Circle in the Square Theatre
Encyclopedia
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre
in midtown Manhattan
on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza
building.
The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann
and Jose Quintero
in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square (a brownstone) in Greenwich Village
. The original Circle in the Square did not have a theater license, but Quintero was able to get a cabaret license; the production staff and off duty actors served as waiters if anyone insisted on ordering food or drinks. Many of the theater personnel, both acting and technical, lived on the premises. Even classical performances took place here: Pianist Grete Sultan
, who later became a well known interpreter of New Music and was John Cage
's close friend, performed Goldberg Variations
by Johann Sebastian Bach
here in January 1953. In 1960, the company moved to the Circle in the Square Downtown, at 159 Bleecker Street
in Greenwich Village in a historic building built in 1917. Before it became the Circle in the Square Theatre this building first was a movie house followed by the original Amato Opera House. It was built by and operated by Italian-Americans, which was typical of the South Village
in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Many of these theaters in the South Village
were, like the Circle in the Square, built or altered from other types of existing structures (in this case, a movie theater) both presaging the adaptive re-use movement of the late 20th century and illustrating the South Village's unique innovative contributions to the world of theater and architecture. In 2004, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
fought plans by the owners of the building to demolish the theater. This was part of a larger initiative by the organization to document and preserve the entire South Village
. However, the theatre was demolished and another building was erected in its place.
Designed by architect
Alan Sayles, the present home of the company is one of two theatres in the Paramount Plaza
office tower. Its much bigger sibling is the Gershwin Theatre. The theatre entrance lobbies are side by side but separated by a wall. The company retains the downtown premises, but rents them out.
The Gershwin and Circle in the Square were built in 1970 when the Uris Brothers tore down the Capitol Theatre to build the tower (with the Gershwin originally being called the Uris Theatre).
It originally served as the uptown home to the Circle-in-the-Square repertory company. Their first production on Broadway, a revival of Mourning Becomes Electra
, opened on November 15, 1972.
The theatre is below street level. It is one of only two Broadway houses with a thrust stage
(the other is Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre
).
The building also houses the Circle in the Square Theatre School
, the only accredited training conservatory associated with a Broadway theatre, which offers two two-year training programs, in acting and musical theatre.
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in midtown Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza
Paramount Plaza
Paramount Plaza is a 48-story skyscraper on Broadway in New York City that houses two Broadway theatres. In 2007 it was listed as number 46 on the list of tallest buildings in New York City.-History:...
building.
The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann
Theodore Mann
Theodore Mann, birth name Goldman, is an American theatre producer and director and the Artistic Director of the Circle in the Square Theatre School....
and Jose Quintero
José Quintero
José Benjamin Quintero was a Panamanian theatre director, producer and pedagogue best known for his interpretations of the works of Eugene O'Neill.-Early years:...
in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square (a brownstone) in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
. The original Circle in the Square did not have a theater license, but Quintero was able to get a cabaret license; the production staff and off duty actors served as waiters if anyone insisted on ordering food or drinks. Many of the theater personnel, both acting and technical, lived on the premises. Even classical performances took place here: Pianist Grete Sultan
Grete Sultan
Grete Sultan was a German-American pianist.Born in Berlin into a musical family, she studied piano from an early age with American pianist Richard Buhlig, and later with Leonid Kreutzer and Edwin Fischer...
, who later became a well known interpreter of New Music and was John Cage
John Cage
John Milton Cage Jr. was an American composer, music theorist, writer, philosopher and artist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde...
's close friend, performed Goldberg Variations
Goldberg Variations
The Goldberg Variations, BWV 988, is a work for harpsichord by Johann Sebastian Bach, consisting of an aria and a set of 30 variations. First published in 1741, the work is considered to be one of the most important examples of variation form...
by Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
here in January 1953. In 1960, the company moved to the Circle in the Square Downtown, at 159 Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street
Bleecker Street is a street in New York City's Manhattan borough. It is perhaps most famous today as a Greenwich Village nightclub district. The street is a spine that connects a neighborhood today popular for music venues and comedy, but which was once a major center for American bohemia.Bleecker...
in Greenwich Village in a historic building built in 1917. Before it became the Circle in the Square Theatre this building first was a movie house followed by the original Amato Opera House. It was built by and operated by Italian-Americans, which was typical of the South Village
South Village
The South Village is a largely residential area in Lower Manhattan in New York City, directly below Washington Square Park. Known for its immigrant heritage and Bohemian history, the South Village overlaps areas of Greenwich Village and SoHo...
in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. Many of these theaters in the South Village
South Village
The South Village is a largely residential area in Lower Manhattan in New York City, directly below Washington Square Park. Known for its immigrant heritage and Bohemian history, the South Village overlaps areas of Greenwich Village and SoHo...
