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Published on: 9/10/2001
Last Visited: 9/11/2001
According to Jay Michaels , the artistic director of Genesis Rep and one of the guiding forces behind the coalition , it is for theatre companies who are based from 59th St. to the 90s , from Lexington Ave. to York Ave..Originally the coalition had a grander design , but pragmatism forced members to scale back their plans.
Originally , last year we were looking at something called The Off-Off-Broadway Theatre Coalition , he told Back Stage , but that became too big an undertaking so we figured we'd segment and start with the Upper East Side , since that's where our theatre is located.
If this goes well we'll start a Lower East Side Theatre Coalition , and a West Side Theatre Coalition and eventually we can think about making a full-scale run of it..
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Michaels acknowledged that relatively few theatres exist on the Upper East Side , but said he expects to see the situation get better , perhaps even returning to the days when several venues operated there.There are at least two or three closed buildings that are theatres that are not used , he pointed out.They are the Bohemian National Hall , which was a famous theatre in the 1950s , now owned by the Czech consulate.There's another theatre near York Ave. that's closed , two other community groups that have large spaces that aren't used.Those are all in the 70s..
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The theatre we're in , the Jan Hus , was dormant for three years before we took it over , Michaels said , but was the home of the Shakespearwrites in the 1950s , which was Joseph Papp's leading local competitor.Parnell Roberts , Robert Reed , and Earl Hyman performed there for years in various Shakespeare productions..
Happily , Michaels said , the Bohemian National Hall is being renovated and will be used for a presentation later this year.Vit Horejs , a distinguished Czechoslo-vakian-American marionette manipulator , has persuaded the consulate to allow him to use the facility for a show this winter.
About Genesis Rep
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Michaels is nearly as excited about that presentation as he is proud of the coalition , and promises that anyone who thinks he or she knows the play is in for a surprise.
To a novice , you'll catch the differences between it and the version most are familiar with ; to a Shakespeare aficionado , there are plenty of gasps , he said.For instance , 'To be or not to be' is completely different , characters have completely different names and different relationships , and there are plot twists , including one I won't tell you about with the queen.
The biggest difference is the length , he added.This is pure plotline.The big joke about 'Hamlet' is that it's four hours long.We read this the other night and it was 90 minutes from beginning to end , and we cut out nothing.In fact , we stopped and started every once in a while.
The famous urban legend about the first quarto is that this was compiled by his actor , and the joke is that the actor who played Marcellus the guard is the one that led the compilation , because his lines are almost exactly the same as in the established quarto..
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Michaels is also looking forward to the performance for another reason : Horejs will break out his marionettes to do the dumb show where Claudius is first confronted with the details of his crimes.
Vit was in this neighborhood years ago , when it was a very Czechoslovakian-Hungarian-Bohemian neighborhood , so we're proud we got one of the old guard to return , Michaels said.He'd been primarily on the Lower East Side , but he recently had some problem with his space so at the beginning of the year he started looking for a new venue.We're hoping he stays here on the Upper East Side..
Other attractions that Michaels intends to bring to the neighborhood include the new musical Growing Up Sicilian and Female , adapted by Sadie Penzato from her book of the same name , and a series of Arias and Sonnets where Shakespeare's texts are played off musicalized equivalents such as Verdi's Falstaff and Otello in two-hour concerts.Genesis has already done a couple of those evenings , and now Michaels wants to do a full season.Genesis also has a children's theatre that Horejs will use for some puppet shows for younger audiences , called Ann and Fay's House after two philanthropists who helped the company create it , and the classic repertory that has already gotten the company quite a bit of attention in its own neighborhood and in a recent New York Times article.
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It may sound like a lot , but Michaels thinks it is only barely enough to keep up with the area's demand for entertainment.
It's a very young , fast paced neighborhood , with so many businesses and restaurants , he said.It's a shame that all the residents have to go across town to get theatre..If he has his way , that will soon be a thing of the past.
For more information about Genesis Rep or UESTC , call ( 212 ) 330-8866.
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