The New York Times is reporting that the Lamb's Theatre Company--currently playing host to the hit Off-Broadway show
A Jew Grows in Brooklyn--has received an eviction notice.
According to the article, the company was ordered to vacate the theatre by September 30th. The space, which is located at 130 W. 44th St., will soon be occupied by a hotel: "The Manhattan Initiative, the building's management corporation, which works on behalf of the Church of the Nazarene, reached an agreement
seven years ago with the Hampshire Hotels Group, giving the group an
option to develop the building into a hotel. Hampshire recently decided
to exercise the option."
Carolyn Rossi Copeland, the Lamb's Theater Company's founding producer, said that the company plans to find another Manhattan space. They would remove the interior of the Lambs' larger upstairs theatre and set it up elsewhere.
The theatre has been in operation since 1978, with a 140-seat theatre on the ground floor and a 360-seat theatre on the third floor (there are six floors altogether, with the Church of the Nazarene also occupying the third). The building in which it is housed was designed by Stanford White and built in 1905, and a famous guild of theatre professionals--including Fred Astaire and Mark Twain--supplied the origin for the company's name. The Lambs once met inside the building frequently.
Due to its history, landmark status has been bestowed upon the building's exterior and some of the interior sections.
A Jew Grows in Brooklyn, a one-man show written and performed by Jake Ehrenreich, begins performances at Lamb's Theatre Company on June 7th.
The show is "an innovative and delightful new musical comedy that tells the
autobiographical story of Jake Ehrenreich's first generation American
journey. Through sometimes poignant, often times hysterical stories
about his family, Jake weaves together haimish wisdom and a hip modern
sensibility to create an entertaining and touching two hours of comedy
and song," state press notes. It previously ran from March 24th through May 28th at the The American Theatre of Actors' Chernuchin Theatre.Moscow Cats Theatre and One-Man Star Wars Trilogy also recently played Lamb's.
