When actors Robert Elston and Elizabeth Perry were touring in Shot in the Dark with Patty Duke and John Astin, they determined that upon their return to New York they would pool their resources and form a workshop where theater artists could expand their abilities, reach into all areas of creativity in the theater, and regain the breadth of expression that was afforded “a simple player” before the age of specialization. The American Renaissance Theater was formed in 1975 as a nameless workshop. Ms. Perry brought to the nascent theater company members from her own group, Projects 70’s, and the New York Tea Party, a feminist group, which included members from the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company and another ARTC founding member, Etain O’Malley. Mr. Elston invited colleagues who included Larry Kramer, an untried playwright at the time, Richard Morse, an accomplished mime, and Janet Hayes Walker, who subsequently formed the York Theatre Company. Other founding members were Martha Schlamme, the celebrated interpreter of Kurt Weill, John Astin, Kent Broadhurst, Anthony Call, Patty Duke, Anita Keal, Scotty Bloch, Anita Khanzadian of Theatre at St. Clements, and Susan Reed, the folk singer, instrumentalist and recording artist. At its incorporation in January of 1976, the new theater group was given the name “Renaissance” by its members, a group of renaissance men and women. ARTC received non-profit status in August of 1976, and with the guidance of Robert Elston as Artistic Director, and Elizabeth Perry as Associate Director, the founders quickly put into play the ideas they had been planning for two years.
In 1976, the American Renaissance Theatre Company found a permanent home at 112 Charlton Street, a black box theater directly downstairs from Robert Elston’s newly acquired apartment.
On Charlton Street, with Robert Elston as Artistic Director, and Elizabeth Perry as Associate Director, company members pitched in to create a versatile and attractive theater space where they set to work producing five full plays a season, in addition to readings of new works in progress. Under the leadership of Mr. Elston, plays by Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder, William Inge, and Chekhov were presented along with original works as they were developed within the fast growing workshop.
The same year, the American Renaissance Theater launched a series called Women in Concert with Susan Reed, followed by Martha Schlamme and Ethel Smith, the first theater cabaret series in New York City. By 1979, several new full-length plays were up and running at the American Renaissance Theater’s busy theater on Charlton Street. In September of 1979, Ruby Ruby Sam Sam by Stan Edelman received a full production. It was directed by Anita Khanzadian and produced by Artistic Director, Robert Elston. Members of the cast included Elizabeth Perry (Ruby), Berkeley Harris (Sam), Jack Davidson (Joe), and Catherine Wolf (Rosalie).
In November of 1979, the musical play Women of Ireland, poetry, song, and dance compiled and arranged by Susan Reed (featuring Susan Reed and Bambi Linn) was produced and directed by Robert Elston.
In May 1980, Robert Elston performed Notes from the Underground, his adaptation of Dostoevsky’s "Notes from the Underground" and Elizabeth Perry’s adaptation of Thoreau’s "Walden" at ARTC and at the Lincoln Center and Donnell Library.
In 1981, Robert Elston presented his dramatized selections from the works of Fry, Rosten, Roethke, Stevenson, Ives, Stanislavski, and the music of Weill/Gershwin, Kern/Gershwin, Weill/Brecht, and Cole Porter in Portrait of a Man, a collage of poetry and song directed by Anita Khanzadian, with Erica Kaplan as musical director. Portrait of a Man went on to play a fully mounted production at ARTC running from October through November of 1982.
Also that year, the Jeffrey Knox play Do You Still Believe the Rumor? was presented by The American Renaissance Theater company and featured Anita Keal, Susan Reed, and Scott Jarvis, among others.
In July of 1982, A Difficult Borning, directed by Anita Khanzadian premiered at ARTC. Created by The New York Tea Party at ARTC (Janet Gardner, Kayla Kazahn Zalk, Margo Berdeshevsky, Mary Hammill, Etain O’Malley, and Elizabeth Perry) from the writings of Sylvia Plath, the play received a Villager Downtown Theater Award for Outstanding Ensemble Work “for unusual success in the integration of text, performance, and production by a group which works in collaborative style.” In the first twelve years as a theater company, ARTC produced fifty-five full-length plays, fifty one person shows and concerts, and countless staged readings of new works and revivals.
After Robert Elston’s untimely death in 1987, Elizabeth Perry and Anita Khanzadian shared creative responsibilities as Co-Artistic Directors, while Phyllis MacBryde assumed administrative duties as Managing Director as the company looked for a new home. The Charlton Street Theater was sold and ARTC moved to the Clinton area, holding weekly workshops at the Ernie Martin Studios. With help from a NYSCA grant, scaled down versions of four new full-length plays, eight new one acts and fifty new works-in-progress were featured in the 1989 and 1990 Spring Reading Series. The artistic excellence reflected in these series became a catalyst for intensified growth for the company. Requiring larger space, the company moved its workshops to Marcia Haufrecht’s Common Basis Theatre at 750 Eighth Avenue. In the early 1990s, The Spring Reading Series were held at New Dramatists, then in 1994, the Series moved to the stage of The Neighborhood Playhouse to facilitate a longer production schedule.
In 2006, the building at 750 Eighth Avenue was demolished, and ARTC moved from the Common Basis Theater to the Michael Carson Studios on 54th Street, then in January of 2007, ARTC found a new home in the Times Square Arts Center.
