The Walnut Street Theatre, founded in 1809 at 825
Walnut Street, on the corner of S. 9th Street in the
Washington Square West
Washington Square West is a neighborhood Center City Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The neighborhood roughly corresponds to the area between 7th and Broad Streets and between Chestnut and South Streets, bordering on the Independence Mall tourist ar ...
neighborhood of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, is the oldest operating theatre in the United States. The venue is operated by the Walnut Street Theatre Company, a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
, and has three stages: the Mainstage, for the company's primary and larger productions, the Independence Studio on 3, a studio located on the building's third floor for smaller productions, and the Studio 5 on the fifth floor, which is rented out for independent productions. In May 2019, the Walnut Street Theatre announced a major expansion, to begin in 2020.
History
![Carter and Ford in a debate, September 23, 1976](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/64/Carter_and_Ford_in_a_debate%2C_September_23%2C_1976.jpg)
The Walnut Street Theatre was built by the
Circus of Pepin and Breschard
The equestrian theatre company of Pépin and Breschard, American Victor Pépin and Frenchman Jean Baptiste Casmiere Breschard, arrived in the United States of America from Madrid, Spain (where they had performed during the 1805 and 1806 seasons), ...
, which toured the United States from 1807 until 1815. Pepin and Breschard constructed numerous venues in cities along the East Coast of the United States, which often featured, along with performances of their circus, classical plays as well as
horse dramas. The theatre was founded in 1809, going by the name of The New Circus. In 1811, the two partners commissioned architect
William Strickland to design and construct a stage and
orchestra pit
An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...
for theatrical performances and the theatre's name was changed to The Olympic. The official website says that the name The Walnut Street Theatre was first used there in 1820, though the name was changed back to The Olympic in 1822 and to The Walnut again in 1828. A travel guidebook from 1849 indicates that in the mid-19th century, this building was called The American Theatre.
The Walnut was the first theatre to install gas
footlight
A footlight is a theatrical lighting device arranged to illuminate a stage
Stage or stages may refer to:
Acting
* Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions
* Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referr ...
s in 1837. In 1855, it was also the first theatre to feature
air conditioning
Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C or AC, is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior environment (sometimes referred to as 'comfort cooling') and in some cases also strictly controlling ...
. The theatre switched to electric
chandelier
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
s and footlights in 1892. The theatre has undergone many renovations since its opening.
Between 1932 and 1940, the theater ran movies and hosted vaudeville and burlesque shows when it wasn't dark.
The first theatrical production at the theatre was Sheridan's play ''
The Rivals
''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 List of Maverick ...
'' presented on New Year's Day, 1812.
Edwin Forrest
Edwin Forrest (March 9, 1806December 12, 1872) was a prominent nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor. His feud with the British actor William Macready was the cause of the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849.
Early life
Forrest was born i ...
and
John Sleeper Clarke
John Sleeper Clarke (September 3, 1833 – September 24, 1899) was a 19th-century American comedian and actor.
Life
He was born in Baltimore, Maryland to George W. Sleeper and Georgianna Sleeper (née Clarke), and was educated for the law. In hi ...
purchased the theatre in 1865, and then the theatre became part of
The Shubert Organization
The Shubert Organization is a theatrical producing organization and a major owner of theatres based in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by the three Shubert brothers in the late 19th century. They steadily expanded, owning many theaters ...
in 1941. While part of the Shubert chain, the theatre housed many pre-
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
tryouts of soon-to-be classics, including:
*''
A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of person ...
'' with
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
(1947)
*''
Mister Roberts'' with
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and rai ...
(1948)
*''
Gigi'' with
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, t ...
(1951)
*''
The Diary of Anne Frank
''The Diary of a Young Girl'', also known as ''The Diary of Anne Frank'', is a book of the writings from the Dutch-language diary kept by Anne Frank while she was in hiding for two years with her family during the Nazi occupation of the Netherl ...
'' with
Susan Strasberg
Susan Elizabeth Strasberg (May 22, 1938 – January 21, 1999) was an American stage, film, and television actress. Imagined to be the next Hepburn-type ingenue, she was nominated for a Tony Award at age 18, playing the title role in ''The Diary ...
