Town Hall Theater
If The Town Hall walls could talk they would relate stories about its part in the electrifying cultural history that has made up the fabric of New York City for more than 80 years. Disclosing a tale of a vibrant group of suffragists (The League for Political Education) whose fight for the 19th Amendment led them to build a meeting space to educate people on the important issues of the day. That space, which became The Town Hall, was designed by renown architects, McKim, Mead & White, to reflect the democratic principles of the League. Box seats were eliminated and no seats had an obstructed view giving birth to the term "NOT A BAD SEAT IN THE HOUSE." During completion of the building the 19th Amendment was passed (women's right to vote), and on January 12, 1921 The Town Hall opened its doors and took on a double meaning: as a symbol of the victory sought by its founders, and as a spark for a new, more optimistic climate.
They would boast about their superb acoustics and the accidental discovery of them on February 12, 1921 during a recital by Spanish violinist Joan Manen. They would talk about the series of concerts later that season by Austrian composer Richard Strauss that gave the Hall it’s christening as an ideal space for musical performances. They would tell you that along with the acoustics, the sight lines and remarkable intimacy of the auditorium which inspired new and experienced artists, and the positive effect on audience reception. They would report that whatever the instrument, repertoire or reputation, The Town Hall established itself as the place, second to none, for a performer to make a New York debut.
They would tell you about the controversy surrounding free speech, which thrived at the Hall, but not without resistance relating stories about the time that Margaret Sanger, birth control advocate, was arrested and carried off the stage (November 13, 1921) for trying to speak about birth control; or about, the second anniversary of the execution of Sacco & Vanzetti, which was held at the Hall when officials in Boston denied the use of Fanueil Hall for the event.
They would let you know that while the lecture series and courses on political and non-political subjects were held here, the Hall also established its reputation as an arts' center in the first fifteen years of its existence. They would brag about the fact that Edna St. Vincent Millay in her public debut read here in 1928, furthering an already established association with poetry. They would notify you that the Hall began producing music and that the next few seasons The Town Hall Endowment Series featured artists including Sergei Rachmaninoff, Ignace Paderwaski, Lily Pons, Fedor Chaliapin, Yehudi Menuhin, and more.
They would flaunt that fact that Marian Anderson, contralto, made her New York debut here on December 30, 1935, after being denied an operatic career elsewhere because of discrimination against African-Americans.
They would be particularly proud of the exhilarating timely series America's Town Meetings of the Air that spanned over twenty years. They would tell you that in 1935, George V. Denny, Jr., associate director of the Hall, conceived an idea that put The Town Hall on the map as a national, and then international, symbol of the free exchange of ideas. That idea, America's Town Meetings of the Air was a radio program in which four speakers discussed a predetermined question. The series was launched by The National Broadcasting Company on Memorial Day 1935. The first Town Meeting, on the subject of the coexistence of communism, fascism, socialism and democracy, hit NBC's Blue Network airwaves. The success of The Town Meeting was attributed to several things: the dynamic format, the audience participation, the chosen topic which was always relevant to world events, the wide range of experts and well-known personalities that participated and the sheer power of radio at that point in history. One radio station and 500,000 listeners grew to 78 stations and 2.5 million listeners in the course of three years, and "The Town Meetings" became so successful that it had to go to court on more than one occasion to protect its name and trademarks. The Town Meeting toured the states and twelve cities on three continents. There were numerous awards, including the George Peabody Institute award (the radio equivalent of the Oscar) in 1950 & 1954.
They would go on to let you know that the thriving Town Meetings were not the only subject of interest at the Hall. Other political events took place including First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, defending the New Deal. They would tell you of the political viewpoints that they heard from Buckminster Fuller, Hubert Humphrey to Margaret Chase Smith. The exotic places they witnessed as Travelogues became a major staple of The Town Hall programming. They would try to articulate the various viewpoints on the arts covered in lecture series featuring Carl Sandburg, Orson Welles, Anais Nin, Oscar Hammerstein II and more appearing, or the other topics that were explored by Eve Curie, Jacques-Yves Costeau, Alister Cooke to name a few.
The walls would talk about the laughter and enthusiasm of the over one million children that have passed through our doors -- many of them experiencing live performance for the first time.
They would tell you of Town Hall's longstanding alliance with TheatreWorks/USA, which brings about 100,000 children per year to the Hall for shows like A Christmas Carol, Freedom Train, Charlotte's Web, The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, as well as other children's presenting organizations.
The walls would speak of Town Hall's own Morning Performances that are offered during the day, free of charge to public school students in grades 3 to 8.
Today the walls would tell you about The Town Hall's exciting series: The highly acclaimed Not Just Jazz series which is an exciting blend of jazz, poetry, film and dance. The walls would let you know that for over a decade the Not Just Jazz series has hosted everything from The Art Ensemble of Chicago to the Lounge Lizards, Cassandra Wilson to Meredith Monk, and DanceBrazil to Allen Ginsberg. The other series that they would tell you about is the newest jewel in our crown The Broadway by the Year series, and our Broadway Cabaret Festival.
