Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (also called Peter Norton Symphony Space) or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings. In addition, Symphony Space provides literacy programs and the Curriculum Arts Project, which integrates performing arts into social studies curricula in

New York City Public Schools The New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is the department of the government of New York City that manages the city's public school system. The City School District of the City of New York (or the New York City Public Schools) is t ...

. Symphony Space traces its beginnings to a free marathon concert, Wall to Wall Bach, held on January 9, 1978, organized by Isaiah Sheffer and Alan Miller. From 1978 to 2001, the theater hosted all of the New York productions by the

New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players (often known as NYGASP) is a professional repertory theatre company, based in New York City that has specialized in the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan for over 40 years. It performs an annual season in N ...

. As of 2010, Symphony Space hosts 600 or more events annually, including an annual free music Wall to Wall marathon;

Bloomsday Bloomsday is a commemoration and celebration of the life of Irish writer James Joyce, observed annually in Dublin and elsewhere on 16 June, the day his 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' takes place in 1904, the date of his first sexual encounter with his ...

on Broadway (celebrating

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...

's ''

Ulysses Ulysses is one form of the Roman name for Odysseus, a hero in ancient Greek literature. Ulysses may also refer to: People * Ulysses (given name), including a list of people with this name Places in the United States * Ulysses, Kansas * Ulysse ...

''); and

Selected Shorts Selected Shorts is an event at New York's Symphony Space on the Upper West Side, in which screen and stage actors read classic and new short fiction before a live audience. The stage show began in 1985 and continues today at Symphony Space's Pet ...

, broadcast nationally over Public Radio International. The New York company of Revels, Inc., also holds its shows there.

Early history of the building

From 1915 to 1917,

Vincent Astor William Vincent Astor (November 15, 1891 – February 3, 1959) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and member of the prominent Astor family. Early life Called Vincent, he was born in New York City on November 15, 1891. Astor was the el ...

spent $750,000 of his personal fortune on the

Astor Market The Astor Market was an indoor public market built in 1915 at 95th Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. It was financed by Vincent Astor with between $750,000 and $1,000,000. History It was designed by ...

, a two-storey mini-mall of stands occupying the southwest corner of 95th and Broadway. The intention was to sell fruit, meat, fish, produce, and flowers at inexpensive prices, achieved through large economies of scale. As was common with Astor's building projects, flamboyance dominated the architecture, including a 290-foot William Mackay sgraffito frieze depicting farmers bringing their goods to market. The market proved a failure. In 1917, Astor sold the market to Thomas J. Healy. The stalls were demolished and the main space was converted into the Crystal Palace, a skating rink, and the smaller basement area became the Sunken Gardens, a restaurant. Both were eventually turned into movie theaters. The rink became Symphony Theater and in 1931 the restaurant was turned into Thalia Theater. Symphony Theater had an undistinguished history, and by the 1970s was used for boxing and wrestling. The site was used for Wall to Wall Bach, and led Sheffer and Miller to lease the building and form Symphony Space.

Thalia Theater

The Thalia Theater was built by the experienced theater architect Raymond Irrera, and his novice assistant, Ben Schlanger. Schlanger introduced numerous innovations, including the "reverse parabolic" design for the floor. After World War II, the Thalia gained a reputation as an arty repertory film theater. Its regular patrons included

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the "New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on R ...

, and

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

. Woody Allen used it in ''

Annie Hall ''Annie Hall'' is a 1977 American satirical romantic comedy-drama film directed by Woody Allen from a screenplay written by him and Marshall Brickman, and produced by Allen's manager, Charles H. Joffe. The film stars Allen as Alvy Singer, w ...

'

The Thalia closed in 1987, its future clouded by disputes between Symphony Space and various developers. After Symphony Space won, the Thalia reopened briefly in 1993 and again in 1996. In 1999, Sheffer had the Art Deco interior gutted as unsalvageable, angering some neighborhood preservationists. The interior was used as a staging area for construction of a 22-story apartment building above Symphony Space. Afterwards the interior was rebuilt as a theater again, and in 2002 the space was re-opened as the

Leonard Nimoy Leonard Simon Nimoy (; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original ''Star Trek'' series in 1966, then ...

Thalia, acknowledging the actor's financing.

References

External links

Symphony Space official website

Symphony Space on NYC ARTS

Symphony Space on NYCkidsARTSSymphony Space records, 1978-2016
Music Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

Isaiah Sheffer Papers, 1891-2013 (bulk 1937-2012)
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

{{Authority control Theatres in Manhattan Upper West Side Music venues in Manhattan