were, like the Circle in the Square, built or altered from other types of existing structures (in this case, a movie theater) both presaging the adaptive re-use movement of the late 20th century and illustrating the South Village's unique innovative contributions to the world of theater and architecture. In 2004, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation
The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is a non-profit organization that seeks to preserve the architectural heritage and cultural history of several neighborhoods of New York City: Greenwich Village, the East Village, the Far West Village, the South Village, Gansevoort Market,...
fought plans by the owners of the building to demolish the theater. This was part of a larger initiative by the organization to document and preserve the entire South Village
South Village
The South Village is a largely residential area in Lower Manhattan in New York City, directly below Washington Square Park. Known for its immigrant heritage and Bohemian history, the South Village overlaps areas of Greenwich Village and SoHo...
. However, the theatre was demolished and another building was erected in its place.
Designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Alan Sayles, the present home of the company is one of two theatres in the Paramount Plaza
Paramount Plaza
Paramount Plaza is a 48-story skyscraper on Broadway in New York City that houses two Broadway theatres. In 2007 it was listed as number 46 on the list of tallest buildings in New York City.-History:...
office tower. Its much bigger sibling is the Gershwin Theatre. The theatre entrance lobbies are side by side but separated by a wall. The company retains the downtown premises, but rents them out.
The Gershwin and Circle in the Square were built in 1970 when the Uris Brothers tore down the Capitol Theatre to build the tower (with the Gershwin originally being called the Uris Theatre).
It originally served as the uptown home to the Circle-in-the-Square repertory company. Their first production on Broadway, a revival of Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra
Mourning Becomes Electra is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932...
, opened on November 15, 1972.
The theatre is below street level. It is one of only two Broadway houses with a thrust stage
Thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its up stage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between performers and the audience than a proscenium, while retaining the utility of a backstage area...
(the other is Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre
Vivian Beaumont Theatre
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a theatre located in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The structure was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen, and Jo Mielziner was responsible for the design of the stage and interior.The Vivian...
).
The building also houses the Circle in the Square Theatre School
Circle in the Square Theatre School
Circle in the Square Theatre School is a non-profit, tax exempt drama school associated with the Circle in the Square Theatre and as such is the only accredited school attached to a Broadway theatre....
, the only accredited training conservatory associated with a Broadway theatre, which offers two two-year training programs, in acting and musical theatre.
Notable productions
- 1952: YermaYermaYerma is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934, and first performed that same year. Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem."-Plot:...
; Summer and SmokeSummer and SmokeSummer and Smoke is a two-part, thirteen-scene play by Tennessee Williams, originally titled Chart of Anatomy when Williams began work on it in 1945. In 1964, Williams revised the play as The Eccentricities of a Nightingale... - 1966: Eh?Eh?This article is about the play. For the common Canadian colloquialism, see Canadian English.Eh? is a play by Henry Livings.- Production history :...
- 1972: Mourning Becomes ElectraMourning Becomes ElectraMourning Becomes Electra is a play cycle written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill. The play premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 26 October 1931 where it ran for 150 performances before closing in March 1932...
- 1973: Uncle VanyaUncle VanyaUncle Vanya is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897 and received its Moscow première in 1899 in a production by the Moscow Art Theatre, under the direction of Konstantin Stanislavski....
; The Iceman ComethThe Iceman ComethThe Iceman Cometh is a play written by American playwright Eugene O'Neill in 1939. First published in 1940 the play premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre on 9 October 1946, directed by Eddie Dowling where it ran for 136 performances to close on 15 March 1947.-Characters:* Night Hawk-...
; The Waltz of the ToreadorsThe Waltz of the ToreadorsThe Waltz of the Toreadors [La Valse des toréadors] is a play by Jean Anouilh.Written in 1951, this farce is set in 1910 France and focuses on General Léon Saint-Pé and his infatuation with Ghislaine, a woman with whom he danced at a garrison ball some 17 years earlier. Because of the General's... - 1974: The National HealthThe National HealthThe National Health is a play by Peter Nichols. Reminiscent of the Carry On film series, this black comedy with tragic overtones focuses on the appalling conditions in an under-funded national health hospital, which are contrasted comically with a Dr...
- 1975: Death of a SalesmanDeath of a SalesmanDeath of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949, the original production ran for a total of 742 performances.-Plot :Willy Loman...
; Ah, Wilderness!Ah, Wilderness!Ah, Wilderness! is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on 2 October 1933.-Plot summary:...
