The Playgoer: The New Provincetown Playhouse

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The New Provincetown Playhouse

Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times                                          

NYU has unveiled their renovated Provincetown Playhouse, part of a new Law School building complex that almost destroyed the legendary downtown theatre.

From this angle at least, kinda looks the same to me, no?  Still, the controversy continues.

2 comments:

RLewis said...

I've already seen a production there, and it's sad. You can see all of the new bricks in the walls and very few of the original ones.

NYU (my alma mater) could have saved this one building and then done what they wanted to the other buildings it was connected to, but no, they cared not an ounce for its theater history (where Albee got his start w/ Zoo Story). And they are the ones who taught me mine.

They could have rehabilitated the iron seating, but no, they embedded a few into the walls like fossils, and put in new seats.

There is so much that could have made this a real gem and a big recruiting tool for future students. Who wouldn’t love to say that they performed in the legendary P-town Plyhse? But no.

Even worse is the design. The aisle is in the center!?! Who does that in an intimate theater? Those would have been the best seats in the house, but no. And with lower aisles on each side (3 aisles??), there are now far fewer seats than it could have had.

It’s all so sad. Makes me want to send back my diploma. Well, they don’t have to worry about all those donation letters they send me every year. But No way on that for sure.

Playgoer said...

Thank you, Ralph, for the more detailed analysis. (Even more detailed than the Times!) I had only been in the previous incarnation a couple of times so didn't remember too well.