Andrei Șerban (born June 21, 1943) is a Romanian - American theater director . A major name in twentieth-century theater, he is renowned for his innovative and iconoclastic interpretations and stagings. In 1992 he became Professor of Theater at the Columbia University School of the Arts , a position he resigned from in 2019, citing oppressive pressure in the name of " political correctness " on a level which reminded him of communist Romania .
139-611: Born in Bucharest , he is the son of George and Elpis Șerban. His father came from an old family of Țara Chioarului in Maramureș , studied law at Leipzig , directed a bank and was close friends with Iuliu Maniu , who attended Serban's baptism. After the onset of the communist regime , George was fired and obliged to work as a photographer. His mother came from a family of Greek merchants settled in Tulcea , originally from Cephalonia . She worked as
278-503: A humid continental climate ( Dfa by the 0 °C isotherm), or a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen : Cfa by the -3 °C isotherm), with hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters. Owing to its position on the Romanian Plain, the city's winters can get windy, though some of the winds are mitigated due to urbanisation. Winter temperatures often dip below 0 °C (32 °F), sometimes even to −10 °C (14 °F). In summer,
417-521: A "center dedicated to the development and presentation of all the arts". The team could not afford to open their theater in Manhattan's high-rent Theater District. Upon the recommendation of Mann's father Martin M. Goldman, the team opted for a location in Greenwich Village , which had a myriad of empty theaters. During the 1950s and 1960s, the theater became what Women's Wear Daily described as
556-551: A "more elegant" version of the off-Broadway house, although the company was initially unsure whether it would retain its off-Broadway location. Mann believed that the development of relatively small Broadway theaters, such as the Circle's, would allow "more specialized plays" to be produced, as compared with larger and older theaters. The venue in Paramount Plaza's basement opened for inspection on October 2, 1972. The Broadway house
695-585: A $ 1.8 million lien that the Internal Revenue Service had placed on the theater. The next month, the theater's creditors attempted to secure a new operator; this was complicated by the fact that Mann and Libin had also claimed control of the theater's lease. Abady sued two of the theater's board members in early 1998, claiming that her termination was a breach of contract. A federal bankruptcy judge ruled in May 1998 that Libin and Mann could retain control of
834-449: A Lifetime . The first two plays in 1978–1979 were revivals of The Inspector General and Man and Superman . During the second half of the season, the Circle presented two new plays: Spokesong by Stewart Parker and Loose Ends by Michael Weller . Due to recurring financial issues that nearly prompted the theater company to declare bankruptcy, the Circle delayed the start of its 1979–1980 season to February 1980, extending
973-504: A community police force ( Poliția Comunitară ), dealing with local community issues. Bucharest also houses the general inspectorates of the Gendarmerie and the national police . Bucharest's crime rate is rather low in comparison to other European capital cities, with the number of total offences declining by 51% between 2000 and 2004, and by 7% between 2012 and 2013. Bucharest, along with Cluj-Napoca , Timișoara , Brașov and Iași ,
1112-572: A failed attempt by German troops to regain the city. After the establishment of communism in Romania , the city continued growing. New districts were constructed, most of them dominated by tower blocks . During Nicolae Ceaușescu 's leadership (1965–89), a part of the historic city was demolished and replaced by ' Socialist realism ' style development: (1) the Centrul Civic (the Civic Centre) and (2)
1251-457: A fisherman, a shepherd or a hunter, according to different legends. In Romanian , the word stem bucurie means 'joy' ('happiness'), hence the city Bucharest means 'city of joy'. Other etymologies are given by early scholars, including the one of an Ottoman traveller, Evliya Çelebi , who claimed that Bucharest was named after a certain 'Abu-Kariș', from the tribe of ' Bani-Kureiș '. In 1781, Austrian historian Franz Sulzer claimed that it
1390-522: A flower bridge built over the audience, and with Caesar's death performed in slow motion created an enormous scandal. After that, it became very hard for him to find a job in Romania. He made his debut with two pieces, on November 16, 1968 with The Good Person of Szechwan by Bertolt Brecht and at the following evening with the comedy She stoops to conquer by Oliver Goldsmith at The Theater of Youth in Piatra Neamț . In 1969, Șerban emigrated to
1529-539: A former nightclub in Greenwich Village. The Circle's founders signed a 10-year lease on the building. When the team signed the lease in 1951, they had $ 320 between them, including $ 300 that they had earned from operating a summer theater in Woodstock, New York . The Circle's founders raised $ 7,500, and Goldman formed Onyx Restaurants Inc. to lease the inn on behalf of the team, which was responsible for paying $ 1,000
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#17328837662851668-410: A lack of funds. Libin, who remained involved with the Circle's operation, advised Mann to separate the finances of the theater and its associated school ; an unnamed former employee told The New York Times that the theater was "living off the school". As a result, the school was separated from the theater in 1993. The school assumed the lease of the theater space, then subleased the space back to
1807-410: A month in rent. The inn occupied a pair of brownstone residences. The first-floor living and dining rooms in one of the residences had been converted to a rectangular dance floor, while the three stories above the dance floor included 15 rooms. There was a bar in the rear of the dance floor, as well as a kitchen in the basement. Due to the inn's configuration, the theater's founders decided to operate
1946-563: A nonprofit since then. The school has also participated in student exchange programs . Over the years, the school's alumni have included Kevin Bacon and Philip Seymour Hoffman . This list only includes shows performed at the Circle in the Square's Sheridan Square and Bleecker Street theaters, not those performed by the company at other theaters. Productions are listed by the year of their first performance. This list only includes shows performed at
2085-657: A revival of You Never Can Tell . In 1987, the Circle hosted Second Stage Theater 's revival of the play Coastal Disturbances , which featured Annette Bening and Timothy Daly and ran for ten months. This was followed the next year by revivals of the plays A Streetcar Named Desire , Juno and the Paycock , and The Night of the Iguana , as well as An Evening with Robert Klein , another comedy series by Klein. The original English production of Yehoshua Sobol 's play Ghetto ran for only 33 performances in early 1989, It
