rate performances locally, as it strives to offer multi-cultural
entertainment that mirrors the diversity of the borough.
Recent celebrity performers have included Vanessa Williams,
Michael Bolton, Chita Rivera, Robert Klein, Dionne Warwick,
and Bernadette Peters. Recent international troupes include the
Moscow Ballet and the New Shanghai Circus.
Inside scoop: The Oratorio Society of Queens holds its annual
holiday concert at QPAC every December.
Address: 222-05 56th Ave., Bayside, and www.visitqpac.org.
ROCKAWAY THEATRE COMPANY
Founded in 1997, the Rockaway Theatre Company offers performances
intermittently throughout the year, usually Broadway musicals,
comedies, and dramas. Past performances include Guys and Dolls, The
King and I, My Fair Lady, Fiddler On the Roof, Oklahoma, and Annie
Get Your Gun. This nonprofit’s faculty teaches workshops in such
subjects as acting, vocal, tap dance, dancing, stage management, sound,
light design, and musical theater history.
Inside scoop: The company performs at a renovated theater that was
once a cinema for United States Army personnel at Fort Tilden.
Address: Fort Tilden’s Post Theatre (Building T4), The
Rockaways, and www.rockawaytheatrecompany.org.
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 specializes in the zarzuela, an art form that
combines operatic singing with dialogue, and other kinds of
Spanish-language drama genres. But the 100-seat theater also
promotes Spanish-language playwrights, dancers, and folklorists.
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.
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