Roundabout Theatre Company
Essay Preview: Roundabout Theatre Company
Report this essay
The idea of the Roundabout Theatre was first conceived by Gene Feist and his wife, actress Elizabeth Owens. They opened in New York where they believed their theatre would flourish. They wanted to do classic plays at an affordable price, and thought this would benefit New Yorkers greatly. Their first production was Strindbergs The Father which opened in a 150-seat theatre under a supermarket in Chelsea where subscribers paid
$5:00 for three plays.
In 1974 with respected reputation, they branched out and afforded a new 299-seat theatre on 23rd St and called it Roundabout Stage One, and renamed the old theatre Roundabout Stage Two. Throughout the next ten years the two stages sufficed the needs of the theatre company, bringing more and more well-known actors to its doors, wanting a place in their productions. Well-known actors such as Kim Hunter in Anton Chekhovs The Cherry Orchard, Earle Hyman in the title role of Othello, Vincent Price and many other various actors starred in their productions. From then on the Roundabout Theatre Company thrived with life.
These days the Roundabout Theatre Company has a new and permanent home in the American Airlines Theatre along West 42nd St. Roundabout began its first full season at the American Airlines Theatre with the Tony Award nominated revival of Harold Pinters Betrayal, starring Juliette Binoche and Liev Schreiber, and to close used the revival of Noel Cowards Design For Living, starring Alan Cumming.
Throughout its 36 years, the Roundabout Theatre Company has been honoured with many prestigious awards from the industry and media such as 20 Tony Awards, 25 Drama Desk Awards, 35 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 24 Theatre World Awards, 14 Audelco Awards, 9 Lucille Lortel Awards, 7 Obie Awards and 5 Olivier Awards.
The Roundabout Theatre also provides educational programs and workshops for children, adolescents and adults, for students and teachers alike. These workshops cover the basics of acting, directing and producing, and also cover the “goings-on” backstage. All in all the educational programs are quite extensive and cover a wide range of theatre prospects.