2224-518: A roughly round shape, with the centre situated in the cross-way of the main north–south/east-west axes at University Square . The milestone for Romania's Kilometre Zero is placed just south of University Square in front of the New St. George Church (Sfântul Gheorghe Nou) at St. George Square (Piața Sfântul Gheorghe). Bucharest's radius, from University Square to the city limits in all directions, varies from 10 to 12 km (6 to 7 mi). Until recently,
2363-531: A second theater in the basement upon the CPC's request. The new theater was originally supposed to be an experimental theater with 300 to 375 seats. Richard Weinstein, the head of the CPC's Lower Manhattan office, asked Mann whether he was interested in occupying the Uris Building's second theater. Mann initially was uninterested in relocating to a theater with such small capacity, but he changed his mind after seeing that
2502-538: A single performance on May 6, 2008. The next year, the Circle hosted a revival of Alan Ayckbourn 's musical comedy The Norman Conquests . The William Gibson play The Miracle Worker ran at the Circle for 28 performances in early 2010, followed the same year by the Eric Simonson play Lombardi . The Circle next staged the musical Godspell , which opened in November 2011 and ran for several months. It
2641-733: A single theater, which later became the Gershwin Theatre. In October 1967, the New York City Planning Commission (CPC) proposed the Special Theater District Zoning Amendment, which would directly allow theaters in One Astor Plaza and the Uris Building. The New York City Board of Estimate approved the amendment that December. The Uris Buildings Corporation agreed in February 1968 to build
2780-521: A socially disadvantaged area. Although the presence of street children was a problem in Bucharest in the 1990s, their numbers have declined in recent years, now lying at or below the average of major European capital cities. As stated by the Mercer international surveys for quality of life in cities around the world, Bucharest occupied the 94th place in 2001 and slipped lower, to the 108th place in 2009 and
2919-611: A study published by the United Nations, Bucharest placed 19th among 28 cities that recorded sharp declines in population from 1990 to the mid-2010s. In particular, the population fell by 3.77%. The city's population, according to the 2002 census, was 1,926,334 inhabitants, or 8.9% of the total population of Romania. A significant number of people commute to the city every day, mostly from the surrounding Ilfov County, but official statistics regarding their numbers do not exist. Bucharest's population experienced two phases of rapid growth,
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#17328837662853058-509: A teacher of Romanian language and literature. As a child, he was presenting puppet shows at home and staging mock battles with his friends in Bucharest's Grădina Icoanei . From 1961 to 1968, he studied at the Institute of Theatre and Film Arts (IATC). As a student, he directed Julius Caesar , which he now calls his "most daring production ever". Set in the Japanese Kabuki style, with
3197-545: A unique habitat. In May 2016, the lake was declared a national park, the Văcărești Nature Park . Dubbed the 'Delta of Bucharest', the area is protected. Bucharest is situated in the center of the Romanian Plain, in an area once covered by the Vlăsiei Forest, which after it was cleared, gave way for a fertile flatland. As with many cities, Bucharest is traditionally considered to be built upon seven hills, similar to
3336-529: A unique status in Romanian administration, since it is the only municipal area that is not part of a county . Its population, however, is larger than that of any other Romanian county , hence the power of the Bucharest General Municipality ( Primăria Generală ), which is the capital's local government body, is the same as any other Romanian county council. The Municipality of Bucharest, along with
3475-467: Is a beta global city , a major cultural, political and economic hub, and the country's seat of government. Bucharest was first mentioned in documents in 1459. The city became the capital in 1862 and is the centre of Romanian media, culture, and art. Its architecture is a mix of historical (mostly Eclectic , but also Neoclassical and Art Nouveau ), interbellum ( Bauhaus , Art Deco , and Romanian Revival architecture ), socialist era , and modern . In
3614-554: Is a city of high population density : 8,260/km (21,400/sq mi), as most of the population lives in high-density communist era apartment blocks ( blocuri ). However, this also depends on the part of the city: the southern boroughs have a higher density than the northern ones. Of the European Union country capital-cities, only Paris and Athens have a higher population density (see List of European Union cities proper by population density ). In addition to blocks of flats built during
3753-410: Is administratively known as the 'Municipality of Bucharest' ( Romanian : Municipiul București ), and has the same administrative level as that of a national county , being further subdivided into six sectors , each governed by a local mayor. The Romanian name București has an unverified origin. Tradition connects the founding of Bucharest with the name of Bucur , who was a prince, an outlaw,
3892-421: Is governed by a local mayor, as follows: Sector 1 – Clotilde Armand ( USR , since 2020), Sector 2 – Radu Mihaiu ( USR , since 2020), Sector 3 – Robert Negoiță (PRO B, since 2012), Sector 4 – Daniel Băluță ( PSD , since 2016), Sector 5 – Vlad Popescu Piedone (former mayor Cristian Popescu Piedone's son) (PUSL, since 2024), Sector 6 – Ciprian Ciucu ( PNL , since 2020). Like all other local councils in Romania,
4031-583: Is headed by a general mayor ( Primar General ). Since 29 October 2020 onwards, it is Nicușor Dan , currently an independent politician previously backed by the PNL - USR PLUS centre-right alliance at the 2020 Romanian local elections . Decisions are approved and discussed by the capital's General Council ( Consiliu General ) made up of 55 elected councilors. Furthermore, the city is divided into six administrative sectors ( sectoare ), each of which has its own 27-seat sectoral council, town hall, and mayor. The powers of
4170-541: Is listed as 'endangered' by the World Monuments Watch (as of 2016). Although many neighbourhoods, particularly in the southern part of the city, lack sufficient green space, being formed of cramped, high-density blocks of flats, Bucharest also has many parks . In 2024, Bucharest was ranked by the digital publication Freaking Nomads as the 9th best city in the world for digital nomads , due to its elaborate and diverse architecture, an arts scene featuring some of
