reviewed show was ''Saturday Night'' by Robert Presnell, which opened on February 9, 1924."The 1920's"
Cherry Lane Theatre website This was followed by the plays ''The Man Who Ate Popomack'', by W. J. Turner, directed by Reginald Travers, on March 24, 1924; and ''The Way of the World'' by William Congreve, produced by the Cherry Lane Players Inc., opening November 17, 1924. The theatre received a significant makeover in 1954 when it acquired much of the expensive furnishings sold off by

Rockefeller Center Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commerce, commercial buildings covering between 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street and 51st Street (Manhattan), 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco ...

's failing Center Theatre. The Cherry Lane Theatre has long been a home for nontraditional and

experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

works. Particularly during the 1950s and '60s, it hosted many

avant garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

performances that were identified with the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

. It regularly staged works by playwrights associated with the Theatre of the Absurd, including one of the first productions of

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic ex ...

's ''

Endgame Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to: Film * ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film) * ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film * ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...

'' in 1957. The modernist stage company The Living Theatre was in residence in 1951 and 1952, performing rarities like

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th century, he is ...

's '' Desire Caught by the Tail''. Occasionally the theatre even hosted musical performances, providing a venue for

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

long before their ascensions to fame. A succession of major American plays were produced at the theater, by writers including

F. Scott Fitzgerald Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald (September 24, 1896 – December 21, 1940) was an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. He is best known for his novels depicting the flamboyance and excess of the Jazz Age—a term he popularize ...

John Dos Passos John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his ''U.S.A.'' trilogy. Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a young man, visit ...

, and

Elmer Rice Elmer Rice (born Elmer Leopold Reizenstein, September 28, 1892 – May 8, 1967) was an American playwright. He is best known for his plays ''The Adding Machine'' (1923) and his Pulitzer Prize-winning drama of New York tenement life, ''Street Sce ...

in the 1920s;

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

, Seán O'Casey,

Clifford Odets Clifford Odets (July 18, 1906 – August 14, 1963) was an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. In the mid-1930s, he was widely seen as the potential successor to Nobel Prize-winning playwright Eugene O'Neill, as O'Neill began to withdra ...

, W. H. Auden,

Gertrude Stein Gertrude Stein (February 3, 1874 – July 27, 1946) was an American novelist, poet, playwright, and art collector. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny West (Pittsburgh), Allegheny West neighborhood and raised in Oakland, Calif ...

Luigi Pirandello Luigi Pirandello (; 28 June 1867 – 10 December 1936) was an Italian dramatist, novelist, poet, and short story writer whose greatest contributions were his plays. He was awarded the 1934 Nobel Prize in Literature for "his almost magical power ...

, and

William Saroyan William Saroyan (; August 31, 1908 – May 18, 1981) was an Armenian-American novelist, playwright, and short story writer. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1940, and in 1943 won the Academy Award for Best Story for the film ''Th ...

in the 1940s; Samuel Beckett,

T. S. Eliot Thomas Stearns Eliot (26 September 18884 January 1965) was a poet, essayist, publisher, playwright, literary critic and editor.Bush, Ronald. "T. S. Eliot's Life and Career", in John A Garraty and Mark C. Carnes (eds), ''American National Biogr ...

, Jean Anouilh, and

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...

in the 1950s;

Harold Pinter Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that span ...

, LeRoi Jones, Eugène Ionesco,

Terrence McNally Terrence McNally (November 3, 1938 – March 24, 2020) was an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Described as "the bard of American theater" and "one of the greatest contemporary playwrights the theater world has yet produced," ...

, Lanford Wilson, and Lorraine Hansberry, in the 1960s, as well as

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'' (1959), '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?'' (1962), '' A Delicate Balance'' (196 ...

, staging a large number of his plays;"History: 1960-1969"
, Cherry Lane Theatre and

Sam Shepard Samuel Shepard Rogers III (November 5, 1943 – July 27, 2017) was an American actor, playwright, author, screenwriter, and director whose career spanned half a century. He won 10 Obie Awards for writing and directing, the most by any writ ...

Joe Orton John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known by the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author, and diarist. His public career, from 1964 until his death in 1967, was short but highly influential. During this brie ...

and

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and '' Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first gained cri ...

in the 1970s and 1980s. Beckett's ''Happy Days'' had its world premiere at the Cherry Lane, directed by Alan Schneider, on September 17, 1961.

's '' True West'' premiered at the Cherry Lane on October 17, 1982, starring John Malkovich and Gary Sinise, and produced by Kevin Dowling,

Wayne Adams Wayne Adams, CM ONS (born 1943) is a Canadian former provincial politician who was the first Black Canadian member of the Nova Scotia House of Assembly and cabinet minister. Early life Adams was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1943. Politic ...

and Harold Thau.

