Research Catalog

Save the theaters Helen Hayes and Morosco rally

Title: Save the theaters [videorecording] : Helen Hayes and Morosco rally, March 4, 1982.
Publication: New York, 1982.

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4 Items

Item details
Status	Vol/Date	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Videodisc 4	Moving image	By appointment only	NCOV 5015 Videodisc 4	Offsite
How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Videodisc 3	Moving image	By appointment only	NCOV 5015 Videodisc 3	Offsite
How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Videodisc 2	Moving image	By appointment only	NCOV 5015 Videodisc 2	Offsite
How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Videodisc 1	Moving image	By appointment only	NCOV 5015 Videodisc 1	Offsite

Details

Additional Authors

Description

4 videodiscs (DVD) (82 min.) : sd., col.; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

Raw footage from a marathon play reading sponsored by the group called Save the Theaters. The reading was part of an effort to stop the destruction of the Morosco and the Helen Hayes theaters in the Broadway theater district for the construction of the Portman Hotel. The performance, hosted by theatrical producer Joseph Papp, features readings by actors from the Pulitzer Prize-winning plays orginally performed in the Morosco Theatre, as well as speeches and commentary on the destruction of the theaters and the city's development plans for Times Square. Includes footage of street, protest site and of Papp's activities.

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

Save the theaters rally 3/4/82

Subjects

Genre/Form

Video.
Documentaries and factual works.

Note

These videos separated from the New York Shakespeare Festival collection, *T-Mss 1993-028.
Title from label on source tape container.
Videodisc one: 19 min. Videodisc two: 23 min. Videodisc three: 17 min. Videodisc four: 23 min.
Sound quality is uneven.
Speakers: Joseph Papp, Arthur Miller, Jason Robards, Christopher Reeve, Martha Scott, Lauren Bacall, Phyllis Newman, Michael Cristofer, Hildy Parks, Michael Moriarty, John Rubenstein, Madeleine Sherwood, Anne Meara, Adolph Green, Betty Comden, Alexander Cohen, Joan Davidson, Roberta Gratz.
Readings (play/playwright): Beyond the fringe/Alan Bennett et al., Craig's wife/George Kelly, Our town/Thorton Wilder, Death of a salesman/Arthur Miller, Cat on a hot tin roof/Tennessee Williams, No place to be somebody/Charles Gordone, The shadow box/Michael Cristofer, Beyond the horizon/Eugene O'Neill.

Event (note)

Videotaped in front of the Morosoco Theater, New York, N.Y. on March 4, 1982.

Biography (note)

Theatrical producer Joseph Papp was the organizer of an 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 excerpts from Pulitzer Prize-winning plays that had originated in the theaters were read by actors. On March 19 the state Supreme Court rejected a petition to halt demolition. Papp threatened physically block the demolition of the Morosco. On March 22, Papp led a group of 200 people to block access to the demolition machinery. The "Morosco 200" were arrested on 45th Street and taken to a local police precinct. Demolition began on March 23. On April 20 charges against the group were dropped. Ultimately, Papp's intervention 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

NCOV 5015

OCLC

NYPG06-F185

Title

Save the theaters [videorecording] : Helen Hayes and Morosco rally, March 4, 1982.

Imprint

New York, 1982.

Country of Producing Entity

United States.

Series

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

Event

Videotaped in front of the Morosoco Theater, New York, N.Y. on March 4, 1982.

Biography

Theatrical producer Joseph Papp was the organizer of an 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 excerpts from Pulitzer Prize-winning plays that had originated in the theaters were read by actors. On March 19 the state Supreme Court rejected a petition to halt demolition. Papp threatened physically block the demolition of the Morosco. On March 22, Papp led a group of 200 people to block access to the demolition machinery. The "Morosco 200" were arrested on 45th Street and taken to a local police precinct. Demolition began on March 23. On April 20 charges against the group were dropped. Ultimately, Papp's intervention 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

Papp, Joseph, interviewee.

Papp, Joseph, speaker.

Miller, Arthur, 1915-2005, speaker.

Robards, Jason, speaker.

Reeve,Christopher, 1952-2004, speaker.

Scott, Martha, 1914-2003, speaker.

Bacall, Lauren, 1924-2014, speaker.

Newman, Phyllis, 1933-2019, speaker.

Cristofer, Michael, speaker.

Parks, Hildy, 1926-2004, speaker.

Moriarty, Michael, 1941- speaker.

Rubenstein, John, speaker.

Sherwood, Madeleine, speaker.

Meara, Anne, speaker.

Green, Adolph, speaker.

Comden, Betty, speaker.

Cohen, Alexander H., 1920-2000, speaker.

Davidson, Joan, speaker.

Gratz, Roberta Brandes, speaker.

New York Shakespeare Festival Public Theater.

Research Call Number

NCOV 5015

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