As of May 31, 2006 the Upper East Side's 299-seat off-Broadway theatre Playhouse 91 will close, marking yet another off-Broadway space closed for re-development.
For the past two decades Playhouse 91 has housed such theatre companies as the Light Opera of Manhattan, the Riverside Shakespeare Company and the Jewish Repertory Theatre. Once called "the crème de la crème of Off-Broadway theatres" by Clive Barnes, Playhouse 91 was built in a former stable and ice house in 1980. The first production was the hit play
Quartermaine's Terms, which ran for two years. Other productions have included
Arthur Miller's
After The Fall, starring
Frank Langella,
Harvey Fierstein in
Spook House, Chazz Palminteri in
A Bronx Tale, a two year run of the critically acclaimed
The Syringa Tree, starring Pamela Gien and, most recently, a four-year run of
Menopause, The Musical, which closed on May 14, 2006.
Playhouse 91 is located at 316 East 91st Street between First and Second Avenues and was operated by Patricia Greenwald, Leonard Soloway and
Steven M. Levy since January 1, 2000.
