THALÍA SPANISH THEATRE
The borough’s only bilingual Latino venue, Thalía Spanish
Theatre is dedicated to promoting and preserving the heritage
of Hispanic drama. Founded in 1977 by Cuban actress/director
Silvia Brito, Thalía originally focuses mainly on the zarzuela, an
art form that combines operatic signing with dialogue. However,
it expanded rapidly, and current promotions include a diverse
array of Spanish-language playwrights, dancers, comedians, and
folklorists. There are children’s programs, too.
Inside scoop: Lance Corporal Thomas P. Noonan Playground is
a few blocks from Thalía on Greenpoint Avenue and 43rd Street.
The public space is named after a native son who was awarded a
posthumous Congressional Medal of Honor, a Purple Heart, the
National Defense Service Medal, and a Vietnam Service Medal
with bronze stars for his heroics in the Vietnam War. On Feb.
5, 1969, Noonan was fatally shot by North Vietnamese soldiers
while carrying a seriously wounded United States soldier to
safety.
Address: 41-17 Greenpoint Ave., Sunnyside, and www.
thaliatheatre.org.
THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY THEATER
Since 2005, the OBIE- and Bessie-winning Chocolate Factory
Theater has been a leading incubator for experimental
performance, annually providing dozens of visiting artists with
access to space and technical equipment, creative residency
periods, commissioning funds, administrative support, and artist
fees.
Currently, the 5,000-square-foot facility is home to work
emphasizing multi-disciplinary collaboration combining
movement, music, video, and text to devise a means of
storytelling that is immediate, collage-like, highly visual, and
dependent on new technologies. When successful, the works are
not easily categorized as theater, dance, new music or video art.
Rather they are mixtures of these disciplines.
Inside scoop: In 2017, the nonprofit secured a $3.8 million grant
to purchase a one-story building at 38-29 24th St. in Long Island
City. The space is currently undergoing a renovation to create a
99-seat flexible performance space with a sprung-wood dance
floor, a 2,000-square-foot rehearsal space, an office, and on-site
nursery for artists with small children. Until the renovation is
finished, all performances are taking place at the original site.
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/www.thaliatheatre.org
/www.thaliatheatre.org
/thaliatheatre.org
