York Theatre

Last updated
The York Theatre Company
The York Theatre Company Logo.jpg
York Theatre
AddressTheatre at St. Jeans, 150 E. 76th St.
New York City
United States
Type Off-Broadway
Capacity 204 Seats
Opened1969
Years active55 years
Website
yorktheatre.org

The York Theatre Company is an Off-Broadway theatre company based on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City [1] . Established in 1969 [2] , The York is the only theater in New York City, and one of the few in the world, whose two-fold mission is to produce new musical works and rediscover musical gems from the past [3] . The York’s intimate, imaginative producing style has become its trademark [4] . Its productions have won critical acclaim [5] , a host of honors and awards [6] , and a loyal audience. Just as important, The York provides a nurturing, constructive environment for new artists to hone their craft, and for some of the masters of the musical theater’s Golden Age to take fresh looks at their classic works.  A special Drama Desk Award was presented to the company for its “vital contributions to theater by developing and producing new musicals [7] ,” as well as an Outer Critics Circle Special Achievement Award for “50 years of producing new and classic musicals [8] .”

Contents

Founded by Janet Hayes Walker in 1969 [9] , The York has presented more than 970 full-scale musical productions [10] . From 1997 to 2024 [11] , under the guidance of former Producing Artistic Director James Morgan [12] , The York focused exclusively on musical theater: newer musicals in its mainstage Series [13] (most of them world, American or New York premieres [14] ) and revivals in its popular Musicals in Mufti series of staged concert presentations [15] .

From 1993 to 2020, the company performed at St. Peter's Church in the Citigroup Center at 619 Lexington Avenue at the corner of East 54th Street in Midtown Manhattan. [16]

The York Theatre moved to The Theatre at St. Jeans (150 East 76th Street & Lexington Avenue) after a January 2021 water main break flooded their home at Saint Peter's Church. [17]

In October 2024, after a 50 year association with The York, James Morgan resigned as Producing Artistic Director [18] , and his longtime associate, Joseph Hayward, assumed the position of Interim Artistic Director [19] .

The Oscar Hammerstein Award

The Oscar Hammerstein Award named in honor of American lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein was created in 1988 by Janet Hayes Walker, the founding artistic director of the York Theatre Company [20] , and is presented with the endorsement of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and the Hammerstein family [21] . The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala is the major annual fundraising event of the York Theatre [22] .

Past recipients include:

Stephen Sondheim, Betty Comden & Adolph Green, Harold Prince, Cy Coleman, Charles Strouse, Arthur Laurents, Jerry Herman, Stephen Schwartz, Peter Stone, David Merrick, John Kander & Fred Ebb, Terrence McNally, Cameron Mackintosh, Carol Channing, Tony Walton, Joseph Stein, George S. Irving, Jerry Bock & Sheldon Harnick, Thomas Meehan, Barbara Cook, Paul Gemignani, Alan Menken, Lynn Ahrens & Stephen Flaherty, Angela Lansbury, Joel Grey, Tom Jones & Harvey Schmidt, Susan Stroman, André De Shields, Richard Maltby, Jr. & David Shire, Leslie Uggams, Patti LuPone, and Bernadette Peters. [23]

The York Theatre Company Productions

Notable mainstage productions include [24] :

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Hammerstein II</span> American librettist, lyricist, theatrical producer, and director of musicals (1895–1960)

Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Sondheim</span> American composer and lyricist (1930–2021)

Stephen Joshua Sondheim was an American composer and lyricist. Regarded as one of the most important figures in 20th-century musical theater, he is credited with reinventing the American musical. With his frequent collaborators Harold Prince and James Lapine, Sondheim's Broadway musicals tackled unexpected themes that ranged beyond the genre's traditional subjects, while addressing darker elements of the human experience. His music and lyrics are tinged with complexity, sophistication, and ambivalence about various aspects of life.

<i>Oklahoma!</i> Musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein

Oklahoma! is the first musical written by the duo of Rodgers and Hammerstein. The musical is based on Lynn Riggs's 1931 play, Green Grow the Lilacs. Set in farm country outside the town of Claremore, Indian Territory, in 1906, it tells the story of farm girl Laurey Williams and her courtship by two rival suitors, cowboy Curly McLain and the sinister and frightening farmhand Jud Fry. A secondary romance concerns cowboy Will Parker and his flirtatious fiancée, Ado Annie.

Adam Guettel is an American composer-lyricist of musical theater and opera. The grandson of musical theatre composer Richard Rodgers, he is best known for his musicals Floyd Collins, The Light in the Piazza,, and Days of Wine and Roses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broadway theatre</span> Type of theatre in New York City

Broadway theatre, or Broadway, is a theatre genre that consists of the theatrical performances presented in 41 professional theaters, each with 500 or more seats, in the Theater District and Lincoln Center along Broadway, in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Broadway and London's West End together represent the highest commercial level of live theater in the English-speaking world.

Stephen Flaherty is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals Ragtime, which was nominated for thirteen Tony Awards, two Grammy Awards, and won the Tony for Best Original Score; Once on This Island, which won the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical, the Olivier Award for London's Best Musical, and was nominated for a Grammy Award and eight Tony Awards; and Seussical, which was nominated for the Grammy Award. Flaherty was also nominated for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards for his songs and song score for the animated film musical Anastasia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Stroman</span> American theatre director and choreographer

Susan P. Stroman is an American theatre director, choreographer, and performer. Her notable theater productions include Oklahoma!, The Music Man, Crazy for You, Contact, The Producers, The Frogs, The Scottsboro Boys, Bullets Over Broadway, POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, and New York, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Cullum</span> American actor and singer (b. 1930)

John Cullum is an American actor and singer. He has appeared in many stage musicals and dramas, including Shenandoah (1975) and On the Twentieth Century (1978), winning the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical for each. In 1966 he gained his first Tony nomination as the lead in On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, in which he introduced the title song, and more recently received Tony nominations for Urinetown The Musical (2002) and as Best Featured Actor in the revival of 110 in the Shade (2007).