(1955)
*''
A Raisin in the Sun
''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chi ...
'' with
Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier ( ; February 20, 1927 – January 6, 2022) was an American actor, film director, and diplomat. In 1964, he was the first black actor and first Bahamian to win the Academy Award for Best Actor. He received two competitive ...
(1959)
*''
A Man For All Seasons'' starring
Paul Scofield
David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Awards, Academy Award, Emmy Award, Emmy, and Tony Award, Tony for his ...
(1961)
On October 15, 1966, the Walnut Street Theatre was designated a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
, and in 1969, the theatre was purchased by a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
and turned over to the new Walnut Street Theatre Corporation. On September 23, 1976, it was the site of the first
presidential debate between
Gerald R. Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. ( ; born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was an American politician who served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. He was the only president never to have been elected ...
and
Jimmy Carter
James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...
.
The Walnut Street Theatre Company, a non-profit regional producing company, was formed in 1983 by Bernard Havard. In 1984, the Walnut Street Theatre School was established and over 1,200 students enroll annually, and 1986 saw the introduction of the Independence Studio on 3 series. The company produces five productions per season on the theatre's main stage., it is the most subscribed theatre company in the world with 56,000 subscribers. In Fall 2008, the theater celebrated its 200th season of live entertainment.
Controversy
In June 2021, a former employee of Walnut Street Theatre received a cease-and-desist letter from the theatre after asking on social media for the theatre to address its lack of diversity. In defiance of the letter, the former employee formed the organization Protect the Artist Philly, which collected over 90 accounts from current and former Walnut Street Theatre employees describing racism, sexism, homophobia, pregnancy discrimination, and other forms of discrimination, workplace harassment, and abuse they experienced while working at the theatre. The theatre subsequently denied all allegations.
On June 18, 2021, members of Protect the Artist Philly organized a protest in front of the theatre and down Walnut Street in Center City, Philadelphia, ending in Rittenhouse Park. Throughout the protest, former employees and members of the Philadelphia arts community shared accounts of racism, pay inequities, and other forms of discrimination experienced at the Walnut. Protect the Artist Philly also publicly released a number of demands of Walnut Street Theatre, including the removal of President and Producing Artistic Director Bernard Havard, the hiring of a full-time Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access, a living wage for all employees of the theatre, a staff and creative teams that reflect the racial diversity of the city of Philadelphia, and increased financial transparency in response to publicly available tax records that show that Havard's yearly salary was over $700,000 at the nonprofit theatre and revelations that the theatre received a Paycheck Protection Program loan of over $1.42 million following the layoff and failure to properly compensate over 120 employees of the theatre during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Notable performers
The many famous performers who have appeared at the theatre include
Ethel Barrymore
Ethel Barrymore (born Ethel Mae Blythe; August 15, 1879 – June 18, 1959) was an American actress and a member of the Barrymore family of actors. Barrymore was a stage, screen and radio actress whose career spanned six decades, and was regarde ...
'',''
Edwin Booth
Edwin Thomas Booth (November 13, 1833 – June 7, 1893) was an American actor who toured throughout the United States and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869, he founded Booth's Theatre in New York. Some theatri ...
,
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer.
Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...
,
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert ( ; born Émilie Claudette Chauchoin; September 13, 1903July 30, 1996) was an American actress. Colbert began her career in Broadway productions during the late 1920s and progressed to films with the advent of talking pictures ...
,
Henry Fonda
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics.
Born and rai ...
,
Jane Fonda
Jane Seymour Fonda (born December 21, 1937) is an American actress, activist, and former fashion model. Recognized as a film icon, Fonda is the recipient of various accolades including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, sev ...
,
Edwin Forrest
Edwin Forrest (March 9, 1806December 12, 1872) was a prominent nineteenth-century American Shakespearean actor. His feud with the British actor William Macready was the cause of the deadly Astor Place Riot of 1849.
Early life
Forrest was born i ...
,
Julie Harris
Julia Ann Harris (December 2, 1925August 24, 2013) was an American actress. Renowned for her classical and contemporary stage work, she received five Tony Awards for Best Actress in a Play.
Harris debuted on Broadway in 1945, against the wish ...
,
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have w ...
