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[Save the theaters] : [related television coverage aired WWOR-TV

Title: [Save the theaters] : [related television coverage aired WWOR-TV, March 5, 22 and 23 and April 19, 1982] [videorecording]
Publication: New York, 1982.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Moving image	By appointment only	NCOX 5357	Offsite

Details

Additional Authors

Description

1 videodisc (DVD) (8 min.) : sd., col.; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

Compilation of television coverage related to the Save the Theaters campaign to stop the destruction of the Morosco and the Helen Hayes theaters in the Broadway district. Four segments from New York, N.Y., aired WWOR-TV, Channel 9, March 5, 22 and 23 and April 19, 1982.

Donor/Sponsor

Gift of the Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival.

Series Statement

Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival Moving Image Collection

Alternative Title

WOR-TV, 7/1/82, Morosco and Helen Hayes Theatres

Subjects

Genre/Form

Television.
Interviews.

Note

This video separated from the New York Shakespeare Festival collection, *T-Mss 1993-028.
Dubbed compilation of segments taped off air.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Segment four also cataloged in NCOX 5189.
Segment one aired 3/5/82. "Actors trying to save the Helen Hayes and Morosco theaters on Broadway won another round yestersday when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall postponed the demolition."
Segment two, aired 3/22/82. "More than 200 people including many Broadway actors and producers have been arrested for refusing to move from the soon-to-be demolished Morosco and Helen Hayes Theaters. The U.S. Supreme Court today cleared the way for the demolition to begin as part of the Portman Hotel project. The demostrators were carted away in seven police wagons. Among those arrested were actors Tammy Grimes, Michael Moriarty and Colleen Dewhurst." Includes brief interviews with Christopher Reeve, Grimes and Joseph Papp at the protest site.
Segment three, aired 3/23/82. "The grandeur of Broadway's Morosco Theater is but a memory this morning. Wrecking crews have seen to that. Penny Crone reports on the demolition of the famous Broadway theater." Actor Celeste Holm who once performed at the theater is interviewed at the site. "Portman Construction says it will begin its planned $300 million dollar construction project as soon as possible. Legal battles both on the street and in the court have failed to delay the inevitable. Yesterday more than 200 people were arrested as they failed to block demolition. [P]roducer Joseph Papp looked on helplessly as the theater came down." Brief interview with protestor Colleen Dewhurst who discusses whether her effort to stop the theater's destruction was in vain. "The man in charge of the demolition watched from his office across the street." Birckhead Rouse, Jr., project executive for Portman Properties, says he does not feel guilty, and that "you have to make a balance between whether you stay with the old or go forward with the new."
Segment four, aired 4/19/82. "The Morosco is no more and the Helen Hayes theater is just a shell awaiting demolition. The 170 people arrested for protesting the demise of both showhouses on March 22nd appeared in front of Manhattan criminal court today prior to their arraignment for a pep talk from producer Joseph Papp. Among the group was actress Tammy Grimes getting support from Manhattan Borough President Andy Stein." Stein briefly discusses the need to create an historic Broadway theater district.

Biography (note)

Theatrical producer Joseph Papp was the organizer of a grassroots effort, begun in 1982, called Save the Theaters, to stop the destruction of the Morosco and Helen Hayes theaters for the construction of the Portman Hotel. Papp recruited Merle Debusky to organize publicity and enlisted dozens of celebrated actors in his campaign, which he conducted from a suite in the nearby Piccadilly Hotel. On March 4, 1982 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction preventing demolition of the theaters, and a nineteen-day "Save the Morosco and the Helen Hayes Theater Vigil" began. New York Shakespeare Festival staffers erected a stage on 45th Street in front of the Morosco, where on March 4 and 5 excerpts from seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays that had originated in the theaters were read by actors in a 24-hour performance. On March 19 the state Supreme Court rejected a petition to halt demolition and Papp threatened physically block the demolition of the Morosco. On March 22, Papp led a group of 200 people to a lot to block access to the demolition machinery. The "Morosco 200" were arrested on 45th Street and taken to a local police precinct. Demoltion began on March 23. On April 20 charges against the group were dropped. Ultimately Papp's intervention had failed to save the theaters. During the next three years the producer spoke with officials and met with city planners about having the Broadway theater zone declared an historic district.

Call Number

NCOX 5357

OCLC

NYPG06-F120

Title

[Save the theaters] : [related television coverage aired WWOR-TV, March 5, 22 and 23 and April 19, 1982] [videorecording]

Imprint

New York, 1982.

Series

Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival Moving Image Collection

Biography

Theatrical producer Joseph Papp was the organizer of a grassroots effort, begun in 1982, called Save the Theaters, to stop the destruction of the Morosco and Helen Hayes theaters for the construction of the Portman Hotel. Papp recruited Merle Debusky to organize publicity and enlisted dozens of celebrated actors in his campaign, which he conducted from a suite in the nearby Piccadilly Hotel. On March 4, 1982 the U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction preventing demolition of the theaters, and a nineteen-day "Save the Morosco and the Helen Hayes Theater Vigil" began. New York Shakespeare Festival staffers erected a stage on 45th Street in front of the Morosco, where on March 4 and 5 excerpts from seven Pulitzer Prize-winning plays that had originated in the theaters were read by actors in a 24-hour performance. On March 19 the state Supreme Court rejected a petition to halt demolition and Papp threatened physically block the demolition of the Morosco. On March 22, Papp led a group of 200 people to a lot to block access to the demolition machinery. The "Morosco 200" were arrested on 45th Street and taken to a local police precinct. Demoltion began on March 23. On April 20 charges against the group were dropped. Ultimately Papp's intervention had failed to save the theaters. During the next three years the producer spoke with officials and met with city planners about having the Broadway theater zone declared an historic district.

Added Author

Grimes, Tammy, interviewee.

Papp, Joseph, interviewee.

Reeve, Christopher, 1952-2004, interviewee.

Holm, Celeste, 1917-2012, interviewee.

Rouse, Birckhead, Jr., interviewee.

Stein, Andrew J., interviewee.

New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater.

WWOR-TV (Television station : New York, N.Y.) producer.

Research Call Number

NCOX 5357

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