Since its inception, ARTC has been a home to nearly five hundred professional actors, writers, directors, composers and musicians—theatre artists from a diversity of backgrounds who have found a congenial, stimulating environment in which to expand their resources and creativity. Plays developed through ARTC’s workshop process have moved on to subsequent productions on Broadway, Off Broadway, and in America’s leading regional theaters.
The original impulse of the founders of the American Renaissance Theater Company was to bring together professionals who wished to expand their skills. They were professionals who had entrepreneurial ambitions and needed a broader overall ability to create works and contribute to their own destiny. ARTC is devoted to the development of new American plays and performance pieces and to the further growth of American actors, directors, playwrights and composers.
In 1976, the American Renaissance Theatre Company found a permanent home at 112 Charlton Street, a black box theater directly downstairs from Robert Elston’s newly acquired apartment.
On Charlton Street, with Robert Elston as Artistic Director, and Elizabeth Perry as Associate Director, company members pitched in to create a versatile and attractive theater space where they set to work producing five full plays a season, in addition to readings of new works in progress. Under the leadership of Mr. Elston, plays by Tennessee Williams, Thornton Wilder, William Inge, and Chekhov were presented along with original works as they were developed within the fast growing workshop.
The same year, the American Renaissance Theater launched a series called Women in Concert with Susan Reed, followed by Martha Schlamme and Ethel Smith, the first theater cabaret series in New York City. By 1979, several new full-length plays were up and running at the American Renaissance Theater’s busy theater on Charlton Street. In September of 1979, Ruby Ruby Sam Sam by Stan Edelman received a full production. It was directed by Anita Khanzadian and produced by Artistic Director, Robert Elston. Members of the cast included Elizabeth Perry (Ruby), Berkeley Harris (Sam), Jack Davidson (Joe), and Catherine Wolf (Rosalie).
In November of 1979, the musical play Women of Ireland, poetry, song, and dance compiled and arranged by Susan Reed (featuring Susan Reed and Bambi Linn) was produced and directed by Robert Elston.
In May 1980, Robert Elston performed Notes from the Underground, his adaptation of Dostoevsky’s "Notes from the Underground" and Elizabeth Perry’s adaptation of Thoreau’s "Walden" at ARTC and at the Lincoln Center and Donnell Library.
In 1981, Robert Elston presented his dramatized selections from the works of Fry, Rosten, Roethke, Stevenson, Ives, Stanislavski, and the music of Weill/Gershwin, Kern/Gershwin, Weill/Brecht, and Cole Porter in Portrait of a Man, a collage of poetry and song directed by Anita Khanzadian, with Erica Kaplan as musical director. Portrait of a Man went on to play a fully mounted production at ARTC running from October through November of 1982.
Also that year, the Jeffrey Knox play Do You Still Believe the Rumor? was presented by The American Renaissance Theater company and featured Anita Keal, Susan Reed, and Scott Jarvis, among others.
In July of 1982, A Difficult Borning, directed by Anita Khanzadian premiered at ARTC. Created by The New York Tea Party at ARTC (Janet Gardner, Kayla Kazahn Zalk, Margo Berdeshevsky, Mary Hammill, Etain O’Malley, and Elizabeth Perry) from the writings of Sylvia Plath, the play received a Villager Downtown Theater Award for Outstanding Ensemble Work “for unusual success in the integration of text, performance, and production by a group which works in collaborative style.” In the first twelve years as a theater company, ARTC produced fifty-five full-length plays, fifty one person shows and concerts, and countless staged readings of new works and revivals.
After Robert Elston’s untimely death in 1987, Elizabeth Perry and Anita Khanzadian shared creative responsibilities as Co-Artistic Directors, while Phyllis MacBryde assumed administrative duties as Managing Director as the company looked for a new home. The Charlton Street Theater was sold and ARTC moved to the Clinton area, holding weekly workshops at the Ernie Martin Studios. With help from a NYSCA grant, scaled down versions of four new full-length plays, eight new one acts and fifty new works-in-progress were featured in the 1989 and 1990 Spring Reading Series. The artistic excellence reflected in these series became a catalyst for intensified growth for the company. Requiring larger space, the company moved its workshops to Marcia Haufrecht’s Common Basis Theatre at 750 Eighth Avenue. In the early 1990s, The Spring Reading Series were held at New Dramatists, then in 1994, the Series moved to the stage of The Neighborhood Playhouse to facilitate a longer production schedule.
In 2006, the building at 750 Eighth Avenue was demolished, and ARTC moved from the Common Basis Theater to the Michael Carson Studios on 54th Street, then in January of 2007, ARTC found a new home in the Times Square Arts Center.
Since its inception, ARTC has been a home to nearly five hundred professional actors, writers, directors, composers and musicians—theatre artists from a diversity of backgrounds who have found a congenial, stimulating environment in which to expand their resources and creativity. Plays developed through ARTC’s workshop process have moved on to subsequent productions on Broadway, Off Broadway, and in America’s leading regional theaters.
The original impulse of the founders of the American Renaissance Theater Company was to bring together professionals who wished to expand their skills. They were professionals who had entrepreneurial ambitions and needed a broader overall ability to create works and contribute to their own destiny. ARTC is devoted to the development of new American plays and performance pieces and to the further growth of American actors, directors, playwrights and composers.