AUDELCO , the Audience Development Committee, Inc. , was established in 1973 by Vivian Robinson to honor excellence in African American theatre in New York City .
28-903: AUDELCO presents the Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards (also known as Viv awards ) annually. The awards were created to promote "recognition, understanding, and awareness of the arts in the African-American community." The AUDELCO awards recognize the following Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway : AUDELCO has an office in Harlem , and the current president is Jacqueline Jeffries. The board of directors includes: Tony Peterson (2nd Vice-President), Ralph Carter (3rd Vice-President), Linda Armstrong (secretary), and Cherine Anderson , A. Curtis Farrow , Bambi Jones, Donna M. Mills, Mary Seymour, Dale Ricardo Shields , Terrence Spivey, and Mary B. Davis as
56-664: A street intersecting Broadway in Midtown Manhattan 's Theater District , the hub of the American theatre industry. It later became defined by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers as a professional venue in Manhattan with a seating capacity of at least 100, but not more than 499, or a production that appears in such a venue and adheres to related trade union and other contracts. Previously, regardless of
84-613: Is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres , but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer than 100. An "off-Broadway production" is a production of a play , musical , or revue that appears in such a venue and adheres to related trade union and other contracts. Some shows that premiere off-Broadway are subsequently produced on Broadway. The term originally referred to any venue, and its productions, on
112-649: Is based on the capacity given for the respective theatre at the Internet Off-Broadway Database . Eighth Avenue (Manhattan) Eighth Avenue is a major north–south avenue on the west side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic below 59th Street. It is one of the original avenues of the Commissioners' Plan of 1811 to run the length of Manhattan, though today the name changes twice: At 59th Street/ Columbus Circle , it becomes Central Park West , where it forms
140-733: Is different from that of the rest of Eighth Avenue. As its name indicates, CPW forms the western edge of Central Park . It also forms the eastern boundary of the Upper West Side . It runs 51 blocks from Columbus Circle (at 59th Street , or Central Park South ) to Frederick Douglass Circle (at 110th Street , or Cathedral Parkway). The gates into Central Park along its western edge are: Merchants Gate at 59th Street, Women's Gate at 72nd, Naturalists Gate at 77th, Hunters Gate at 81st, Mariners Gate at 85th, Gate of All Saints at 96th, Boys Gate at 100th, and Strangers Gate at 106th. Central Park West's expensive housing rivals that of Fifth Avenue on
168-447: Is known solely as Eighth Avenue between Abingdon Square and Columbus Circle. This portion of Eighth Avenue has carried traffic one-way northbound since June 6, 1954. Since the 1990s, the stretch of Eighth Avenue that runs through Greenwich Village and its adjacent Chelsea neighborhood has been a center of the city's gay community, with bars and restaurants catering to gay men. New York City's annual gay pride parade takes place along
196-529: The Garment District , Hell's Kitchen 's east end, Midtown and the Broadway theater district in the eponymous neighborhood , before it finally enters Columbus Circle at 59th Street and becomes Central Park West. North of Frederick Douglass Circle , it resumes its Eighth Avenue designation, but is also known as Frederick Douglass Boulevard. The avenue ends north of 155th Street , and merges into
224-530: The Harlem River at the Harlem River Drive around West 159th Street. While Central Park West has its own address system , address numbers on Frederick Douglass Boulevard continue as if Central Park West had used Eighth Avenue's numbering system. The corridor along Frederick Douglass Boulevard was rezoned in 2003, allowing for larger residential buildings of greater density, and resulting in
252-599: The Harlem River Drive . The New York City Subway 's IND Eighth Avenue Line , serving the A , C , and E trains in Lower Manhattan and the A , B , C , and D trains in the Upper West Side, runs under Eighth Avenue. MTA Regional Bus Operations primarily operates the following bus routes on the avenue. All routes are uptown unless specified below: The southernmost section
280-547: The Lucille Lortel Award (created in 1985 by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres & Producers), and the Drama League Award . Although off-Broadway shows are not eligible for Tony Awards , an exception was made in 1956 (before the rules were changed), when Lotte Lenya won Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for the off-Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera . Capacity
308-692: The New-York Historical Society and the American Museum of Natural History . The area from 61st to 97th Streets is included in the Central Park West Historic District . The building located at 55 Central Park West is the infamous "Spook Central" from the movie Ghostbusters . The famed New York City restaurant Tavern on the Green is located off Central Park West, at 66th Street , within
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#1732791121086336-546: The Upper East Side . Several notable residences on Central Park West include: According to The New York Times ' s architecture critic Paul Goldberger , the street's buildings, both the new ones like 15 Central Park West and the old ones such as The Century , "fit together the same way the ones in that hypothetical Main Street do, and for the same reason. For more than a hundred years, their architects honor
364-502: The Awards moved to focus on accomplishments made in particular productions. Three years later, in 1978, the rules to be nominated for an AUDELCO Award became more concrete. The AUDELCO awards recognize productions by professional, not-for-profit theater organizations that have existed for at least two years and have had a minimum of 500 hours of rehearsal, performance, and/or training. Productions have to be performed over 12 times within
392-514: The Awards. AUDELCO typically hosts the award ceremony annually; however in 1996, there were no individual awards presented due to the founder Vivian Robinson passing away just a few months prior that September. Previous AUDELCO awardees include: Marsha Stephanie Blake , Chadwick Boseman , Viola Davis , George Faison , André Holland , Sanaa Lathan , Barbara Montgomery , Anika Noni Rose , André De Shields , Denzel Washington , and many others. Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre
