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Tag: Provincetown Playhouse

The First Performance at the Provincetown Playhouse : A Milestone in American Theater

In 1918, a small but revolutionary event took place in the heart of Greenwich Village, forever changing the landscape of American theater. The Provincetown Playhouse, a humble venue at 133 MacDougal Street, hosted its first performance, marking the beginning of an artistic movement that would shape the future of modern theatre in the United States. […]

What’s So Special About the South Village?

Village Preservation kicked off its campaign to honor, document, and seek landmark designation for the South Village and its remarkable immigrant and artistic histories in December 2006, and completed the effort in December 2016 with designation of the third and final phase of our proposed South Village Historic District, the largest expansion of landmark protections in the neighborhood since 1969. […]

    Unveiling the Women of Provincetown Playhouse: Beacons of Artistic Innovation in Greenwich Village

    In the heart of Greenwich Village, a historic theater emerged as a cradle of creativity and a crucible for groundbreaking theatrical experiments—the Provincetown Playhouse. Established in 1915 in Provincetown, Massachusetts as the Provincetown Players, this group of creatives moved to New York in 1916 and opened what became the permanent home for the Playhouse at […]

    Remembering the Provincetown Playhouse

    On November 22, 1918, the first performances were staged at the Provincetown Playhouse’s new home at 133 MacDougal Street. Founded in Massachusetts three years prior as the Provincetown Players, the theater company moved its performances to an apartment at 139 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village in 1916. Seeking more space, they leased a 19th-century former stable and […]

      LGBTQ+ Pride Programs Roundup

      The roots of LGBTQ+ life in our neighborhoods are deeper than we even know. In the documentary PS. Burn This Letter Please, which premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and was presented at one of Village Preservation’s Pride programs, gay historian George Chauncey spoke about using police records and newspaper articles because personal papers […]

      127, 129, and 131 MacDougal Street: Architecture, Artists, African Americans, and “Alternative Lifestyles”

      On June 8th, 2004, 127, 129, and 131 MacDougal Street, three 1829 Federal Style houses, were landmarked  — the first three of thirteen Village Preservation and the NY Landmarks Conservancy jointly proposed and campaigned for landmark designation. On December 17, 2013, they were landmarked again as part of the South Village Historic District following a decade of advocacy by Village Preservation. While all three […]

        As Fifth Avenue Nears 200, A Look Back at How & Where It All Began, and Celebrated 100

        Fifth Avenue, one of New York’s defining thoroughfares, stretches from Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, kicked off (or terminated, depending upon your perspective) by Washington Square Arch. It stretches all the way to West 143rd Street in Harlem, and boasts some of New York’s as well as the country’s most significant architecture, and captures […]

          Demolitions in Our Historic Image Archive: Gone, But Not Forgotten

          Village Preservation is always working hard to document, celebrate, and protect the historic character of our neighborhoods, including the great buildings that make Greenwich Village, NoHo and East Village such wonderful places to live, work and shop.  Of course, we’re not always able to save every historic building from demolition, and some disappeared long before […]

          A Video Campaign to “Save the South Village”

          On Columbus Day in 2012 ( which was on October 8th), Village Preservation launched its “Save the South Village” video campaign. Columbus Day is traditionally a time to celebrate the contributions made by Italian-Americans to our country.  Our “Save the South Village” video campaign began as an effort to highlight the incredible history (Italian-American and […]

          History Lost to NYU

          We all know that New York University has an enormous presence in Greenwich Village and the East Village — one that has grown tremendously in recent decades, and is continuing to grow with the construction of their “NYU 2031” expanded campus on the Washington Square Village and Silver Towers superblocks south of Washington Square. The […]

          Remembering the Arch (and other) Conspirators

          On January 23, 1917, poet Gertrude Drick, painters John Sloan and Marcel Duchamp, and actors Russell Mann, Betty Turner, and Charles Ellis climbed to the top of Washington Square Arch. Drick read a declaration of independence for the “Free and Independent Republic of Washington Square” with the intent of having a neighborhood free from mainstream convention. 

          The Birth of the Provincetown Playhouse

          On November 3, 1916, the Provincetown Players performed their first production in their new home in Greenwich Village. The theater company performed King Arthur’s Socks by Floyd Dell, The Game by Louise Bryant, and Bound East for Cardiff by a young, relatively unknown Eugene O’Neill. Referred to as “the birthplace of modern drama”, the Provincetown Playhouse staged the works […]

            Happy Birthday, Eugene O’Neill

            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 and The Group Theatre

              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 […]

            Happy Birthday Marcel Duchamp!