Douglas Wright is an American playwright, librettist, and screenwriter. Known for his extensive work in the American theatre in both plays and musicals, he has received numerous accolades including the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Stein</span> American dramatist

Joseph Stein was an American playwright best known for writing the books for such musicals as Fiddler on the Roof and Zorba.

Adam Rapp is an American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, musician and film director. His play Red Light Winter was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2006.

Douglas Carter Beane is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has been nominated for five Tony Awards and won two Drama Desk Awards. His plays are essentially works with sophisticated, "drawing room" humor but just as often farce, particularly his work in musical theater.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second Stage Theater</span> Theater company in New York City

Second Stage Theater is a non-profit theater company that presents work by living American writers both on and off Broadway. It is based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and is affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soho Repertory Theatre</span> American Off-Broadway theater company

The Soho Repertory Theatre, known as Soho Rep, is an American Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City which is notable for producing avant-garde plays by contemporary writers. The company, described as a "cultural pillar", is currently located in a 65-seat theatre in the TriBeCa section of lower Manhattan. The company, and the projects it has produced, have won multiple prizes and earned critical acclaim, including numerous Obie Awards, Drama Desk Awards, Drama Critics' Circle Awards, and a Pulitzer Prize. A recent highlight was winning the Drama Desk Award for Sustained Achievement for "nearly four decades of artistic distinction, innovative production, and provocative play selection."

Joanna Ampil is a musical theatre and film actress from the Philippines and United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter Bell</span> American book author and a Broadway star

Hunter Houston Bell is an American writer and theatre actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lawrence Leritz</span> American ballet dancer and choreographer

Lawrence Leritz is an American actor, dancer, singer, producer, director, fitness expert and choreographer.

The Oscar Hammerstein Award for Outstanding Achievement in Musical Theatre is named in honor of American lyricist and librettist Oscar Hammerstein, who helped shape American theater music through his collaborations with a number of different composers and writers. The award was created in 1988 by Janet Hayes Walker, the Founding Artistic Director of The York Theatre Company, and is presented with the endorsement of the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization and the Hammerstein family. The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala is the major annual fundraising event of The York, a mainstay of the Off-Broadway scene for 50 years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Chavkin</span> American theatre director

Rachel Chavkin is an American stage director best known for directing the musicals Natasha, Pierre, & The Great Comet of 1812 and Hadestown, receiving nominations for a Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical for both and winning for Hadestown in 2019.

Jonathan Stuart Cerullo is an American director and choreographer, executive producer, and former performer. Cerullo is known for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally. He has also worked in circus, film, and television.

References

  1. ↑ "Home". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  2. ↑ "Mission & History - The York Theatre Company - 50th Anniversary Season". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  3. ↑ "Mission & History - The York Theatre Company - 50th Anniversary Season". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  4. ↑ "The York Theatre Company". www.iobdb.com. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  5. ↑ "The York Theatre Company". www.iobdb.com. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  6. ↑ "The York Theatre Company (Producer)". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2024-11-28. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  7. ↑ "Drama Desk Special Award", Wikipedia, 2024-06-13, retrieved 2024-12-15
  8. ↑ "Mission & History - The York Theatre Company - 50th Anniversary Season". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  9. ↑ "Mission & History - The York Theatre Company - 50th Anniversary Season". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  10. ↑ "Mission & History - The York Theatre Company - 50th Anniversary Season". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  11. ↑ "All That Chat - re: JAMES MORGAN STEPS DOWN AS PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR AT THE YORK THEATRE COMPANY". www.talkinbroadway.com. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  12. ↑ Deffaa, Chip; Editor-at-Large (2024-10-12). "JAMES MORGAN STEPS DOWN AS HEAD OF THE YORK THEATRE". TheaterScene.net. Retrieved 2024-12-15.{{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  13. ↑ "Mission & History - The York Theatre Company - 50th Anniversary Season". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  14. ↑ "Mission & History - The York Theatre Company - 50th Anniversary Season". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  15. ↑ "Mission & History - The York Theatre Company - 50th Anniversary Season". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  16. ↑ "York Theatre Company at St. Peter's Church | Citigroup Center, 619 Lexington Ave downstairs". Time Out New York . 2014. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  17. ↑ "York Theatre Company Vows To Return Despite Pandemic And Water Main Break Flooding Its Performance Space". CBS New York. January 13, 2021. Retrieved 2022-10-19.
  18. ↑ Deffaa, Chip; Editor-at-Large (2024-10-12). "JAMES MORGAN STEPS DOWN AS HEAD OF THE YORK THEATRE". TheaterScene.net. Retrieved 2024-12-15.{{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  19. ↑ "New Leadership at The York Theatre Company Announced - Joseph Hayward and Debra Walton Assume New Roles". www.theatricalindex.com. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  20. ↑ "Janet Hayes Walker, York Theatre Founder, Dies at 72 | Playbill". Playbill. Archived from the original on 2021-06-16. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  21. ↑ "The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  22. ↑ "The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  23. ↑ "The Oscar Hammerstein Award Gala". The York Theatre Company. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
  24. ↑ "The York Theatre Company". www.iobdb.com. Retrieved 2024-12-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.