420-514: The Chair Emeritus. The organization has thousands of members, a newsletter, and an African-American theater collection including books, photographs, slides, and scripts, as well as an extensive clippings on file of African-American theatre. A year after its founding, the Awards were designated to more specific roles in the design and production of shows such as scenic, lighting, and costume design, choreography, acting, and directing. In 1975,
448-469: The Greenwich Village section of Eighth Avenue. Also, along with Times Square , the portion of Eighth Avenue from 42nd Street to 50th Street was an informal red-light district in the late 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s before it was controversially renovated into a more family friendly environment under the first mayoral administration of Rudolph Giuliani . The Midtown section of Eighth Avenue
476-1135: The Park with George , Rent , Grey Gardens , Urinetown , Avenue Q , The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee , Rock of Ages , In the Heights , Spring Awakening , Next to Normal , Hedwig and the Angry Inch , Fun Home , Hamilton , Dear Evan Hansen , Hadestown , and Kimberly Akimbo . In particular, two that became Broadway hits, Grease and A Chorus Line , encouraged other producers to premiere their shows off-Broadway. Plays that have moved from off-Broadway houses to Broadway include Doubt , I Am My Own Wife , Bridge & Tunnel , The Normal Heart , and Coastal Disturbances . Other productions, such as Stomp , Blue Man Group , Altar Boyz , Perfect Crime , Forbidden Broadway , Nunsense , Naked Boys Singing , Bat Boy: The Musical , and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change have had runs of many years off-Broadway, never moving to Broadway. The Fantasticks ,
504-421: The construction of condominiums, rental buildings, restaurants, and cafes. Formerly described as having urban blight , it is now gentrified , especially in the restaurants along its route, giving it the nickname "Restaurant Row". This gentrification is partly due to massive city investment. According to The New York Times the demographic too has changed: A 2007–2011 census survey estimated that 61 percent of
532-507: The grounds of Central Park. In 1899, while exiting a streetcar, Henry Bliss was run over by a taxi at CPW and West 74th Street , becoming the first person to be run down and killed by a motor car in the Americas. North of Frederick Douglass Circle at 110th Street in Harlem , it is Frederick Douglass Boulevard , though sometimes still unofficially referred to as Eighth Avenue. Frederick Douglass Boulevard eventually terminates near
560-681: The longest-running musical in theatre history, spent its original 42-year run off-Broadway and had another off-Broadway run from 2006 to 2017. Off-Broadway shows, performers, and creative staff are eligible for the following awards: the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award , the Outer Critics Circle Award , the Drama Desk Award , the Obie Award (presented since 1956 by The Village Voice ),
588-663: The salary requirements of the union for Broadway theatres. The adoption of the 499-seat criterion occurred after a one-day strike in January 1974. Examples of off-Broadway theatres within the Broadway Box are the Laura Pels Theatre and The Theater Center . The off-Broadway movement started in the 1950s as a reaction to the perceived commercialism of Broadway and provided less expensive venues for shows that have employed many future Broadway artists. An early success
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#1732791121086616-506: The size of the venue, a theatre was considered a Broadway (rather than off-Broadway) house if it was within the "Broadway Box", extending from 40th Street north to 54th Street and from Sixth Avenue west to Eighth Avenue , including Times Square and West 42nd Street . This change to the contractual definition of "off-Broadway" benefited theatres satisfying the 499-seat criterion because of the lower minimum required salary for Actors' Equity performers at Off-Broadway theatres as compared with
644-457: The time, however, that "Broadway is just as eclectic – and just as footless – as 'Off-Broadway'." Theatre Row , on West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues in Manhattan, is a concentration of off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theatres. It was developed in the mid-1970s and modernized in 2002. Many off-Broadway shows have had subsequent runs on Broadway, including such musicals as Hair , Godspell , Little Shop of Horrors , Sunday in
672-426: The unspoken agreement to work together, to line their buildings up with each other and to work in a consistent scale with materials that are compatible." Most of these housing cooperatives were built around 1930, replacing late-19th century hotels with the same names. Some, including The Century, The San Remo, The Majestic, and The El Dorado, are twin towers. Other landmarks and institutions along its length include
700-477: The western boundary of Central Park , and north of 110th Street/Frederick Douglass Circle, it is known as Frederick Douglass Boulevard before merging onto Harlem River Drive north of 155th Street. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square (where Hudson Street becomes Eighth Avenue at an intersection with Bleecker Street ) and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea ,
728-406: The year (September 1 through August 31). Workshop productions and works-in-progress are not eligible for the awards. These guidelines are still followed today and those nominated for Awards are chosen by a committee. In order to qualify to be a committee member, one must see an average of 100 shows in a year. Once the committee is selected, only five nominations can be considered for each category of
756-524: Was Circle in the Square Theatre 's 1952 production of Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams . According to theatre historians Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik, off-Broadway offered a new outlet for "poets, playwrights, actors, songwriters, and designers. ... The first great Off-Broadway musical was the 1954 revival" of The Threepenny Opera , which proved that off-Broadway productions could be financially successful. Critic John Gassner argued at
784-610: Was frequented by tourists by the 21st century, and the sidewalks in Midtown were widened to accommodate increased crowds. However, that section of the avenue also experienced cleanliness issues, and homeless and mentally ill people were prevalent. In addition, due to the sidewalk-widening projects, parts of Eighth Avenue narrow to two lanes in Midtown. North of Columbus Circle, the roadway becomes Central Park West (abbreviated to CPW ). Unlike many Manhattan avenues, CPW has traffic running in two directions, and its address numbering system
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