A PATRON OF THE ARTS

As one grows older there are memories of great times which unfortunately begin to fade. Also one likes to bore a captive audience with such memories, so please indulge me as I reminisce. However if you have no interest in my waxings ,I would welcome your comments..

In the 50s there was no lack of entertainment in Plainfield and its environs. Besides the four movie houses there were local theatrical groups such as the Parish Players who presented their productions in the Unitarian Church as well as the very popular Paper Mill Playhouse its early days.

The drive into the City was easy in those days and we enjoyed going into the city to see Broadway shows, preferably musicals. such as Brigadoon. Since I never liked the commitment of buying seats months in advance. Instead we would go into the city on a Wednesday and buy seats if available at the box office or if necessary from a broker. This was in the days before the booth in Times Square Our choice would be well established shows that were more likely to have available seats at the box office.

In the 50s we subscribed to a new repertory theater group formed to present a series of plays. The format was that there would be a cycle of 6 weeks for each of four productions. The majority would be modernized revivals of classics.

For the first few years the initial presentations were at the ANTA theater, an overgrown Quonset hut type building on 4th St. in NYC inside the NYU complex. This was to be a temporary home until the Beaumont Theater would be built in the proposed Lincoln Center. The Anta was an amphitheater with seats that certainly were not plush. The building emitted a cavernous atmosphere. The performances were in the Theater in the Round style (motif).

Among the shows we saw there was the original performance of “The Man from La Mancha”, Arthur Miller’s “The Bridge” and “Death of a Salesman”. However, the earliest production companies also presented some original “stinkers”. Including one about the French Revolution. Unfortunately stability of producers was not established until the appointment of the pair of producers who also presented Shakespearean plays in Central Park.

Our tickets were for the Friday evening performances, and we would drive into the city. After finding parking space on the street, usually on West 4th St, we would have dinner always at the same Italian Restaurant about a block from the theater.

Upon completion of a permanent home in the Lincoln Center’s Beaumont Theater,(1965), the ANTA Theater was demolished to make room for NYU buildings.

A few years later, we increased our Beaumont subscription to four seats. We would invite another couple to see the show with us. However the pre-show dinner was on a “Dutch treat” format. After driving in and parking in the garage under Lincoln Center, we then would have a pre-theater dinner nearby.

Our dinning favorite was the “Ginger Man”. Unfortunately, there were several different ownerships with changes in cuisine during the years. At times the restaurant was top notch, but there were other times when it became second rate. Then we would eat at one of the other area restaurants. An interesting one was the “Monk’s Inn”which specialized in fondues. The staff were all costumed in brown to resemble monks.

Our Beaumont seats for the first Friday night of a production run , were the right third and fourth off the center aisle on the top row. The pitch to the stage was relatively steep, and these seats were about twenty rows from the stage. I preferred them, because not only was the view and acoustics perfect, but nobody’s knee was in my back.

If we were unable to make our subscription performance it was never any problem in advance to reschedule for another date during that show’s run, although we never could receive comparable seats.

Once, for a performance of Shakespeare’s King Lear,our 2nd row side seats were so close, that when the male lead spoke he spit and sprayed us. Our guests that night were friends Rita and Arthur Neuman who were very active in the local amateur theater scene and who enjoyed the whole wet performance. Arthur life desire was to have been a Shakespearean actor. I am sure Art could quote any Shakespeare play by heart.

Another time, in our regular seats, our guest poked me in the ribs. In the two aisle seats sitting next to him were the then US Ambassador to the United Nations, Arthur Goldberg, and his wife.

Initially the stock company performances were given on a six week cycle with four different productions during the season. At least one was a revival of a “classic” play, and one was by a new play writer. The original stock company held sway for many years.

Unfortunately as the original producers lost direction, and began producing uninteresting shows. The subscription renewals decreased, leading to financial difficulties. Several other producers followed and tried changes in the overall format. We began to have difficulty finding couples that were interested in seeing the performances so we dropped our two guest seats.

If a production seemed successful the repertory format of limited performances was forgotten. Instead they were treated as if they were “On Broadway” and their stay in the theater prolonged. Other scheduled productions would be cancelled or deferred, resulting in unwelcome changes to our subscription dates. Ultimately, after a few seasons of producer and format changes, plus too many uninteresting experimental productions, we decided not to renew our subscriptions.

For a short period of time we also had subscriptions to the Newhouser Theater, a very small intimate theater under the Beaumont. Its productions varied, from a group of one act plays to those written by unknown writers.

The New York State Theater in Lincoln Center Complex. Was designed to be the home of the New York State Ballet and also became the venue for the New York City Opera. It’s interior was designed to resemble an old European Concert Hall.

This theater which has also undergone revision in its 40 years has been the site of revivals of Broadway musicals including several productions of West Side Story over the years.

In the early days of Lincoln Center we also subscribed to a short series of concerts in the Philharmonic Hall. Although I could never carry a tune except in the form of a 33 1/3 record, we enjoyed classical concerts. I never thought that the acoustics of the original configuration or subsequent alteration came close to that of the Carnegie Hall.

Despite my one wartime experience in Paris, I have never been to an Opera. Additionally I had no desire to see one. Never the less, during the initial fund raising drive to build the center, in what must have been a fit of weakness, we made a moderate contribution of, I believe, $500.00 (in 1960’s dollars, how much would that be today?) for the Metropolitan Opera House. My son Andy and his wife who are dedicated opera attendees have told me that there are donor’s plaques there and our name is listed. So much for being a patron of the arts.