4309-406: Is located in the southern part of the city. Over 190 hectares, including 90 hectares of water, host 97 species of birds, half of them protected by law, and at least seven species of mammals. The lake is surrounded by buildings of flats and is an odd result of human intervention and nature taking its course. The area was a small village that Ceaușescu attempted to convert into a lake. After demolishing
Andrei Serban - Misplaced Pages Continue
4448-458: Is more common, particularly in the form of pickpocketing , which occurs mainly on the city's public transport network. Confidence tricks were common in the 1990s, especially in regards to tourists, but the frequency of these incidents has since declined. Theft was reduced by 13.6% in 2013 compared to 2012. Levels of crime are higher in the southern districts of the city, particularly in Ferentari ,
4587-573: Is scheduled to open at the theater in April 2025. The Circle in the Square Theatre School is a drama school associated with the Circle in the Square Theatre; it is the only accredited conservatory attached to a Broadway theater. The school was established in 1961 and is housed within Paramount Plaza at 1633 Broadway. The school was split from the theater itself in 1993 and has operated as
4726-491: Is the successor of an off-Broadway theater of the same name, co-founded around 1950 by a group that included Theodore Mann and José Quintero . The Broadway venue was designed by Allen Sayles; it originally contained 650 seats and uses a thrust stage that extends into the audience on three sides. The theater had 776 seats as of 2024 . The Circle in the Square Theatre was named for its first location at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village , which opened in February 1951 and
4865-649: The Afro-Romanians ), Iranians, Vietnamese, Filipinos, Nepalis, Afghans, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshis, Pakistanis, and Indians. 226,943 people did not declare their ethnicity. Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street , within the basement of Paramount Plaza , in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City . The current Broadway theater, completed in 1972,
5004-675: The American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts . At the A.R.T., he has directed Lysistrata , The Merchant of Venice , The Taming of the Shrew , The King Stag , Sganarelle , Three Sisters , The Juniper Tree , The Miser , Twelfth Night , Sweet Table at the Richelieu , and Pericles . As a director, Șerban has also worked at the Circle in the Square Theatre ,
5143-739: The Boston Theater Critics Association the Elliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence. The same year, he received from the Society of Stage Directors & Choreographers the prestigious George Abbott Award , honoring artists who have made a major impact on theatre in the twentieth-century. Also in 1999, the Romanian National Foundation for Arts and Sciences , together with the Romanian Academy , awarded him
5282-467: The COVID-19 pandemic . It reopened on September 23, 2021, with previews of Chicken & Biscuits , which ran through November 2021. Next, the Circle hosted a revival of the play American Buffalo , which ran from April to July 2022. By then, the Circle was the only remaining Broadway theater that was not operated by either a nonprofit company or a large organization. The musical KPOP opened at
5421-541: The Constitutional Court of Romania . Bucharest has a municipal police force, the Bucharest Police ( Poliția București ), which is responsible for policing crime within the whole city, and operates a number of divisions. The Bucharest Police are headquartered on Ștefan cel Mare Blvd. in the city centre, and at precincts throughout the city. From 2004 onwards, each sector city hall also has under its administration
5560-806: The Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts . The production, starring Irene Worth as Ranevskaya and Meryl Streep as Dunyasha, was nominated for a Tony Award . More recently, Șerban has directed Sarah Kane 's Cleansed in Romania; Lucia di Lammermoor at the Opéra Bastille in Paris; and a popular production of Hamlet , starring Liev Schreiber in the title role, at the Public Theater in New York. For more than two decades, Șerban has been associated with
5699-661: The Mastercard Global Index of Urban Destinations. As for the past two consecutive years, 2018 and 2019, Bucharest ranked as the European destination with the highest potential for development according to the same study. Economically, Bucharest is the most prosperous city in Romania and the richest capital and city in the region, having surpassed Budapest since 2017. The city has a number of large convention facilities, educational institutes, cultural venues, traditional 'shopping arcades' and recreational areas. The city proper
Andrei Serban - Misplaced Pages Continue
5838-569: The Minskoff and American Place theaters, were constructed under the Special Theater District amendment of 1967 as a way to give their respective developers additional floor area. The space is accessed via escalators from street level, as well as via stairs. The theater was built with a capacity of 650 seats; as of 2022 , the theater has 751 seats. The space was originally meant as an off-Broadway house with fewer than 500 seats, but
5977-776: The Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies, and the M.F.A. Acting program. He has also taught at Yale University , Harvard University , Carnegie Mellon University , Sarah Lawrence College , University of California, San Diego , the Paris Conservatoire d'Art Dramatique and the American Repertory Theater 's Institute for Advanced Theater Training . In 2006, he published his autobiography, written in Romanian. In late 2019, Andrei Șerban resigned from his position at Columbia University, citing pressure on staff to accept teachers and students lacking
6116-692: The Palace of the Parliament , for which an entire historic quarter was razed to make way for Ceaușescu's megalomaniac plans. On 4 March 1977, an earthquake centred in Vrancea , about 135 km (83.89 mi) away, claimed 1,500 lives and caused further damage to the historic centre. The Romanian Revolution of 1989 began with massive anti-Ceaușescu protests in Timișoara in December 1989 and continued in Bucharest, leading to
6255-1017: The Yale Repertory Theater , the American Conservatory Theater , the Metropolitan Opera , the New York City, Seattle and Los Angeles Operas, at the Paris, Geneva, Vienna, and Bologna Opera Houses, the Welsh National Opera , Covent Garden , Théâtre de la Ville , the Comédie Française , Helsinki's Lilla Teatern, and with the Shiki Theatre Company in Tokyo . From 1990 to 1993, he headed the National Theatre Bucharest . While at Columbia, he has directed
6394-596: The homicide rate of Bucharest was 0,8 per 100,000 people. Crime in Bucharest is combated by national forces, such as the Romanian Police and Romanian Gendarmerie , and by local forces, such as the Local Police of Bucharest. Although in the 2000s, a number of police crackdowns on organised crime gangs occurred, such as the Cămătaru clan, organised crime generally has little impact on public life. Petty crime, however,
