Even with leaks, the show went on The many lives of Queens Theatre

by Mark Lord Chronicle Contributor

We took our places onstage at Queens Theatre in the Park for our final dress rehearsal of “Bubba Meinsers,” an original musical tribute to Jewish grandmothers.

We could hear the heavy rain outside pounding on the roof. And then we began to feel it. Yes, at center stage, we found ourselves brushing away the droplets dripping on our heads. Before long, small puddles began to form all around us.

The year was 1991, and the theater was obviously in need of a complete overhaul, having had a long and varied history dating back nearly three decades. But its greatest years were yet to come.

Originally known as “Theaterama,” it was designed by worldrenowned architect Philip Johnson and built as part of the New York State Pavilion for the 1964 World’s Fair. Its attraction was a 360-degree motion picture tribute to the fair’s host state.

As the years went by, the theater would undergo many changes, not the least of which was its name.

According to an old program, in 1972, the theater, now called Queens Playhouse, “was converted into a 482-seat auditorium by a group of dedicated residents and theater professionals.”

Overseeing the venue was its founder, Joseph Kutrzeba; the opening attraction was a production of Shaw’s “Pygmalion.” Kutrzeba’s stay would be short-lived, only until 1974, when he left to produce the Broadway musical “The Lieutenant,” which started out at the Playhouse.

From 1972 until 1985, the theater had “a full roster of performing arts activity,” the program reminds us.

During this period, Playwrights Horizons, a nonprofit producing organization that had been founded in 1971 under artistic director Robert Moss, produced full seasons of plays at the theater and built an audience base of 6,000 subscribers. Its offerings ranged from Shakespeare to musicals such as “Anything Goes.”

In 1981, in keeping with its role as a cultural and educational outlet in the borough, the theater, now known as Theater in the Park, hosted the first annual Queens High School Theater Festival.

A program note indicates that “our purpose has been to broaden high school students’ understanding of theater by exposing them to professional approaches to some of theater’s various elements.”

The program’s credits included executive director Arthur Conescu and, as his assistant, a young man named Jeffrey Rosenstock, who would eventually become the theater’s guiding light, shaping its role in the community for decades to come.

Two more theatrical seasons followed, and then, in 1985, the theater ceased operations, remaining closed for the next four years.

According to Rosenstock, thenBorough President Claire Shulman “felt it was important to reopen the theater.” So, Shulman and the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs “put out a call for proposals to operate” the theater, Rosenstock said.

“Everybody was interested,” he recalled. “Claire chose Queens Council on the Arts.”

Rosenstock, along with another young man, Peter Cromarty, approached the Council about taking over the reins. The duo got hired for the job as co-directors.

But it wasn’t easy sailing. “We couldn’t use the main theater,” Rosenstock said. “We were afraid the roof would cave in.”

Center Stage

Between Conescu and Rosenstock, serving as the theater’s artistic director, came Sue Lawless, who would go on to a career as a director both on and off Broadway. Rosenstock recalled in a recent telephone interview that Lawless’ first production at the theater was “Nurse Jane Goes to Hawaii,” a farce that starred Georgia Engel, best remembered from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

So, he and his intrepid crew took matters into their own hands, converting office space in the belly of the building into a small black box theater. It was here, during the 1990-91 season, that the first production of Rosenstock’s tenure would open, a musical entitled, “A Wing and a Prayer.” Scheduled for two weekends, its run was extended to three and a half months, according to Willy Mosquera, one of the staff members who helped in the reconstruction.

Mosquera recently recalled that he met Rosenstock when both were employed at Caramba, a Mexican restaurant in Manhattan. When Rosenstock left to run the theater, he invited Mosquera to join him. Mosquera began as a stagehand and eventually became house manager, seemingly always at the theater entrance welcoming patrons, and easily recognized by his extraordinary head of hair. Mosquera remains at the theater to this day, 33 years after he arrived.

Upstairs, a new roof was put on, the seats and curtain were restored, and a new façade, featuring two nowiconic columns, was created. Shulman’s office provided much-needed support, financial and otherwise.

“No Claire, no Queens Theatre,” Rosenstock has often said.

In fact, at a gala event on April 24, 2002, the mainstage was officially named The Claire Shulman Playhouse in her honor.

Through the years, Rosenstock saw the need for the theater “to embrace a borough with a diverse population.” He saw it as “a place of public assembly that would build community, where all types of people should feel welcome.”

To that end, Rosenstock would personally appear onstage before most shows to give a brief curtain speech, making audiences feel at home. It was a tradition he picked up from Moss.

By the time the renovations were completed and the theater reopened as a 476-seat house on Oct. 16, 1993, it was known as Queens Theatre in the Park, adding the borough to its official name and changing the “er” in Theater to “re.”

The 1996-97 season saw no fewer than 90,000 patrons attending more than 300 performances, according to Wikipedia. They included the first annual Latino Cultural Festival, which would be a popular attraction for 17 years, celebrating contributions of Latin American artists to the cultural life of New York City.

By the 2005-06 season, over 400 performances were offered, reaching 120,000 people.

Another popular event was the annual Legislative Revue, which found the borough’s elected officials strutting their stuff onstage.

Among the name performers who have appeared at the theater are Rita Moreno, Carol Lawrence, Barbara Cook, Jackie Mason, Red Buttons, Donna McKechnie, Kevin Bacon, Leslie Uggams, Art Garfunkel, Lesley Gore, Andre De Shields, Joy Behar and Adam Pascal.

Dozens of new plays have received staged readings and productions at the theater, leading for some to Broadway engagements, including “Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo” and, most recently, “Chicken and Biscuits.”

A restoration project, completed in 2010, included the addition of a circular pavilion that welcomes visitors as they arrive, as well as a new 75-seat performance/cabaret space.

Following Rosenstock’s departure in 2011 to oversee the professional arts organizations at Queens College, Ray Cullom took over as executive director for the next two years, presenting such productions as “Chix 6,” a superhero musical, and a new dance/theater piece called “The Jack Cole Project.” And the theater had one final name change, at least for now, to simply Queens Theatre.

Since 2013, the theater has been run by Taryn Sacramone, who said she has made “no huge departures” from the theater’s storied history, opting to build on what was already in place. The Latino Cultural Festival led to additional related programming and the downstairs studio welcomed Titan Theatre Co. as theater company in residence. Sacramone has also been promoting the theater’s “radically grown portfolio of education programs.”

Since 2017, the theater has made an intentional effort to work with more artists of the disability community and to offer more accessibility services for audience members.

Recently, the theater has opened its doors to live podcasting, including “Race Chaser Live,” which, according to Sacramone, “sold very well.”

As to the future, Sacramone hopes to continue to turn young audiences into lifelong lovers of the arts and to “serve the full diversity of the community,” saying, “We want to make sure people see themselves.”