Symphony Space
| Symphony Theatre | |
Outside view of Symphony Space in April 2008. Marquee for Leonard Nimoy Thalia is barely visible on the right edge.
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| Address | 2537 Broadway New York City United States |
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| Coordinates | 40°47′41″N 73°58′20″W / 40.794615°N 73.972197°WCoordinates: 40°47′41″N 73°58′20″W / 40.794615°N 73.972197°W |
| Operator | Symphony Space, Inc. |
| Capacity | Peter Jay Sharp Theatre: 760 Leonard Nimoy Thalia: 160 |
| Construction | |
| Reopened | 1978 |
| Website | |
| www |
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Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre or the 160-seat Leonard Nimoy Thalia. Programs include music, dance, theater, film, and literary readings. In addition, Symphony Space provides literacy programs and the Curriculum Arts Project, which integrates performing arts into social studies curricula in New York City Public Schools.
Symphony Space traces its beginnings to a free marathon concert, Wall to Wall Bach, held on January 9, 1978, organized by Isaiah Sheffer and Alan Miller. From 1978 to 2001, the theater hosted all of the New York productions by the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players.
As of 2010, Symphony Space hosts 600 or more events annually, including an annual free music Wall to Wall marathon; Bloomsday on Broadway (celebrating James Joyce's Ulysses); and Selected Shorts, broadcast nationally over Public Radio International. The New York company of Revels, Inc., also holds its shows there.
From 1915 to 1917, Vincent Astor spent $750,000 of his personal fortune on the Astor Market, a two-story mini-mall of stands occupying the southwest corner of 95th and Broadway. The intention was to sell fruit, meat, fish, produce, and flowers at inexpensive prices, achieved through large economies of scale. As was common with Astor's building projects, flamboyance dominated the architecture, including a 290-foot William Mackay sgraffito frieze depicting farmers bringing their goods to market.
The market proved a failure. In 1917, Astor sold the market to Thomas J. Healy. The stalls were demolished and the main space was converted into the Crystal Palace, a skating rink, and the smaller basement area became the Sunken Gardens, a restaurant. Both were eventually turned into movie theaters. The rink became Symphony Theater and in 1931 the restaurant was turned into Thalia Theater.
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