While still in search of a permanent home after a devastating flood from a water main break damaged most of their equipment and some treasured documents at their UES theater space in January of this year, York Theatre is pushing forward, optimistic for a successful season and trying to get back to normal producing in the coming months.
Founded 52 years ago by Janet Hayes Walker, the Off-Broadway company produces only musicals, doing a mix of new shows and great hits from the past, a practice that has earned them a unique position among New York theaters and a loyal following of theatergoers. For the past 30 years, these performances have taken place at Saint Peter’s Church, their home base on Lexington Avenue in Midtown East.
York Theatre is now temporarily housed at the Theatre at St. Jean’s located in the lower level of the St. Jean Baptiste Church at East 76th at Lexington. Chairman of the Board David McCoy told Our Town that “it’s a wonderful space,” but because it is made permanently available for use by the nearby Hewitt School for their programs, York can only use it during the evenings or when the school is on vacation.
“There is limited availability with no space for offices and problems with working late, so the scheduling is far from ideal [but] for now the times we are in there will be fine,” he said. McCoy added that he is in discussion with his team about possibly finding some office space at a charitable business that may still have empty offices as people continue to work remotely.
“Now that everybody is working from home and they [may] have long term leases, they could let us have it for a song,” he said.
“Generous People”
The company is in rehearsal for the upcoming musical “Cheek to Cheek: Irving Berlin in Hollywood,” directed and choreographed by Randy Skinner and produced in association with Riki Kane Larimer, starting on November 24 and running through January 2 at St. Jean’s. McCoy said the company is fine financially for upcoming productions thanks to various sources of funding and the “very responsive and generous people who have jumped in and helped” after the flooding happened. The cost of storage is astronomical, however.
“We’re paying for storage for all of the seats that were in the other theater,” he said. The almost 200 seats that were luckily not damaged because they were just above the level of the water that settled in the basement space of the church, were disassembled and moved out along with other items and now stored at different facilities throughout the tri-state area. McCoy added that as soon as they start production, the money disappears very quickly as a musical is “somewhere in the $300 - $400,000 range to produce.”
“We would really love to get back into the Saint Peter’s space,” he said, but he doesn’t know if or when it will happen, although they have shared their interest in doing so. In the meantime, they are looking at lots of other spaces but haven’t yet found anything that’s ideal in terms of a permanent home.
Naming Opportunity
Failing an outright offer from a benefactor to buy them a new theater – with a naming opportunity – he believes they could raise a substantial sum but “it would take $8 to 10 million to find a space where we can build out from an existing structure and turn it into a functioning theater,” he said.
A part of the York Theatre family for 50 of its 52 years, McCoy shares his appreciation to the many ongoing supporters of the theatre and what a wonderful experience it has been to be part of the company for so many years.
“I just enjoy and sit in awe of what they’re able to do,” he said. “It’s just been a joy being involved with them.”
Producing Artistic Director James Morgan is one of the forces behind York Theatre. Also a long-time member of the company for more than 40 years, he has been in his current position since 1997 after Hayes Walker’s passing. It was his idea, with McCoy’s backing, to focus exclusively on the musicals the company has become known for.
“I had always loved musicals and I felt it gave us a niche in the marketplace if we went to an all-musical format,” he said. His hunch paid off.
After the long season of virtual programming during the pandemic, though well received, Morgan is excited about doing live productions again, even in a temporary space.
“We’re homeless, but not hopeless,” he said. “I think’s it’ important to find a new permanent home and if it’s back at Saint Peter’s it would be great, if it’s somewhere else as wonderful as that [space], that would be great too.” he said.
Meanwhile, Morgan is focused on producing great theater. They have had two one-night shows at St. Jean’s – one in September and one in October – that went really well. “Our audiences loved it!” he said. He is looking forward to more success in the five-week run coming up late November.
“The hope is that ‘Cheek to Cheek’ will take off and be the show everyone wants to see,” he said. “It’s all wonderful songs from the past, beautifully choreographed, with some of the best Broadway dancers that are available today.”
To learn about the York Theatre Company and its upcoming programming visit: https://yorktheatre.org/
“I just enjoy and sit in awe of what they’re able to do. It’s just been a joy being involved with them.” York Theatre Chairman of the Board David McCoy