6533-411: The urban area , the proposed metropolitan area of Bucharest would have a population of 2.3 million people. In 2020, the government used 2.5 million people as the basis for pandemic reports. Bucharest is the eighth largest city in the European Union by population within city limits. In 2017, Bucharest was the European city with the highest growth of tourists who stay over night, according to
6672-585: The "center of Off-Broadway ", largely staging revivals at a time when traditional Broadway theaters presented experimental shows. Mel Gussow of The New York Times similarly described the original Circle as being within "the heartbeat of Off-Broadway" in Sheridan Square. Over the years, actors such as Colleen Dewhurst , Geraldine Page , Jason Robards , Bradford Dillman , Dustin Hoffman , George Segal , George C. Scott , and James Earl Jones starred in
6811-465: The 107th place in 2010. Compared to it, Vienna occupied number one worldwide in 2011 and 2009. Warsaw ranked 84th, Istanbul 112th, and neighbours Sofia 114th and Belgrade 136th (in the 2010 rankings). Mercer Human Resource Consulting issues yearly a global ranking of the world's most livable cities based on 39 key quality-of-life issues. Among them: political stability, currency-exchange regulations, political and media censorship, school quality, housing,
6950-433: The 1970s and 1980s, but, by the 1990s, the theater had a $ 1.5 million deficit. Following an unsuccessful attempt to appoint new leadership in 1994, the company filed for bankruptcy in 1997. The theater reopened in 1999, now operating as an independent commercial receiving house . The Circle in the Square Theatre School , a drama school within Paramount Plaza, is associated with the Circle in the Square Theatre. The Circle in
7089-468: The 1980s, including tributes to playwrights Eugene O'Neill and William Saroyan . Libin began selling annual subscriptions via telemarketing around 1983, amid increasing difficulties in obtaining subscribers. The Circle hosted three plays in 1983: The Misanthrope , The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial , and Heartbreak House . A revival of The Iceman Cometh was canceled during that year because of budget overruns. The Circle also hosted revivals of
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#17328837662857228-428: The 1995–1996 season, the theater hosted the plays Garden District , Holiday , Bus Stop , and Tartuffe . By then, the Circle had 7,000 subscribers. Nonetheless, many of the theater's board members were unhappy with Abady's leadership, as the theater's debt had increased by $ 241,000 during that season. Libin and Mann also challenged the way Abady handled the theater's finances. That August, Pacino returned to
7367-421: The 25 staff members and postpone the start of the 1992–1993 season by four months. Buckley resigned shortly afterward, and George A. Elmer was hired as the new managing director. The theater had only about 8,500 subscribers at the time. The Circle operated at a loss of $ 1.5 million, in large part because of its overdependence on box-office revenue. That March, the theater canceled two plays by Molière due to
7506-571: The Bleecker Street location, was a revival of Jean Genet 's The Balcony which opened the same year. By the early 1960s, the Circle had staged several box-office flops and was in debt. Nonetheless, upon the theater's tenth anniversary in 1961, the New York Herald Tribune reported that Mann and Quintero were purchasing the Bleecker Street building, at a time when Off-Broadway theaters were in high demand. Quintero had directed 17 of
7645-484: The Bleecker Street theater had adequate space for dressing rooms. The newer space had higher ceilings, and it did not have support columns that obstructed patrons' views, as the Sheridan Square theater did. The new location, known as Circle in the Square Downtown, opened on January 9, 1960, with Our Town ; the play's cast had given their last performance at 5 Sheridan Square the day before. The first new production at
7784-507: The Broadway house's first two seasons, the Circle staged productions such as Medea , Here Are Ladies , Uncle Vanya , The Waltz of the Toreadors , and The Iceman Cometh in 1973, as well as The American Millionaire and Scapino in early 1974. Despite its early popularity, the theater could only earn up to $ 35,000 per week, and it relied heavily on grants. By March 1974, the theater
7923-422: The Bucharest Tribunal ( Tribunalul Bucureşti ), the city's municipal court. The Bucharest Court of Appeal ( Curtea de Apel Bucureşti ) judges appeals against decisions taken by first-instance courts and tribunals in Bucharest and in five surrounding counties (Teleorman, Ialomița, Giurgiu, Călărași, and Ilfov). Bucharest is also home to Romania's supreme court, the High Court of Cassation and Justice , as well as to
8062-417: The Bucharest sectoral councils, the capital's general council , and the mayors are elected every four years by the population. Additionally, Bucharest has a prefect , who is appointed by Romania's national government. The prefect is not allowed to be a member of a political party and his role is to represent the national government at the municipal level. The prefect is acting as a liaison official facilitating
8201-410: The Circle as a theater in the round , wherein the audience surrounded the stage (a converted dance floor). The theater, and the eponymous company, derived their name from the facility's layout and its location at Sheridan Square . The theater was planned to open in November 1950, but the opening was delayed by two and a half months due to difficulties in securing a theatrical license. Ultimately,
8340-428: The Circle had received millions of dollars in grants during that season, Abady estimated that it would take eight years for the Circle to record a net profit. The Circle also started offering discounted tickets to attract younger patrons, since, at the time, the median subscriber was 53 years old. The theater reopened with three plays during 1994–1995: The Shadow Box , Uncle Vanya , and The Rose Tattoo . During
8479-458: The Circle hosted shows at other locations such as Ford's Theatre and the Henry Miller's Theatre . The Gershwin Theatre and Circle in the Square's Broadway house were built as part of Paramount Plaza (originally known as the Uris Building). Circle's Broadway house opened on November 15, 1972, and operated as a nonprofit subscription-supported producing house for the next 25 years. The theater typically presented three or four shows per year in
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#17328837662858618-442: The Circle in March 2002, ran for 401 performances over the next year. The theater next staged Yasmina Reza 's comedy Life (x) 3 in 2003 and Bryony Lavery 's drama Frozen in 2004. The Circle's next production, the musical comedy The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee , had over 1,100 performances from 2005 to 2008. After the success of that musical, the Circle hosted the musical Glory Days , which closed after
