Village East by Angelika
Village East by Angelika is a movie theater at 189 Second Avenue, on the corner with 12th Street, in the East Village of Manhattan in New York City. Part of the former Yiddish Theatre District, the theater was designed in the Moorish Revival style by Harrison Wiseman and built from 1925 to 1926 by Louis Jaffe. In addition to Yiddish theatre, the theater has hosted off-Broadway shows, burlesque, and movies. Since 1991, it has been operated by Angelika Film Center as a seven-screen multiplex. Both the exterior and interior of the theater are New York City designated landmarks, and the theater is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Village East's main entrance is through a three-story office wing on Second Avenue, which has a facade of cast stone. The auditorium is housed in the rear along 12th Street. The first story contains storefronts and a lobby, while the second and third stories contained offices, which were converted into apartments in the 1960s. The main lobby connects to another lobby along 12th Street with a promenade behind the auditorium. The auditorium consists of a ground-level orchestra and one overhanging balcony with boxes. The balcony remains in its original condition, but the orchestra and former stage area have been divided into six screens.
The Louis N. Jaffe Art Theatre was originally used by the Yiddish Art Theatre and largely served as a Yiddish playhouse from 1926 to 1945. It opened on November 17, 1926, with The Tenth Commandment. The Yiddish Art Theatre moved out of the theater after two seasons, and it became the Yiddish Folks Theatre. The venue was leased by Molly Picon in 1930–1931 and by Misha and Lucy German in 1931–1932. The Yiddish Arts Theatre then performed at the theater until 1934, after which the Yiddish Folks continued for two more years. From 1936 to 1944, the building was a movie theater called the Century Theatre, hosting Yiddish performances during two seasons.
After a decline in Yiddish theater, the Jaffe Art Theatre was renamed the Stuyvesant Theatre in 1946 and continued as a movie theater for seven years. The then-new Phoenix Theatre used the playhouse from 1953 to 1961. The Jaffe Art Theatre then became the Casino East Theatre, which hosted the burlesque production This Was Burlesque for three years before becoming a burlesque house called the Gayety Theatre in 1965. The theater was renamed yet again in 1969, this time operating as the off-Broadway Eden Theatre until 1976, showing the revue Oh! Calcutta! The venue was then converted into a movie theater, the 12th Street Cinema, before returning to live shows in 1977 under the name Entermedia Theatre. After closing in 1988, the Jaffe Art Theatre was renovated into Village East Cinema, reopening in 1991. Angelika rebranded the theater in 2021.
Description
Village East, originally the Yiddish Art Theatre, is at the southwestern corner of East 12th Street and Second Avenue in the East Village of Manhattan in New York City, within the former Yiddish Theatre District. The theater occupies a rectangular land lot of, with a frontage of on Second Avenue and on 12th Street. It is composed of two sections: a three-story office wing with a cast-stone facade, facing east on Second Avenue, as well as an auditorium wing with a brown-brick facade, extending westward along 12th Street. The site is a block north of St. Mark's Church.The theater was built by Louis Jaffe, a developer and prominent Jewish community leader, for Maurice Schwartz's Yiddish Art Theatre, which presented works in Yiddish. The theater was designed in the Moorish Revival style by Harrison Wiseman, while William Pogany consulted on the interior design. Despite the prevalence of Yiddish theaters in the area in the early 20th century, the Jaffe Art Theatre was the only one in the Yiddish Theatre District that was specifically built for a Yiddish theatrical group. By the 21st century, Village East was the only remaining Yiddish theater building on Second Avenue, the one-time center of the Yiddish Theatre District.
Facade
On the building's Second Avenue elevation, the first two stories consist of a double-height arcade with seven arches, each corresponding to one bay. The main entrance is in the second-northernmost bay and is taller and wider than the others. This bay contains a large archway surrounded by panels with geometric and foliate decorations. There are four metal-and-glass doors at the ground floor, with a projecting triangular marquee sign above. The marquee was originally rectangular and had decorations at its corners. To the left of the main entrance is a door to the upper office stories, topped by a lintel with the inscribed words "Jaffe Art Theatre Bldg". To the right is a sign board and a cornerstone, containing an inscription of the Gregorian date May 23, 1926, in English and the corresponding Hebrew calendar date in Hebrew. The intrados, near the top of the arch, contains capitals shaped like half-menorahs. Above those, seven Moorish-style openings with medallions are arranged in a semicircle. The top of the entrance bay contains a cornice supported by round corbels.The other six arches are identical round-arched openings and are separated by paneled pilasters. The top of each pilaster contains a capital with foliate and geometric motifs and birds. The smaller arches formerly contained six storefronts, one in each bay. After the building was converted into a cinema in 1990, the northernmost bay was converted to an interior staircase, while the two bays immediately south of the main entrance became ticket counters. The remaining storefronts in the three southernmost bays contain aluminum storefronts at the first floor, as well as aluminum spandrel panels between the first and second floors. At the third floor, there are two small arched windows in each bay. These are separated by pilasters with guilloche motifs, which are topped by capitals with foliate decorations. The roof above the northernmost bay contains a small dormer unit, while the roof above the southern five bays is a terrace.