; The Glass MenagerieThe Glass MenagerieThe Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted... - 1976: Pal Joey; The Night of the IguanaThe Night of the IguanaThe Night of the Iguana is a stageplay written by American author Tennessee Williams, based on his 1948 short story. The play premiered on Broadway in 1961. Two film adaptations have been made, including the Academy Award-winning 1964 film of the same name....
- 1977: TartuffeTartuffeTartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
- 1980: Major Barbara; The Man Who Came to DinnerThe Man Who Came to DinnerThe Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939 at the Music Box Theatre in New York City. It then enjoyed a number of New York and London revivals. The first London production was staged at The Savoy Theatre starring Robert...
- 1984: Awake and Sing; Design for LivingDesign for LivingDesign for Living is a comedy play written by Noël Coward in 1932. It concerns a trio of artistic characters, Gilda, Otto and Leo, and their complicated three-way relationship. Originally written to star Lynn Fontanne, Alfred Lunt and Coward, it was premiered on Broadway, partly because its risqué...
- 1985: Arms and the ManArms and the ManArms and the Man is a comedy by George Bernard Shaw, whose title comes from the opening words of Virgil's Aeneid in Latin:"Arma virumque cano" ....
- 1987: Coastal DisturbancesCoastal DisturbancesCoastal Disturbances is a play by Tina Howe, which premiered Off-Broadway in 1986 and transferred to Broadway. It received a Tony Award nomination as Best Play.-Production history:...
; Oil City SymphonyOil City SymphonyOil City Symphony is a musical with a book by Mike Craver, Mark Hardwick, Debra Monk, and Mary Murfitt and songs by various composers. It is a recreation of a recital by four middle-aged amateur musicians who have reunited in the auditorium of the Ohio high school they attended in the 1960s to pay... - 1988: A Streetcar Named DesireA Streetcar Named Desire (play)A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
- 1989: Sweeney ToddSweeney Todd (musical)Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is a 1979 musical thriller with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and libretto by Hugh Wheeler. The musical is based on the 1973 play Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street by Christopher Bond....
- 1992: Anna KareninaAnna Karenina (musical)Anna Karenina is a musical with a book and lyrics by Peter Kellogg and music by Daniel Levine. Based on the classic Leo Tolstoy novel of the same name, it focuses on the tragic title character, a fashionable but unhappily married woman, and her ill-fated liaison with Count Vronsky, which...
; SalomeSalome (play)Salome is a tragedy by Oscar Wilde.The original 1891 version of the play was in French. Three years later an English translation was published... - 1995: The Rose TattooThe Rose Tattoo- External links :*...
- 2000: The Rocky Horror ShowThe Rocky Horror ShowThe Rocky Horror Show is a long-running British horror comedy stage musical, which opened in London on 19 June 1973. It was written by Richard O'Brien, produced and directed by Jim Sharman. It came eighth in a BBC Radio 2 listener poll of the "Nation's Number One Essential Musicals"...
; True WestTrue West (play)True West is a play by American playwright Sam Shepard. Like most of his works it is inspired by myths of American life and popular culture. The play is a more traditional narrative than most of the plays that Shepard has written.-Plot:... - 2005: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling BeeThe 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is a one act musical comedy conceived by Rebecca Feldman with music and lyrics by William Finn, a book by Rachel Sheinkin and additional material by Jay Reiss. The show centers on a fictional spelling bee set in a geographically ambiguous Putnam Valley...
- 2008: Glory Days (musical)Glory Days (musical)Glory Days is a musical with music and lyrics by Nick Blaemire and a book by James Gardiner about four high school friends reuniting a year after graduation....
- 2009: The Norman ConquestsThe Norman ConquestsThe Norman Conquests is a trilogy of plays written in 1973 by Alan Ayckbourn. The small scale of the drama is typical of Ayckbourn. There are only six characters, namely Norman, his wife Ruth, her brother Reg and his wife Sarah, Ruth's sister Annie, and Tom, Annie's next-door-neighbour...
- 2010: The Miracle WorkerThe Miracle WorkerThe Miracle Worker is a cycle of 20th century dramatic works derived from Helen Keller's autobiography The Story of My Life. Each of the various dramas describes the relationship between Keller—a deafblind and initially almost feral child—and Anne Sullivan, the teacher who introduced her to...
(March 3 to April 4); - 2010LombardiLombardi (play)Lombardi is a play by Eric Simonson, based on the book When Pride Still Mattered: A Life of Vince Lombardi by Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Maraniss.-Synopsis:...
(October 21 to May 22, 2011) - 2011: GodspellGodspellGodspell is a musical by Stephen Schwartz and John-Michael Tebelak. It opened off Broadway on May 17, 1971, and has played in various touring companies and revivals many times since, including a 2011 revival now playing on Broadway...
(November 7 - Open Ended)