8757-559: The Circle temporarily relocated to Broadway houses such as the 48th Street Theatre and the 46th Street Theatre . After Mann filed plans to renovate the theater in April 1955, city officials approved the theater's reopening. When the venue reopened on June 1, 1955, it was rebranded as the Circle in the Square Cabaret . It continued to host popular theatrical performances, such as Cradle Song , Children of Darkness , and Our Town . In July 1959, Mann, Quintero, and Leigh Connell announced that they had to relocate by that October because
8896-424: The Circle to sue the society. The Circle lost the lawsuit and severed its partnership with Ford's in September 1971, citing large financial losses. In September 1967, Uris Buildings Corporation leased the site of the Capitol Theatre on Broadway, between 50th and 51st Streets, for 100 years. Uris announced it would build an office tower and a Broadway theater on the site; initially, the corporation only proposed
9035-460: The Circle's 21 plays at that point. Ultimately, Quintero decided to resign from the Circle by 1963, preferring to work as a freelance producer. Paul Libin was hired as the Circle in the Square's managing director the same year. This era also saw the Circle's longest-lasting production, The Trojan Women , which ran from 1963 to 1965. The company had staged 47 off-Broadway and 10 Broadway productions by its 20th anniversary in 1971. Even though
9174-470: The Circle's artistic director Theodore Mann and its managing director Paul Libin increased the capacity by relocating columns and replaced steps with ramps. Originally, the theater was decorated with red seats, and it had a red-and-gray carpet in a checkerboard pattern . The Circle's symbol, a cube, was incorporated into the design of the carpet and the light. The top of the auditorium contains soundproof panels, which minimized noise from police horses when
9313-430: The Circle's founders were only allowed a cabaret license. The theater's first production was the play Dark of the Moon , which opened in February 1951. At the time, the off-Broadway industry was still relatively obscure and was not covered by mainstream newspapers. Mann, Quintero, and all actors were paid a flat salary of $ 20 per week. The Circle became more popular after theatrical critic Brooks Atkinson praised
9452-458: The Circle's production of Williams's Summer and Smoke in 1952. Mann said Atkinson's review prompted guests to line up for tickets during July, at a time when theaters traditionally closed in the summer due to a lack of air conditioning. Quintero directed some of the theater's most popular early productions, including The Grass Harp , American Gothic , and O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh and Long Day's Journey into Night . Notwithstanding
9591-536: The Circle. Subsequently, the men began looking for tenants; by August 1998, there were rumors that the Manhattan Theatre Club, which was looking for a Broadway house, would move into the space. Ultimately, the Circle was reorganized as an independent commercial receiving house , making it one of the few independent Broadway theaters at the time. The theater was scheduled to reopen for the 1998–1999 season with Tennessee Williams's Not About Nightingales , which opened in February 1999. Quintero died several hours after
9730-433: The River Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater metropolitan area of 2.3 million residents, which makes Bucharest the 8th most-populous city in the European Union . The city area measures 240 km (93 sq mi) and comprises 6 districts ( Sectoare ), while the metropolitan area covers 1,811 km (699 sq mi). Bucharest
9869-409: The Russian departure (remaining in the city until March 1857). On 23 March 1847, a fire consumed about 2,000 buildings, destroying a third of the city. In 1862, after Wallachia and Moldavia were united to form the Principality of Romania , Bucharest became the new nation's capital city. In 1881, it became the political centre of the newly proclaimed Kingdom of Romania under King Carol I . During
10008-688: The Square Day. The same year, at the 30th Tony Awards , the company received a Special Tony Award "for twenty-five continuous years of quality productions". For 1976–1977, the Circle continued its tradition of staging four Broadway shows per season, and the Levine Theatre hosted The Days in the Trees , The Night of the Iguana , Romeo and Juliet , and The Importance of Being Earnest . The Circle also saw revivals of four plays in 1977–1978: Tartuffe , Saint Joan , 13 Rue de l'Amour , and Once in
10147-529: The Square Theatre is in the basement of Paramount Plaza . It was designed by Allen Sayles, with a lighting system designed by Jules Fisher . The Circle operates its own venue, which was originally known as the Circle in the Square–Joseph E. Levine Theatre. It is one of Paramount Plaza's two theaters, the other being the much larger Gershwin Theatre on the second floor. Paramount Plaza's two venues, along with
10286-642: The Square took a one-year lease on the Henry Miller's Theatre , a Broadway theater, beginning in August 1968. The company's productions at the Henry Miller's were presented under the name "Circle in the Square on Broadway". Even though the Henry Miller's was a Broadway theater, the Circle's productions there were ineligible for the Tony Awards because the Circle was a repertory company. The company only ran two shows at
10425-543: The Square was founded by Theodore Mann, José Quintero , Jason Wingreen , Aileen Cramer, Emily Stevens, and Edward Mann, all of whom were members of the Loft Players. The theater's founders were in their mid-20s and were described by The New York Times as having "little training, less experience, and no reputation in the theater". Sources disagree on when the organization was founded, but it may have been established in 1949 or 1950. The founding team wished to establish
10564-659: The United States, with the help of Ellen Stewart , and a grant from the Ford Foundation . In 1970, he went to Paris to study at Peter Brook 's International Centre for Theatre Research . In 1971, he staged Medea at La MaMa, E.T.C. , the experimental theater club in New York City . Three years later, he directed Fragments of a Greek Trilogy ( Medea , The Trojan Women , and Electra ), also at La MaMa. In 1977, he directed Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard at
10703-512: The average high temperature is 29.8 °C (85.6 °F) (the average for July and August). Temperatures frequently reach 35 to 40 °C (95 to 104 °F) in midsummer in the city centre. Although average precipitation in summer is moderate, occasional heavy storms occur. During spring and autumn, daytime temperatures vary between 17 and 22 °C (63 and 72 °F), and precipitation during spring tends to be higher than in summer, with more frequent yet milder periods of rain. Bucharest has
