The New Victory Theater

When I find myself searching for something interesting to do on weekends, I will often-times check out what is going on in the world of live theater.  Dramatic plays are my preference and I have thoroughly enjoyed plays including God of Carnage and Race.  My all-time favorite, I have to say, was August Wilson’s, Fences, with Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.  The story, set in the 1950s, explored the relationships, regrets, and struggles of main character, Troy, played by Denzel Washington. 

But, going to see one of these types of major Broadway plays takes a bit of advanced planning.  This past Saturday, I hadn’t planned anything, so I turned to my trusted and sometime last-minute go-to, The New Victory Theater, on 42^nd Street.  

It’s a quite beautiful, Venetian-style theater that was built in 1900.  Sitting on the red velvet seat looking up at the domed ceiling adorned with golden angels is an experience itself.

The theater had a string of successful plays and vaudeville acts in the early 1900s, including Abie’s Irish Rose.  In the 1930s, the theater became Broadway’s first striptease house and featured the famous, Gypsy Rose Lee.

In the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, the theater ran second-run motion pictures, and at the pitch of 42^nd Street’s decline in the 1970s, the Victory became the block’s first XXX-rated movie house.

When I’m in a theater that was built over 100 years ago, I can’t help but think about those who have sat there before me and the acts that have performed on the stage at the turn of the century.  (In this case, I try hard not to think about who sat there before me in the 70s and 80s when the Victory was a XXX movie theater :o )  

I do appreciate what it is today, which is New York City’s first performing arts theater for kids and their families.  It’s a delightful way to spend a Saturday afternoon – watching story books come to life, experiencing dances assembled by troops from around the world, and seeing performance art that captivates young audiences. 

This winter, the New Victory Theater is featuring the following performances:

Untapped
November 11 - 27

Raw Metal Dance
Brisbane, Australia

Andrew, Daniel, Matthew, Reece and Sam strut their stuff in a mash-up of moves drawn from tap, acrobatics and funk in this raucous and irreverent reinvention of rhythm.

BAI XI
December 2 – January 1

Cirque Shanghai
Shanghai, China

The world’s premiere company of Chinese acrobats makes the impossible look effortless as they perform astounding feats with mind-blowing perfection.

Rumplestiltsckin
January 6, 7 & 8

Stella Den Haag
Den Haag, Netherlands

An artful, eerie rendition of the classic story, Rumplestiltskin tells of millers and maidens, castles and curses and of a dreadful bargain saved by a beautiful friendship.

Wuthering Heights: Restless Souls 

January 27, 28 & 29

Theater Artemis
’s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands

Emily Brontë’s love story sweeps across the moors and into the New Victory in a contemporary adaptation of the ultimate gothic romance.

Brazil! Brazil!
February 10 – 26

World Stage Productions and Broadway Asia Int'l
Salvador da Bahia, Brazil

This is a sizzling celebration that blends music, dance, acrobatics and capoeira with the lightning fast footwork of soccer freestyle superstar Arturo.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
March 2 – 11

Actors Theatre of Louisville, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Kansas City Repertory Theatre & Hartford Stage
United States

This adaptation of Twain's novel captures the thrill of mischief-making, the fickleness of first love and the shivers that linger after a graveyard adventure gone very, very wrong.

You may find the New Victory Theater to be that last-minute (or even planned) solution to the "what should we do this weekend?” question.

Begrudgingly,

BB