The East 74th Street Theater,[2] sometimes spelled as the East 74th Street Theatre, was an Off-Broadway theater at 334 East 74th Street in Manhattan in New York City in the United States.
 | |
| Address | 334 East 74th Street Manhattan, New York City, New York United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°46′10″N 73°57′22″W / 40.76944°N 73.95611°W |
| Capacity | 199-204 seats |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1959[1] |
| Architect | Barrie B. Greenbie[1] |
History
Frank Day Tuttle, a theatrical and radio producer and director, purchased, renovated, and converted the Bohemian Club into the East 74th Street Theater.[3][4] Barrie B. Greenbie designed the theater in 1959.[1]
The Off-Broadway theater was located at 334 East 74th Street, between First Avenue and Second Avenue, on the Upper East Side in Manhattan, New York City.[5][6][7] It had 199-204 seats.[7][8] Its stage was described as "miniscule."[9] The Players Magazine described it in 1959 as "small and attractive."[10]
In 1961, the Phoenix Theatre rented the theater for 30 weeks, during which time it called it the Phoenix 74th Street.[5]
Performances
In 1959, the theater put on the comedy The Tempest by William Shakespeare.[7]
Among the other plays presented at the theater were The Crystal Heart (1960; with Mildred Dunnock, and Virginia Vestoff in her first professional appearance, with top seats selling for $4.96 ($51.08 in current dollar terms),[11] George Gershwin's Oh, Kay! (1960; with Linda Lavin, Penny Fuller, and Marti Stevens, and with high school student Daniel Lewis working a follow spot in the lighting), The Shoemaker and the Peddler (1960), One Way Pendulum by N. F. Simpson (1961), Hotel Passionato (1965), The Bernard Shaw Story (1965-66), Jean Erdman's The Coach with the Six Insides (1967), Stephen D. (1967; with Roy Scheider), and The Victims (1968).[12][13][14][15][16][17]
In the fall of 1965, Jack Moore and Jeff Duncan formed the Dance Theater Workshop, and produced a series of Monday evening concerts at the theater.[18][19] In 1966, the theater hosted a subscription series devoted to modern and ethnic dance.[20][21]