10842-401: The building's owner was planning to redevelop the site. At the time of the announcement, the Circle had presented 18 shows, mostly revivals of plays, at 5 Sheridan Square. The old location remained open until January 8, 1960, and the inn was demolished the same year. At the end of August 1959, Mann, Quintero, and Connell leased space at 159 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, which at
10981-526: The city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom. It is one of the fastest-growing high-tech cities in Europe, according to the Financial Times , CBRE , TechCrunch , and others. In 2016, the historical city centre was listed as 'endangered' by the World Monuments Watch . In January 2023, there were 1.74 million inhabitants living within the city limits, and adding the satellite towns around
11120-595: The city was hit by Caragea's plague . The city was wrested from Ottoman influence and occupied at several intervals by the Habsburg monarchy (1716, 1737, 1789) and Imperial Russia (three times between 1768 and 1806). It was placed under Russian administration between 1828 and the Crimean War , with an interlude during the Bucharest-centred 1848 Wallachian revolution . Later, an Austrian garrison took possession after
11259-605: The city was the scene of the Legionnaires' rebellion and Bucharest pogrom . As the capital of an Axis country and a major transit point for Axis troops en route to the Eastern Front , Bucharest suffered heavy damage during World War II due to Allied bombings . On 23 August 1944, Bucharest was the site of the royal coup which brought Romania into the Allied camp. The city suffered a short period of Nazi Luftwaffe bombings, as well as
11398-655: The communist era, there are also older interwar ones, as well as newer ones built in the 1990s and in the 21st century. Although apartment buildings are strongly associated with the communist era, such housing schemes were first introduced in Bucharest in the 1920s. About 97.3% of the population of Bucharest for whom data are available is Romanian . Other significant ethnic groups are Romani , Hungarians, Turks, Jews , Germans (mostly Regat Germans ), Chinese, Russians, Ukrainians, and Italians. A relatively small number of Bucharesters are also Greeks , Armenians, Kurds, Bulgarians, Albanians, Poles, French, Arabs, Africans (including
11537-465: The company's Broadway theater opened in 1972, the Bleecker Street location continued to host off-Broadway shows through the late 1970s. In 1994, the Circle Repertory Company took over the Circle in the Square Downtown. Developers announced plans to raze the Bleecker Street theater in 2004. The venue was demolished in 2005 and replaced with a nine-story apartment building. The Circle in
11676-482: The company's productions. In addition, the theater attracted such directors as Michael Cacoyannis , William Ball , and Alan Arkin . The Circle tended to stage productions by well-known playwrights such as Tennessee Williams , Eugene O'Neill , Jean Giraudoux , Dylan Thomas , and Jules Feiffer . The first Circle in the Square Theatre was at 5 Sheridan Square (also known as the Greenwich Village Inn ),
11815-429: The design allowed the audience to be extremely close to the stage, as there were only ten rows of seats. According to Mann, the design of the current Circle in the Square was based on the predecessor theaters. These, in turn, were based on a recommendation from theater critic Brooks Atkinson , who had told Mann: "When you walk in the door, you should see the stage—that should predominate—not the audience." The Circle in
11954-467: The early settlements in antiquity until its consolidation as the national capital of Romania late in the 19th century. First mentioned as the ' Citadel of București' in 1459, it became the residence of the ruler of Wallachia, Voivode Vlad the Impaler . The Old Princely Court ( Curtea Veche ) was erected by Mircea Ciobanul in the mid-16th century. Under subsequent rulers, Bucharest was established as
12093-695: The environment, and public safety. Mercer collects data worldwide, in 215 cities. The difficult situation of the quality of life in Bucharest is confirmed also by a vast urbanism study, done by the Ion Mincu University of Architecture and Urbanism . In 2016, Bucharest's urban situation was described as 'critical' by a Romanian Order of Architects (OAR) report that criticised the city's weak, incoherent and arbitrary public management policies, its elected officials' lack of transparency and public engagement, as well as its inadequate and unsustainable use of essential urban resources. Bucharest's historical city centre
12232-543: The first beginning in the late 19th century when the city was consolidated as the national capital and lasting until the Second World War, and the second during the Ceaușescu years (1965–1989), when a massive urbanization campaign was launched and many people migrated from rural areas to the capital. At this time, due to Ceaușescu's decision to ban abortion and contraception, natural increase was also significant. Bucharest
12371-623: The gardens are the main recreational facility in the city centre. Bucharest parks and gardens also include Herăstrău Park , Tineretului Park and the Botanical Garden . Herăstrău Park is located in the northern part of the city, around Lake Herăstrău, and includes the site the Village Museum . Grigore Antipa Museum is also near in the Victoriei Square. One of its best known locations are Hard Rock Cafe Bucharest and Berăria H (one of
12510-416: The houses and building the concrete basin, the plan was abandoned following the 1989 revolution. For nearly two decades, the area shifted from being an abandoned green space where children could play and sunbathe, to being contested by previous owners of the land there, to being closed for redevelopment into a sports centre. The redevelopment deal failed, and over the following years, the green space grew into
12649-469: The implementation of national development plans and governing programs at local level. The prefect of Bucharest (as of 2024) is Mihai Mugur Toader. The city's general council has the following political composition, based on the results of the 2024 local elections : Bucharest's judicial system is similar to that of the Romanian counties. Each of the six sectors has its own local first-instance court ( judecătorie ), while more serious cases are directed to
12788-513: The interwar years, Bucharest's urban development continued, with the city gaining an average of 30,000 new residents each year. Also, some of the city's main landmarks were built in this period, including Arcul de Triumf and Palatul Telefoanelor . However, the Great Depression in Romania took its toll on Bucharest's citizens, culminating in the Grivița Strike of 1933 . In January 1941,
12927-509: The largest beer halls in Europe). Tineretului Park was created in 1965 and designed as the main recreational space for southern Bucharest. It contains a Mini Town which is a play area for kids. The Botanical Garden, located in the Cotroceni neighbourhood a bit west of the city centre, is the largest of its kind in Romania and contains over 10,000 species of plants (many of them exotic); it originated as
