Photo Flash: Broadway Legend John Cullum Gets His Own Theatre on 54th Street!

On Friday, October 16, The Chernuchin Theatre, one of the theatres housed at The American Theatre for Actors (ATA, 314 West 54th Street, New York City) was named for beloved Broadway legend and two-time Tony Award winner John Cullum. He is best known as Holling, the bartender in "Northern Exposure."

The newly renamed John Cullum Theatre was home to the original engagement of URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL, a co-production of The Araca Group and the Dodgers, in which Mr. Cullum was featured as the dastardly Caldwell B. Cladwell and for which he received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Cullum and friends gathered there on Friday, following a performance of Fracture Thetre Company's URINETOWN, to reveal the new plaque and celebrate.

The plaque reads:

John Cullum Theatre

On April 1, 2001, a band of intrepid players began performances of the Off-Broadway premiere of URINETOWN: THE MUSICAL at the American Theatre of Actors. Among that eclectic company was two-time Tony Award winner John Cullum. Through his passion, vigor and dedication, he helped lead this most unlikely of shows through ten sold-out weeks before it transferred to Broadway's Henry Miller's Theatre, where URINETOWN ran for nearly 1,000 performances and won three Tony Awards.

To celebrate that spirit and inspire future generations who might find a home here, we rename this theatre in his honor.

October 16, 2015

John Cullum's Broadway career spans from CAMELOT to CASA VALENTINA. A member of the Broadway Hall of Fame, he received Tony and Drama Desk Awards for ON THE TWENTIETH CENTURY and SHENANDOAH and nominations for SIN, 110 IN THE SHADE, URINETOWN, and ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. He also had major roles in THE SCOTTSBORO BOYS, CYMBELINE, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY and BOYS IN AUTUMN. Films include THE HISTORIAN; THE CONSPIRATORS; NIGHT LISTENER; BETTY PAGE; SECRET LIFE OF ALGERNON; 1776; SWEET COUNTRY; MARIE; ROLL OF THUNDER, HEAR MY CRY; ALL THE WAY HOME; and HAWAII. TV includes "Mad Men," "Law & Order: SVU," and "ER." He is best known as Holling, the bartender in "Northern Exposure."

Photo Credit: Lyn Hughes