The easternmost portion of the 12th Street elevation contains two bays of double-height arches and paired windows, similar to those in the Second Avenue elevation. The steel-framed auditorium structure is clad in brick. The outer portions of the auditorium facade are treated as pavilions. They are slightly taller than the rest of the auditorium and protrude slightly from the central section of the facade. Each outer pavilion contains a metal gate at ground level, above which is an arched opening with a fire stair behind it. The center of the facade contains a cast-stone doorway surrounding five sets of exit doors. There is a carved corbel on either side of the doorway. Above the doors is a blind brick arch, surrounding a panel with pink terracotta quatrefoils. The top of the auditorium facade is made of a band of cast stone. An alley runs to the west of the theater.
Interior
The interior is decorated in a gold, blue, rose, cream, and silver color scheme. Many of the interior decorations are inspired by the Alhambra in Spain. The decorations also contain elements of Moorish, Islamic, and Judaic architecture. Most decorations resemble their original condition, even though the layout of the theater has been substantially changed. The interior of Village East was used as a filming location for the films The Night They Raided Minsky's in 1968 and The Fan in 1981, as well as a promotional video for Reese's Peanut Butter Cups in 1984.Lobbies
The theater has two lobbies. The main one on Second Avenue was a square space, while a secondary lobby on 12th Street provides access to the balcony level. When the theater was converted into a movie theater in the early 1990s, all of the floor surfaces were covered or replaced with a carpet containing red, gold, blue, and gray patterns.Originally, the main lobby had a floor made of terracotta, with a pattern of white rhombus motifs. The box office was on the north wall, while the south wall contained mirrored panels. Only the original ceiling of the main lobby remains intact. The center of the ceiling contains a medallion; the edges of the ceiling contain a frieze with corbels, as well as decorative rectangular and square panels. During the early-1990s renovation, the lobby was expanded southward, and a concession stand and a wall of poster boards were installed. The lobby also contains an exhibit about the history of Yiddish theatre.
On the northern side of the theater building, to the right of the main lobby, is the 12th Street lobby. The walls there are buff-colored and are designed to resemble travertine. The exit doors on the north wall contain trefoil arches, corbels, and Moorish exit signs. The ceiling has three circular chandeliers and is ornately designed with floral symbols and circles. The 12th Street lobby connects to a pair of segmentally arched alcoves, inside which are stairs descending to the basement.
On the north wall of the 12th Street lobby, two curved staircases with wrought-iron railings lead up to a narrow promenade behind the balcony-level seating. The underside of the balcony promenade contains three medallions, each of which contains six-pointed arabesques, as well as recessed lighting fixtures and a decorative border. Above the promenade are four rectangular panels and one square panel, each with cartouches at its center, in addition to recessed lighting. Small staircases at the western and eastern ends of the promenade lead up to the top of the balcony-level seating.
Auditorium
The auditorium has an orchestra level, a balcony, boxes, and a proscenium arch that originally had a stage behind it. The auditorium is oriented toward the south, with the rear wall and 12th Street lobby being to the north. The original auditorium contained 1,143, 1,236, 1,252, or 1,265 seats. The orchestra level was initially raked, sloping down toward an orchestra pit in front of the stage. The stage originally measured across.In 1990, the theater was multiplexed, being split into a seven-screen movie theater. Most of the original decorations remain intact, although the seating at orchestra level was raised to the height of the original stage. Screens 1 through 5 are within the original auditorium, while screens 6 and 7 are within the stage area. In all seven screens, the seats are wide, larger than similar theaters. The balcony level is the largest and most ornate screen; it originally had 500 seats. Below the balcony are four additional screens: two 200-seat venues within the original orchestra level, a 175-seat venue in a former basement restaurant, and a 75-seat venue in a sidewalk vault. The stage area was divided into two screens, one above the other. The lower screen is at the level of the original stage, while the upper screen is about above the ground, within the former fly loft.
The side walls of the auditorium are made of textured plaster and were initially painted in a buff color, though it was subsequently repainted blue-gray. The front of the balcony is decorated with rosettes and round-arched panels, atop which are a parapet and railing. After the original auditorium was multiplexed, a lower balcony was created in front of the original balcony, connected to it by double staircases. The lower balcony has an exit to the promenade, directly below the original balcony, as well as a ramp leading to an exit on the north wall. There are 40 seats within the lower balcony. On either side of the proscenium arch is a wall section with one box at the balcony level. The boxes are each recessed within a pointed Moorish arch, which is framed by vermiculated quoins and topped by voussoirs. The inner reveals of the boxes contain colonettes, above which are lambrequin arches. The fronts of the boxes contain rosettes and round-arched panels, which wrap around to the front of the balcony. Next to the boxes is a flat proscenium arch, which is surrounded by floral and geometric decorations. The proscenium opening has been bricked up, and a movie screen for the balcony-level seats has been installed within the proscenium.
The middle of the ceiling contains a shallow circular dome measuring across. At the center of the dome is a medallion with the Star of David, which is enclosed within a larger six-pointed star with trefoils at its "points". A metal chandelier with two tiers hangs from the center of the dome. The outer border of the dome is decorated with wrought-iron grilles and motifs of the Star of David. There are also fascia panels around the dome, some of which have been modified to accommodate projection equipment and ventilation openings. Outside of the dome, the ceiling contains ornate gilded plaster moldings. The decoration is intended to resemble a honeycomb and contains rosettes, eight-pointed stars, and strapwork. There are ducts near where the ceiling intersects with the walls. The ceiling is actually made of panels suspended from the roof via iron bars.