13066-428: The local government over a certain area are, therefore, shared both by the Bucharest municipality and the local sectoral councils with little or no overlapping of authority. The general rule is that the main capital municipality is responsible for citywide utilities such as the water and sewage system, the overall transport system, and the main boulevards, while sectoral town halls manage the contact between individuals and
13205-425: The local government, secondary streets and parks maintenance, schools administration, and cleaning services. The six sectors are numbered from one to six and are disposed radially so that each one has under its administration a certain area of the city centre. They are numbered clockwise and are further divided into sectoral quarters ( cartiere ) which are not part of the official administrative division: Each sector
13344-772: The mid-2000s. In 2015, 64 people were killed in the Colectiv nightclub fire . Later the Romanian capital saw the 2017–2019 Romanian protests against the judicial reforms, with a 2018 protest ending with 450 people injured. The following treaties were signed in the city: The city is situated on the banks of the Dâmbovița River , which flows into the Argeș River, a tributary of the Danube. Several lakes – the most important of which are Lake Herăstrău, Lake Floreasca, Lake Tei, and Lake Colentina – stretch across
13483-439: The months after the Circle's Broadway house opened, it hosted numerous performers whose portraits were hung in the lobby. Twelve thousand people were paying for annual subscriptions to the Broadway house by the beginning of 1973. Unlike at other Broadway theaters, the Circle tended to host multiple opening nights for each show. Headliners were paid a flat rate of $ 1,000 a week, less than in comparable Broadway theaters. During
13622-443: The musical Fun Home , which opened in 2015 and ran for more than a year, and the musical In Transit , which opened in 2016 and lasted 181 performances. At the end of the decade, the Circle hosted two musical revivals: Once on This Island , which ran from November 2017 to January 2019, and an adaptation of Oklahoma! , which ran from April 2019 to January 2020. The theatre temporarily closed on March 12, 2020 , due to
13761-558: The newly founded Prize for Excellence in Romanian Culture . He has received grants from the Ford, Guggenheim and Rockefeller Foundations. Bucharest Bucharest ( UK : / ˌ b uː k ə ˈ r ɛ s t / BOO -kə- REST , US : / ˈ b uː k ə r ɛ s t / -rest ; Romanian : București [bukuˈreʃtʲ] ) is the capital and largest city of Romania . The metropolis stands on
13900-611: The nickname of 'Paris of the East' ( Parisul Estului ), with the Calea Victoriei as its Champs-Élysées . Between 6 December 1916 and November 1918, the city was occupied by German forces as a result of the Battle of Bucharest , with the official capital temporarily moved to Iași (also called Jassy), in the Moldavia region. After World War I, Bucharest became the capital of Greater Romania . In
14039-567: The northern parts of the city, along the Colentina River , a tributary of the Dâmbovița. In addition, in the centre of the capital is a small artificial lake – Lake Cișmigiu – surrounded by the Cișmigiu Gardens . These gardens have a rich history, having been frequented by poets and writers. Opened in 1847 and based on the plans of German architect Carl F.W. Meyer,
14178-584: The overthrow of the Communist regime . Dissatisfied with the postrevolutionary leadership of the National Salvation Front , some student leagues and opposition groups organised anti-Communist rallies in early 1990, which caused the political change. Since 2000, the city has been continuously modernised. Residential and commercial developments are underway, particularly in the northern districts; Bucharest's old historic centre has undergone restoration since
14317-475: The period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nicknames of Little Paris ( Romanian : Micul Paris ) or Paris of the East ( Romanian : Parisul Estului ). Although buildings and districts in the historic city centre were heavily damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, and even Nicolae Ceaușescu 's program of systematization , many survived and have been renovated. In recent years,
14456-634: The plays Awake and Sing and Design for Living in 1984. The next year, the theater hosted the plays The Loves of Anatol, Arms and the Man , and The Marriage of Figaro , as well as Robert Klein 's comedy series The Robert Klein Show! . The Circle also hosted three plays in 1986: the Steppenwolf Theatre Company 's revival of The Caretaker , the original production of The Boys in Autumn , and
14595-411: The pleasure park of the royal family. Besides them, there are many other smaller parks that should be visited, some of them being still large. Alexandru Ioan Cuza Park, Kiseleff Park, Carol Park , Izvor Park, Grădina Icoanei , Circului Park and Moghioroș Park are a few of them. Other large parks in Bucharest are: National Park, Tei Park, Eroilor Park and Crângași Park with Morii Lake . Lake Văcărești
14734-478: The proposed 1996–1997 season and announced plans to stage the play Stanley , which had been successful on London's West End . Stanley opened in February 1997 and was moderately successful, running for two months. Mosher, who admired the Circle's thrust stage, had wanted to stage a revival of the Odyssey for 1997–1998. Sayers resigned from his position in May 1997. By then, observers expressed concerns that
14873-543: The regions surrounding Bucharest were largely rural, but after 1989, suburbs started to be built around Bucharest, in the surrounding Ilfov County . This county , which has experienced rapid demographic growth in the 21st century, being the fastest growing Romanian county between 2011 and 2021, had a population of 542,686 people at the 2021 Romanian census . In the 21st century, many of Ilfov county's villages and communes developed into high-income commuter towns , which act like suburbs or satellites of Bucharest. Bucharest has
15012-471: The required academic standards in the name of political correctness. In an interview with a Romanian TV station, he compared the intransigent leftist atmosphere dominating the American academia to the oppressive one in communist Romania, where artists were told by party functionaries how to think and how to create. Andrei Șerban is the recipient of the 1974-75 Obie Award for Trilogy . In 1999, he received from
15151-760: The run of Loose Ends to cover the gap. Consequently, the season was planned to have three plays, the first two of which were Major Barbara and Past Tense . The final play, The Makropulos Affair , was replaced with The Man Who Came to Dinner on relatively short notice. For 1980–1981, the Circle returned to presenting four plays: The Bacchae , John Gabriel Borkman , The Father , and Scenes and Revelations . The Circle had originally planned to stage Hamlet after The Bacchae , but Hamlet had been replaced with Borkman due to scheduling conflicts. The theater next hosted Candida in late 1981, followed by Macbeth , Eminent Domain , and Present Laughter in 1982. The theater hosted other events during
