The Tony Award-winning Manhattan Theatre Club (Peter J. Solomon, Chairman of the Board; Lynne Meadow, Artistic Director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer) will dedicate its Broadway theatre the "Samuel J. Friedman Theatre" on Thursday, September 4. The ceremony will begin at the theatre (261 West 47th Street at 8th Avenue) with a reception at 6pm followed by a dedication at 7pm. At 7:30pm, guests will be invited onto the street for a lighting of the theatre's new marquee.
MTC previously announced that it was renaming its Broadway home, until now known as the Biltmore Theatre, the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in recognition of the pioneering Broadway publicist.
Amongst those also to be in attendance will be publicists Shirley Herz and Bob Ullman, two of Friedman's associates who will also be honored with a lobby named for them.
The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre will be inaugurated with the world premiere of To Be or Not To Be, previewing September 11, 2008 and opening October 2.
ABOUT SAMUEL J. FRIEDMAN
Born and raised in New York City, Samuel J. Friedman (1912 – 1974) was a pioneer in theatrical publicity. Legendary for his stunts, personality and press agentry, Mr. Friedman began his career in 1937 at
The Shubert Organization on a
Cole Porter musical You Never Know, starring Clifton Webb, Libby Holman and Lupe Velez. In the early 1950's he opened National Press Agents with partner Bill Doll and at various times served as Vice President of Arthur P. Jacobs Co., Inc. and VP of Publicity for United Artists Motion Pictures and Billy Rose Enterprises. He was a lifetime member and officer of the Association of Theatrical Press Agents and Managers.
Along the way he worked with such legendary performers as
Gypsy Rose Lee (Star and Garter, 1942), Montgomery Clift (The Searching Wing, 1944), Billy Rose (Diamond Horseshoe, 1946) Josephine Baker (Paris Sings Again, 1947), Mae West (Diamond Lil, 1950), Bette Davis (Two's Company, 1952), Lotte Lenya (The Threepenny Opera, 1954),
Jerry Orbach (The Threepenny Opera, 1955), Shirley Booth (Miss Isobel, 1957), Peter Ustinov (Romanoff and Juliet, 1957), Jackie Gleason (Take Me Along, 1959), Roddy McDowall (Compulsion, 1959),
Jon Voight (That Summer, That Fall, 1967),
Tammy Grimes (The Only Game in Town, 1968), Claire Bloom (Hedda Gabler, 1971), Victor Borge and Marcel Marceau.
Friedman handled the publicity for the national tour of What a Life in 1939, following its world premiere at the Biltmore in 1938. In addition, he did the publicity for the original productions of such Broadway and Off-Broadway classics as Finian's Rainbow (1947), Waiting for Godot (with an all black cast in 1957), A Moon For The Misbegotten (1957), Les Ballets Africains (1959), Genet's The Blacks (1961), Golden Boy (1964), The Subject was Roses (1965), Oh! Calcutta! (1969), The Rothschilds (1970), and The Me Nobody Knows (1970).
While his one true love was theatre, Friedman also promoted such notable films as "Moulin Rouge," "The Ten Commandments," "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and "
West Side Story"; Sol Hurok's "Holiday on Ice," and Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus.
ABOUT THE THEATRE
The Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, located on West 47th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue, reopened as the third, largest stage of the Manhattan Theatre Club in October 2003. The re-opening followed an extensive two-year, $35 million renovation after years of neglect and damage. Since its re-opening, the theatre has received numerous awards, including induction into the National Register of Historic Places, the Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award, the Theatre Museum Award, and the New York Landmark Conservancy's highest honor for excellence. It complements Manhattan Theatre Club's two Off Broadway stages at New York
City Center.
Since its reopening in 2003, the theatre has hosted such acclaimed Manhattan Theatre Club productions as
David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning Rabbit Hole starring Tony Award-winner
Cynthia Nixon,
Conor McPherson's Tony-nominated play Shining City,
Donald Margulies' Sight Unseen starring Tony-nominated
Laura Linney, the Tony-nominated revival of
Brian Friel's Translations and Kurt Weill/
Alfred Uhry/
Hal Prince's world premiere musical LoveMusik, starring Tony-nominated actors
Donna Murphy and
Michael Cerveris.
The theatre opened in 1925 as the Biltmore and housed such plays as Brother Rat with Jose Ferrer and See My Lawyer starring Milton Berle. In the '60s, it was the original home of the groundbreaking musical Hair and
Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park. It suffered extensive damage in the intervening years due to weather, vandalism and neglect and was closed in 1987 following a devastating fire.
The theater's rehabilitation was designed by Polshek Partnership Architects, whose credits include Zankel Hall, The Rose Center for Earth and Science, Carnegie Hall and the Brooklyn Museum.
ABOUT MANHATTAN THEATRE CLUB:
Under the leadership of Artistic Director
Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer
Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country's most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. MTC productions have earned a total of 16 Tony Awards and five Pulitzer Prizes as well as numerous other awards. Renowned MTC productions include LoveMusik; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Kimberly Akimbo; Love! Valour! Compassion!; Sylvia; Four Dogs and a Bone; Putting It Together; Lips Together, Teeth Apart; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain't Misbehavin'.
