ANTA Washington Square Theatre

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Coordinates: 40°43′45″N 73°59′47″W / 40.7291°N 73.9963°W / 40.7291; -73.9963
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ANTA Washington Square Theatre
Map
Address40 West 4th Street
New York City
United States
Coordinates40°43′45″N 73°59′47″W / 40.729082°N 73.996321°W / 40.729082; -73.996321
OwnerNew York University
TypeBroadway-like
Capacity1,158
Construction
Opened1963
Demolished1968
ArchitectEero Saarinen (building) and Jo Mielziner (theater)
Tenants
American National Theater and Academy (ANTA)

The ANTA Washington Square Theatre was a theatre located on 40 West Fourth Street, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It was run by the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) and initial home to the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center from early 1964 to the completion of the Vivian Beaumont Theater in 1965.[1][2] The theatre, not to be confused with the ANTA Theatre (later August Wilson Theatre) on 52nd Street, was located away from the mainstream Broadway district. Closed in 1968,[3] it used a thrust stage tilted toward the audience, with the audience sitting on three sides of it. It did not employ the use of a curtain.

Robert Whitehead founded ANTA to create "a national theatre as a guiding spirit".[4] He needed a location, as he had both a company of actors and commissioned two playwrights (Arthur Miller & S. N. Behrman), and he needed one quickly. New York University leased land to them, with ANTA having to foot the bill,[4] an estimated $525,000.[5][4] Marvin Carlson described the theatre as "characterless steel box, about 20 feet high and more or less square, painted a mustard yellow and from the outside, suggesting a warehouse or storage facility. The simple entrance had a marquee bearing the name ANTA".[4] The theatre, which was not intended to be permanent, had a seating capacity of 1,158",[5] and opened in 1963 with previews of Miller's After the Fall.[4] Another observer praised "the fine acoustics that have been achieved by the creation of irregularly surfaced concave walls." However, that same observer noted that "the interior of the building is not striking and might well be mistaken for a small industrial plant of some sort."[5]

Several highly regarded plays had their runs at the ANTA Washington Square, including Miller's Incident at Vichy[6] and the revival of Eugene O'Neill's Marco Millions.[7] A production relished by many Molière lovers was William Ball's 1964 staging of Tartuffe,[8] with an "outrageous" Michael O'Sullivan in the title role.[9] The longest running show to play at the ANTA Washington Square was the smash hit musical Man of La Mancha, which began its first New York run there on November 22, 1965.[10] Man of La Mancha's producers Albert W. Selden and Hal James took over the theater in 1966.[11] The theater closed permanently on March 17, 1968,[12] and Man of La Mancha transferred to the more conventional Martin Beck Theatre in 1968, pending the demolition of the Washington Square Theatre.[13]

The dismantled pieces of the prefabricated theatre were purchased by Yale University for the Trinity Repertory Company, one which artistic director Adrian Hall later called "bold, silly move". It was done as a way to save costs on construction, but it never materialized. Yale ended up purchasing the Majestic Theatre in downtown Providence, currently home to Trinity Repertory Company.[14]

Productions[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "archives.nypl.org -- Actor's Workshop and Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center records". archives.nypl.org. Archived from the original on March 10, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  2. ^ Milton Esterow, "Lincoln Theater Begins Repertory," New York Times, p. 19, January 24, 1964 |https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1964/01/24/97163853.pdf Archived 2024-05-06 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Zolotow, Sam (March 18, 1968). "ANTA Washington Sq. Theater Closes Forever". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 4, 2022. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  4. ^ a b c d e "The View from the Aisle over '10,000 Nights'". November 28, 2017. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c "Temporary Theatre, Permanent Example," Saturday Review, February 22, 1964
  6. ^ a b The Broadway League (December 3, 1964). "Incident at Vichy – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Archived from the original on February 11, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "Incident at Vichy (Broadway, ANTA Washington Square Theatre, 1964)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "Miller Drama Is Given by Repertory Group". The New York Times. December 4, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  7. ^ a b The Broadway League (February 20, 1964). "Marco Millions – Broadway Play – 1964 Revival". IBDB. Archived from the original on April 12, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "Marco Millions (Broadway, ANTA Washington Square Theatre, 1964)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on September 23, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "Theater: O'Neill Revival; 'Marco Millions' Given by Repertory Troupe". The New York Times. February 21, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 4, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  8. ^ a b The Broadway League (January 14, 1965). "Tartuffe – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "Tartuffe (Broadway, ANTA Washington Square Theatre, 1965)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  9. ^ "Michael O'Sullivan, 37, Dies; Actor Had Roles on Broadway". The New York Times. July 26, 1971. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  10. ^ a b The Broadway League (November 22, 1965). "Man of La Mancha – Broadway Musical – Original". IBDB. Archived from the original on December 14, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "Man of La Mancha (Broadway, ANTA Washington Square Theatre, 1965)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on November 29, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  11. ^ "'Mancha' Producers Operating Theater". The New York Times. February 15, 1966. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  12. ^ Zolotow, Sam (March 18, 1968). "ANTA Washington Sq. Theater Closes Forever". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 4, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  13. ^ "ANTA Washington Square Theatre – New York, NY | IBDB". Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
  14. ^ Zeigler, Joseph Wesley (1973). Regional Theatre: The Revolutionary Stage. ISBN 9781452911427. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  15. ^ The Broadway League (January 23, 1964). "After The Fall – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "After the Fall (Broadway, ANTA Washington Square Theatre, 1964)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on March 20, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "Theater: 'After the Fall'; Arthur Miller's Play Opens Repertory". The New York Times. January 24, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on February 22, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  16. ^ The Broadway League (March 12, 1964). "But For Whom Charlie – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "But For Whom Charlie (Broadway, ANTA Washington Square Theatre, 1964)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on March 18, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "Theater: Behrman Play; 'But for Whom Charlie' Opens at the Square". The New York Times. March 13, 1964. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on May 6, 2024. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  17. ^ The Broadway League (October 29, 1964). "The Changeling – Broadway Play – Original". IBDB. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024; "The Changeling (Broadway, ANTA Washington Square Theatre, 1964)". Playbill. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on September 27, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024; Taubman, Howard (October 30, 1964). "Theater: 'The Changeling' Is Revived". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2024.

40°43′45″N 73°59′47″W / 40.7291°N 73.9963°W / 40.7291; -73.9963

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