Community Board Congress Held Today on Small to Midsize Theaters at Player's Club

Space is Limited. For further information and RSVP: david@workshoptheater.org Participants, Scheduled Speakers, Panelists and Guests include:

Scott Stringer, Borough President of Manhattan Anthony Borelli - Dir. of Land Use, Manhattan Borough President's Office Andy Burmeister - Dir Capital Projects, NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Ben Cameron - Program Dir. for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Kevin Cunningham - Executive Artistic Director, 3LD Art & Technology Center Katherine Denny - President, Student Network Exploring Arts & Culture, Wagner, NYU Virginia Louloudes - Executive Director ART/NY Judith Malina - Founding Director, The Living Theater Paul Nagle - Dir of Cultural Policy for Council Member Alan J. Gerson Tamara Greenfield - Executive Director, FAB Arts District

Manhattan Community Boards One, Two, Three, Four and Five are coming together for an unprecedented joint Public Forum on Small to Mid-Sized Theaters, which are an important part of the sustainability and resilience of NYC small businesses and local economies.

Unfortunately, many of the smaller theaters that bring so much life to our neighborhoods have closed their doors or are in imminent danger of closing. The problem is acute.

The economic climate combined with the rising cost of real estate are making it difficult for smaller theaters to retain their spaces for performances, rehearsals and offices. With the recent closing of the Zipper Theater in CB4, almost 30% of Midtown performance venues have been demolished in the past three years, along with 25% of West Village theaters. At the end of the Nineties many of the Lower East Side's theaters were repurposed for bars (e.g. Piano! s, Todo Con Nada) or displaced and laid vacant and demolished by speculation (e.g. Present Company, and Collective Unconscious). The Community Boards realize that when the theaters leave, the cultural richness and attractiveness of their neighborhoods will diminish, and opportunities for local artists disappear.

But with crisis, comes opportunity.

The goals of this Public Forum are (1) to clearly explain the depth and urgency of the issues facing smaller theaters; (2) to discuss potential solutions based on expert opinion from communities outside of New York where there have been successes, and from political, real estate and artistic experts in New York; and (3) to gather community support to advocate for changes that will help the theaters and ensure their survival.

Please Note: The Players' Club (the oldest private theater club in America) has requested that attendees honor the Club's dress code of no jeans, no sneakers -- but no one will be turned away on that basis. Attendance Strictly Limited to 250.

CONTACT / RSVP: David Diamond, ddjdstar@gmail.com, 212-620-7827.