            This is an updated reposting of a blog by former staffer, Lauren Snetiker, July 28th, 2015 Today marks what would have been Marcel Duchamp’s 130th Birthday. Duchamp was born in France on July 28, 1887, trained as a painter in Paris until 1905, and spent much of his adult life living in Paris and New […]

              Let Me Introduce To You: Sgt. Pepper’s Greenwich Village Band

              The classic Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, considered by many the greatest and most influential rock album of all time, was released on May 26, 1967 in the U.K., and June 2, 1967 in the U.S.  The lasting influence of “the first concept album” is undeniable, but so too is the Village’s […]

                Happy Birthday, Paul Robeson

                Although Paul Robeson is most strongly associated with the Harlem Renaissance, this dynamic public figure cut his teeth on the Greenwich Village theater circuit and fully embraced the bohemian, progressive, and activist lifestyle that made the neighborhood so famous. A college football star, lawyer, actor, and activist, Robeson was even the subject of a great sculpture […]

                  Unrecognizable: Former Village Institutions and what has taken their place

                  It’s no secret that the Village has changed.  However, due to rising demand for real estate, hyper-gentrification threatens the unique and special fabric of our neighborhoods.  It’s not just small and independent businesses and cultural institutions that are being lost, but the livelihoods of many Village residents.  These were the places they worked, places they shopped, […]

                  Birthday Blog with Charles Busch!

                  Charles Busch is the quintessential Villager. A prolific playwright and actor, he has lived in the West Village for most of his adult life. This reporter has been a life-long fan of Charles and so on this, his ??? birthday, I caught up with him amidst his busy schedule to ask him for his thoughts […]

                  Happy Birthday, Marcel Duchamp!

                  Marvel Duchamp was born in France on July 28, 1887, trained as a painter in Paris until 1905, and spent much of his adult life living in Paris and New York City. His early work was Post-Impressionist, but in 1914, Duchamp introduced his readymades. These common objects, sometimes altered, presented as works of art, had […]

                  Village People: Djuna Barnes

                  (This post is part of a series called Village People: A Who’s Who of Greenwich Village, which will explore some of this intern’s favorite Village people and stories.) Djuna Barnes was born in 1892, to a polygamist family at Storm King Mountain, New York. Her father made little effort to support his children, and Djuna’s grandmother […]

                    All the World’s a Village on Shakespeare’s 450th Birthday

                    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 […]

                      A First for Recognizing LGBT History in the South Village

                      Over the past several weeks, we’ve been highlighting the recent designation of the South Village Historic District, which GVSHP fought ten years to achieve, as well as the treasure trove of information found in the newly-available designation report for the district, which in several cases cites research and materials provided by GVSHP. The South Village’s […]

                      The Artist: Anthony F. Dumas and His Theater Drawings

                      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 […]

                        Quinn holds the cards on rezoning and landmarking

                        From The Villager Newspaper, February 14, 2013 Op-Ed:  Quinn Holds the Cards on Hudson Square Rezoning and South Village Landmarking http://www.thevillager.com/?p=10221 By Andrew Berman, Katy Bordonaro, Zack Winestine, Micki McGee, Richard Blodgett, Carl Rosenstein and Silvia Beam The Hudson Square rezoning currently before the City Council presents a rare case where a win-win is possible. Done […]

                        Conspiracy Atop the Arch

                        Ninety-six years ago today a group of artists gathered at the top of the Washington Square Arch. Poet Gertrude Drick, painters John Sloan (who drew the etching above) and Marcel Duchamp, and Provincetown Playhouse actors Russell Mann, Betty Turner, and Charles Ellis got into the arch and up the spiral staircase through an unlocked door. […]

                        Bittersweet Anniversary for Provincetown Playhouse

                        On November 22, 1918, the first performances were staged at the Village’s renowned Provincetown Playhouse in the theater company’s permanent home. Founded in 1915 in Massachusetts as the Provincetown Players by a group of writers and actors, the theater company moved its performances to an apartment at 139 MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village in 1916. […]

                          A Greenwich Village Artifact in Texas

                          We love receiving research queries here at GVSHP, but never more so than when the person asking the question has something to tell us. So we were quite pleased to receive an inquiry from a curator at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, who wanted to know the history of […]

                          Happy Birthday Blowin’ In the Wind

                          On July 9, 1962, Bob Dylan recorded “Blowin’ In the Wind,” a song destined to become an anthem for a generation, and for the transformative civil rights and peace movements.  Dylan is said to have written “Blowin’ In the Wind” at the Fat Black Pussycat Theater on Minetta Street, and first performed it at Gerde’s […]