New Yorkers are practical, busy, and no-nonsense people. The scariest thing for most is missing that subway connection when trying to get to an important meeting on time. We simply don’t have time for ghosts and spirits. But they seem to have time for us, especially in New York’s spookiest neighborhood. Greenwich Village is no stranger […]
Throughout history, societies look to the arts to give insight and meaning to events and experiences. And so with good reason, we have been thinking a great deal about our theater artist community in these days and months since the pandemic has closed our beloved cultural institutions. Artists who create theater have been given the […]
This is one in a series of posts marking the 50th anniversary of the designation of the Greenwich Village Historic District. Click here to check out our year-long activities and celebrations. The streets, parks, and squares of the Greenwich Village Historic District are named for a unique collection of historical figures. In honor of the […]
On March 26th, 2018, GVSHP and friends will gather around the Cherry Lane Theater stage by candlelight to celebrate the trailblazing women poets of the Village. Each poet merits an entire book (at least) in celebration of her life, work, and legacy. But today we’ll focus on just two of them: Lola Ridge and Sonia […]
When March finally rolls around, I feel the need for celebration! Not only does it mean that we have weathered the January/February doldrums, but also because March is Women’s History Month! We have several exciting programs in store for the month long celebration. On Monday, March 26th, we will host and evening of Women Poets […]
1950 was a seminal year in the life of the “last rock star poet,” Dylan Thomas (October 27, 1914 –November 9, 1953). On February 20th of that year the much-celebrated Welsh poet arrived in New York to begin what would be the most exhilarating yet grueling period of his career. The period between 1950 and […]
On this day in 1888, Eugene Gladstone O’Neill was born, and the course of American theater would change forever. O’Neill became the first American dramatist to regard the stage as a literary medium and he remains the only U.S. playwright to capture the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Clifford Odets, one of America’s greatest playwrights, passed away on this day in 1963 at the age of 57. Odets grew up in the Bronx but migrated downtown as soon as he could in order to be around the artists, musicians, actors and writers who inhabited the Village. He began his career as an […]
“…But who knows what is real anyway? Reality is overrated. What remains are the words scrawled upon an unwinding panorama, vestiges of dusty stills peeled from memory, a threnody of gone voices drifting across the American plain. The One Inside is a coalescing atlas marked by the boot heels of one who instinctively tramps, with open […]
I burn my candle at both ends, It will not last the night. But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends, It gives a lovely light. — Edna St. Vincent Millay The Cherry Lane theatre, located on Commerce Street, a cul-de-sac in the heart of Greenwich Village, was the brainchild of poet, playwright, actress, and […]
After the great Frank O’Hara plaque unveiling earlier this week (you can view video and photos from the event), today we thought we’d take a look at another celebrated Village poet — Edna St. Vincent Millay, with this recent look back by GVSHP’s Amanda Davis. The narrow house at 75 ½ Bedford Street is well […]
GVSHP’s Annual Meeting and Awards are quickly approaching (this coming Monday night from 6:30 to 8pm at the New School’s Auditorium, 66 West 12th Street — RSVP here). This year we are proud to honor Kathy Donaldson, the longtime President of the Bedford-Barrow-Commerce Block Association, with our Regina Kellerman Award, named for GVSHP’s first Executive […]
Today marks William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, although some sources say his exact date of birth is unknown. He never set foot in the Village – he lived before it was developed by European settlers – but Shakespeare would likely be pleased with the neighborhood’s vibrant literary history. How many other places can celebrate such a […]
An amazing resource that we have featured here and there on Off the Grid is the theater drawings of Anthony F. Dumas. From the Jewish Rialto along lower Second Avenue to the little gems hidden in the nooks and crannies of the Village’s quirky streets, Dumas seemingly covered it all. And while many of these […]
We here at GVSHP spend a great deal of time pouring over archival records and buildings department files to document the history of our neighborhoods — when buildings went up, when they came down, how they once looked, how they changed, etc. (click HERE to learn more). However, a less dusty (and frankly more fun) […]