,
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn (May 12, 1907 – June 29, 2003) was an American actress in film, stage, and television. Her career as a Hollywood leading lady spanned over 60 years. She was known for her headstrong independence, spirited perso ...
,
Mark Indelicato
Mark Indelicato (born July 16, 1994) is an American actor, singer, fashion blogger, and photographer best known for his role in the ABC comedy series '' Ugly Betty'', as Justin Suarez, the fashion-obsessed nephew of series protagonist Bett ...
,
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21, 1948) is an American actor and producer. One of the most widely recognized actors of his generation, the films in which he has appeared have collectively grossed over $27 billion worldwide, making him ...
,
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler Lemmon III (February 8, 1925 – June 27, 2001) was an American actor. Considered equally proficient in both dramatic and comic roles, Lemmon was known for his anxious, middle-class everyman screen persona in dramedy pictures, leadin ...
,
Groucho Marx
Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...
'',''
Rob McClure
Rob McClure (born June 15, 1982) is an American actor and singer, best known for his work on the Broadway stage.
McClure made his Broadway debut in 2002 as an understudy in '' I'm Not Rappaport''. From 2006 to 2009, he went on to play several ...
,
Mike Nichols
Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...
,
George Peppard
George Peppard (; October 1, 1928 – May 8, 1994) was an American actor. He is best remembered for his role as struggling writer Paul Varjak in the 1961 film '' Breakfast at Tiffany's'', and for playing commando leader Col. John "Hannibal ...
,
Harold Perrineau
Harold Perrineau (born August 7, 1963) is an American actor best known for his roles as Michael Dawson in the ABC television series ''Lost'' (2004–2010), Augustus Hill in the HBO television series '' Oz'' (1997–2003), Sheriff Boyd Stevens ...
,
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the List of awards and nominations received by Robert Redford, recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Awards, Academy Award from four nomi ...
,
Edward G. Robinson,
Laura San Giacamo,
Marina Sirtis
Marina Sirtis (; born 29 March 1955) is a British actress. She is best known for her role as Counselor Deanna Troi on the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and four ''Star Trek'' feature films, as well as other appearances ...
'',''
Lucas Steele
Lucas Steele is an American stage actor best known for his role as Anatole in ''Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.''
Early life
Steele was raised in Wyalusing, Pennsylvania. He began learning piano by ear at age 3, and violin at age ...
,
Jarrod Spector
Jarrod Spector (born April 16, 1981) is an American actor and singer.
Early life and education
Spector was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He made his Broadway theatre, Broadway debut in ''Les Misérables (musical), Les Misérables'', pla ...
,
George C. Scott
George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor, director, and producer who had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his port ...
,
Jessica Tandy
Jessie Alice Tandy (7 June 1909 – 11 September 1994) was a British-American actress. Tandy appeared in over 100 stage productions and had more than 60 roles in film and TV, receiving an Academy Award, four Tony Awards, a BAFTA, a Golden Glob ...
and
Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her not ...
.
See also
*
*
List of National Historic Landmarks in Philadelphia
There are 67 National Historic Landmarks within Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
See also the List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania, which covers the 102 landmarks in the rest of the state.
Current listings
...
*
References
Notes
Further reading
* Havard, Bernard and Sylvester, Mark D., ''Walnut Street Theatre''. Charleston: Arcadia Publishing, 2008
* Teitelman, Edward, and Richard W. Longstreth, ''Architecture in Philadelphia: A Guide''. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1974.
* Webster, Richard J., ''Philadelphia Preserved''. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1976.
External links
The 1849 book "A Hand-book for the Stranger in Philadelphia"- PDF scan at Archive.org (page 80 includes a brief history of this theater)
Virtual tour- Virtual tour of the Walnut Street Theater
Walnut Street Theatre Online- official website
Listing and photographsat the
Historic American Buildings Survey
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
Listing and photographsat Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
National Historic Landmark Listingat the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
ExplorePAhistory.com
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1809 establishments in Pennsylvania
History of theatre
National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
Theatres in Philadelphia
Pennsylvania state historical marker significations
Washington Square West, Philadelphia
National Register of Historic Places in Philadelphia
Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
John Haviland buildings
Theatres completed in 1809