Astor Place Theatre

Tomorrow I'm giving a tour that ends at the Astor Place Theatre.  I felt like an idiot because I didn't actually know what the Astor Place Theatre was - or where it was located.  (Though from the name I guessed is was in Astor Place.)

Turns out I've been to the Astor Place Theatre at 434 Lafayette Street before.  It is the current home of the "Blue Man Group" and I saw them and their drumming goodness perform there back in 2000.  

The Astor Place theatre is an off-Broadway theatre.  That means it has between 100 and 499 seats.  (I could not figure out how many seats this theatre has sadly.)    The theatre has been there since 1831.  It is part of "Colonnade Row" which was originally a series of 9 row houses.  4 remain to this day.  (I had to look up what a row house is.  It is a linked house or a townhouse.)  Colonnade Row was originally purchased by the miserly John Jacob Astor.  His Grand son, John Jacob Astor III lived in the number 424.  Fun fact - John Jacob Astor's great grandson, John Jacob Astor IV, died on the Titanic.  The Vanderbilt family also lived in Colonnade Row.  

In 1965 the building was bought by Bruce Mailman - an entrepreneur who has enough imagination to turn the building into an off-Broadway theatre.  From what I have read about Bruce Mailman, I imagine him to be a vibrant man very full of life and an amazing gay advocate.  Here is his obituary as written in the New York Times.  I must find out more about him because I imagine he was quite the character!  

In 1968, the Astor Place Theatre opened with a play called "The Indian Wants the Bronx."  The star was an unknown actor named Al Pacino.  He obviously went on to pretty amazing things.

In 1991 The Blue Man Group moved ingot he theatre and later bought the theatre for their company.  To this day they perform their whacky multimedia show bringing joy to audiences from all over the world.