Criterion Theatre Stage Right?

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 1:03am

I ended up in a YouTube void watching old Tony Awards and was watching the Starmites performance (WTF?) and was wondering more about the theater it played at: The Criterion Theatre Stage Right? I know it was Roundabout's for awhile too. Where was it? Does anyone have any pics? What is it now? 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 2:11am

SE corner of 45th and Bway

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 2:19am

You are correct, I am here to correct you. LOL!   

The space was actually demolished and became the Toys R Us not the Virgin Megastore. I saw the Roundabout "Little Me" at this theater (and used the men's room at the same time as Stephen Sondheim!!!!!) and the Virgin Megastore was very much there at that time. In fact I bought the "Little Me" cast recording (and multitudes of other things) there. I miss both the theater and the store! LOL!

It was an interesting space. I called it a Broadway Black Box theater. It was a bit of a thrust, the seats were raked with black metal hand railings like in a black box theater, the walls were black (I think), and though it was big enough to be considered a Broadway house it was VERY intimate. Probably the most intimate Broadway theater I was ever in. The lobby was huge with a very large bar and Roundabout information counter. The entrance from the street was relatively small and escalators took you up to the giant lobby. The doors to the two different spaces (the Off-Broadway space had a different name, but I don't remember what it was. The Laura Pels maybe??!!?) were right next to each other. And there was no separate stage door. You just waited in the lobby for the actors to come out that way. Met Faith Prince and Martin Short that way!!! Quite an interesting and unique place.

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 2:47am

PThespian said: "Wasn't it Criterion Center Stage Left Laura Pels Theater? Or the Laura Pels Theater at the Criterion Center Stage Left? A long name like that?

I saw Little Me there as well. 1776. Company. Stand Up Tragedy. The Night of the Iguana. A Thousand Clowns. The Father (with Frank Langella). 

So many other good shows. 

PS. Friggin' Times Square keeps changing. I can't keep track of what used to be what!"

I know what you mean. There was also a movie theater somewhere around there too that was interesting. I only ever saw the Matthew Broderick "Godzilla" there, but the seats were not pointed directly at the screen. They were like, on an angle. You had to turn your head to watch the movie. As I was leaving there were news crews interviewing people about the movie and when I told them I had enjoyed it they didn't want to interview me. LOL!!!

Now even the changes have changed. The Toys R Us that replaced all that is now gone as well, as is the Virgin Megastore. So many memories just torn down and rebuilt. Although I'm sure that's nothing compared to those that lived through the theater Armageddon when the Marriott Marquis was built!!!

And I am SO jealous of the list of things you say you saw there. I only ever saw Little Me and Paul McKenna's Hypnotic World there. And I never saw anything in the Pels. I saw 1776, but not until it had moved to the Gershwin.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 7:32am

The acoustics there were unbearable, even plays had to be miked. For musicals, orchestras were physically located on another floor of the building (not so unusual today, but that was the first time I had seen it). If you're a fan of acoustic sound, it was a nightmare.

i remember the space opened with a show called Suds, a mindless jukebox review of 60s pop tunes linked to a story about a jilted woman trying to commit suicide in a laundromat, and the three angels who try to save her (all played like a variety show skit). 

The one show I remember enjoying there was a revival of The Play's The Thing, with Peter Frechette and J. Smith Cameron. Everything else seemed like amateur night.

[AC126748]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 9:16am

I saw a number of shows there in the mid/late 90s. It was always a really odd space. The description of it as a black box with a Broadway designation is apt. As newintown already mentioned, the acoustics were famously terrible. It was only operational as a theater for about a decade--I believe the Stockard Channing/Larry Fishburne LION IN WINTER was the last show that played there--and I don't think its loss was as much of a tragedy as some people make it out to be.

[newintown]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 9:59am

Ha! I don't hide the fact that I think the Roundabout is generally (with a few exceptions) Manhattan's best funded community theatre.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 10:44am

newintown said: "Ha! I don't hide the fact that I think the Roundabout is generally (with a few exceptions) Manhattan's best funded community theatre."

If that were so, it would be the world's best.

I am not a fan of RTC generally but your characterization is so off the mark as to be preposterous even in hyperbole. Unless it is a community theatre in a community of the best actors and creatives in the world. 

[newintown]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 10:57am

Yes, yes, yes, we're all having a lousy Presidents Day, Hogan, but let's not let it make us all twatty.

[HogansHero]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 12:15pm

Well the holiday celebrates dead presidents not living ones. I don't think that's a cause for feeling lousy. BTW John Avlon's new book on the Washington Farewell Address sheds new light on one of the most moving sections of Hamilton, and on the great man. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 2/20/17 at 1:05pm

Anyway........ any photos of the interior?