1990s

Angelina Fiordellisi bought the theater and the building in 1996 for $1.7 million, and renovated it for $3 million. That year, artistic director Fiordellisi and Susann Brinkley co-founded the Cherry Lane Theatre Company and the Cherry Lane Alternative followed in 1997."History: 1990-1999"
, Cherry Lane Theatre In 1998, Fiordellisi, Brinkley, and playwright Michael Weller co-founded the company's Mentor Project,
Tallmer, Jerry. “In training to train words and Wisteria”. ''The Villager''. May 2, 2007. which matches established dramatists with aspiring playwrights in one-to-one mentoring relationships. Each mentor works with a playwright to perfect a single work during the season-long process, which culminates in a production. Participants have included Pulitzer Prize-winners David Auburn,

Charles Fuller Charles H. Fuller Jr. (March 5, 1939 – October 3, 2022) was an American playwright, best known for his play ''A Soldier's Play'', for which he received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2020 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play. Ea ...

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work '' Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the tu ...

Marsha Norman Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as '' The ...

, Alfred Uhry,

Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North ...

, and Wendy Wasserstein; Pulitzer nominees

A.R. Gurney Albert Ramsdell Gurney Jr. (November 1, 1930 – June 13, 2017) (sometimes credited as Pete Gurney) was an American playwright, novelist and academic. He is known for works including '' The Dining Room'' (1982), '' Sweet Sue'' (1986/7), and '' ...

, David Henry Hwang, Craig Lucas, and Theresa Rebeck; and Obie Award winners Ed Bullins and Lynn Nottage, as mentors. From the outset,

has participated as the Mentor's Mentor by attending Project readings and performances and conducting a yearly Master Class.

2010s

In July 2010, the theater announced a one year hiatus in an effort to tackle mounting debt. In August 2011, Angelina Fiordellisi announced that Cherry Lane Theatre had been able to work off almost all of its debt, and planned to produce again in 2012. Fiordellisi had received hundreds of phone calls and emails and visits from people who were concerned to hear that she was leaving and that the theatre was for sale, and when those people started referring rentals to Cherry Lane, she was able to look ahead and feel more secure about the theatre's financial future. Cherry Lane Theatre began producing new works again with its Obie Award–winning Mentor Project in February 2012. In July 2021, it was announced that the theatre had been sold to the Lucille Lortel Foundation, and Fiordellisi would remain involved with the Cherry Lane Alternative. However, in November, it was announced that the sale to the Lortel Foundation had fallen through, and the theater was back on the market for nearly $13 million.

Productions

Productions staged at the Cherry Lane include '' The Rimers of Eldritch,'' Claudia Shear's ''Blown Sideways Through Life,'' '' Fortune's Fool'' with

Alan Bates Sir Alan Arthur Bates (17 February 1934 – 27 December 2003) was an English actor who came to prominence in the 1960s, when he appeared in films ranging from the popular children's story '' Whistle Down the Wind'' to the " kitchen sink" dram ...

and Frank Langella, ''

The Sum of Us The Sum of Us can refer to: *'' The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together'', a 2021 best-selling political book by Heather McGhee. *'' The Sum of Us (play)'', a 1990 play by Australian writer and director David Stev ...

'' with

Tony Goldwyn Anthony Howard Goldwyn (born May 20, 1960) is an American actor, singer, producer, director, and political activist. He made his debut appearing as Darren in the slasher film '' Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives'' (1986), and had his breakthr ...

, the Richard Maltby Jr./

David Shire David Lee Shire (born July 3, 1937) is an American songwriter and composer of stage musicals, film and television scores. The soundtracks to the 1976 film '' The Big Bus'', '' The Taking of Pelham One Two Three'', '' The Conversation'' and '' ...

musical ''

Closer Than Ever ''Closer Than Ever'' is a musical revue in two acts, with words by Richard Maltby, Jr. and music by David Shire. The revue contains no dialogue, and Maltby and Shire have described this show as a "bookless book musical." The show was originally ...

,''

's '' True West,''

's '' Entertaining Mr. Sloane,''

's '' The Zoo Story,''

John-Michael Tebelak John-Michael Tebelak (September 17, 1949 – April 2, 1985) was an American playwright and director. He is best known for creating the musical ''Godspell'', based on the Gospel of Saint Matthew, with the composer Stephen Schwartz, who wrote ...

and Stephen Schwartz's ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hy ...

,'' Paul Osborn's '' Morning's at Seven,''

Laura Pedersen Laura Pedersen is an American author and playwright. She worked at American Stock Exchange before writing her first book, ''Play Money''. Early life and education Pedersen is the only child of John and Ellen Pedersen. She grew up in Amherst, New ...

's ''The Brightness of Heaven'' (later changed to '' For Heaven's Sake!''), the long-running '' Nunsense'', and David Rimmer's ''Album'', a Pulitzer Prize finalist. Also presented was a 25th-anniversary revival of ''Nunsense,'' running June 15 to July 18, 2010.''History: 2010 and Onward''
, Cherry Lane Theatre

References

External links

Official websiteWebCitation archive
* {{Authority control Off-Broadway theaters Greenwich Village Tobacco buildings in the United States