15290-514: The second half of the 19th century, the city's population increased dramatically, and a new period of urban development began. During this period, gas lighting , horse-drawn trams , and limited electrification were introduced. The Dâmbovița River was also massively channelled in 1883, thus putting a stop to previously endemic floods like the 1865 flooding of Bucharest . The Fortifications of Bucharest were built. The extravagant architecture and cosmopolitan high culture of this period won Bucharest
15429-508: The seven hills of Rome. Bucharest's seven hills are: Mihai Vodă, Dealul Mitropoliei , Radu Vodă, Cotroceni , Dealul Spirii , Văcărești , and Sfântu Gheorghe Nou. The city has an area of 226 km (87 sq mi). The altitude varies from 55.8 m (183.1 ft) at the Dâmbovița bridge in Cățelu, southeastern Bucharest and 91.5 m (300.2 ft) at the Militari church. The city has
15568-456: The space could fit 650 seats, large enough to qualify as a Broadway theater. The CPC approved the new theaters the same year, as did the Board of Estimate. Lease negotiations between Mann and Percy Uris had been completed by January 1969, and Mann and Libin formed the for-profit Thespian Theater Inc., which subleased the smaller theater to the Circle. The Circle's Broadway theater was intended as
15707-447: The success of Summer and Smoke , the theater lost money during its first several years. City officials closed the 5 Sheridan Square location in March 1954 because the venue did not comply with fire-safety regulations and because the space was only licensed as a cabaret. At the time, the Circle was described as one of the "most popular Off-Broadway theaters". During the 1954–1955 season,
15846-576: The summer residence of the royal court. During the years to come, it competed with Târgoviște on the status of capital city after an increase in the importance of Southern Muntenia brought about by the demands of the suzerain power – the Ottoman Empire . Bucharest finally became the permanent location of the Wallachian court after 1698 (starting with the reign of Constantin Brâncoveanu ). The city
15985-518: The surrounding Ilfov County, is part of the București – Ilfov development region project, which is equivalent to NUTS-II regions in the European Union and is used both by the EU and the Romanian government for statistical analysis, and to co-ordinate regional development projects and manage funds from the EU. The Bucharest-Ilfov development region is not, however, an administrative entity yet. The city government
16124-499: The theater by establishing a $ 500,000 production fund, hiring a second artistic director to assist Mann, and creating partnerships with other theatrical companies. Josephine Abady was hired as the second artistic director in August 1994; she was to take over as the theater's sole artistic director when Mann stepped down. Abady planned to book both revivals and newer plays at the theater, and she wished to attract additional subscribers to compete with other nonprofit theaters. Although
16263-560: The theater faced an increasingly severe financial crisis. In the first half of 1992, the theater hosted the play Search and Destroy , followed by two plays that concurrently starred Al Pacino : a revival of Salome and the original production of Ira Lewis 's Chinese Coffee . Pacino had to scale back his appearances in Salome and Chinese Coffee after straining his vocal cords; as a result, these productions only broke even . The musical Anna Karenina , originally planned for 1991–1992,
16402-433: The theater had not announced any plays for the upcoming season. The theater's board voted to suspend operations on June 17, 1997, when Mosher and Rosenblum both resigned. A major factor in this decision was the theater's inability to pay back taxes , Investment banker Wilbur Ross Jr. , a consultant for the theater, said at the time that the theater was unlikely to reopen unless it paid off its $ 1.5 million debt, as well as
16541-463: The theater in Hughie . Hughie was initially supposed to have fewer regular performances than previews, but the play was extended several times, ultimately running until November 1996. On July 24, 1996, Mann announced that he would resign, although he and Abady would remain as artistic directors until Hughie closed. The same day, the theater's acting president Theodore R. Sayers announced that
16680-618: The theater in November 2022, but it lasted for only two weeks. A limited engagement of the concert Melissa Etheridge: My Window opened at the Circle in the Square in September 2023. Henrik Ibsen 's play An Enemy of the People opened at the theater in March 2024, running for three months; it was followed in October by a limited-run revival of Romeo and Juliet . Additionally, the musical Just in Time
16819-498: The theater opened. A soundproof control booth was placed at the rear of the auditorium. The Circle contains a thrust stage , with seats surrounding it on three sides, similar to the venue's off-Broadway predecessors. It is one of two Broadway houses with a thrust stage; the other is Lincoln Center 's Vivian Beaumont Theater . Because of the stage's unconventional design, theatrical critics negatively reviewed it, while directors had difficulty staging productions there. Conversely,
16958-473: The theater reopened; the theater hosted an event in his honor a few months later. During late 1999, the theater space was leased to HBO , which used the space for taping The Chris Rock Show . In early 2000, the theater hosted Sam Shepard 's play True West , which ran for 154 performances. This was followed later that year by a revival of the musical The Rocky Horror Show , which ran through early 2002. The play Metamorphoses , which opened at
17097-417: The theater. The only show that the Circle hosted in 1993 was Wilder, Wilder, Wilder , a trio of Wilder plays that lasted for 44 performances. Afterward, the Circle was dark for over a year; a planned engagement of the play Belmont Avenue Social Club during late 1993 had been canceled. Many of the Circle's board members blamed Mann for selecting shows that did not appeal to audiences and claimed that he
17236-526: The theatrical company had filed for bankruptcy. At the time, the theater had $ 1.5 million in debt, in addition to $ 2 million in unpaid taxes. The company hired Gregory Mosher as its new producer in September 1996, and Circle officials simultaneously asked Abady to resign. Mosher and executive producer M. Edgar Rosenblum attempted to attract a wider audience by selling discounted tickets to anyone who purchased $ 37.50 annual memberships; they gave away about 12,000 memberships this way. Mosher also scrapped
17375-550: The theatrical company's failure on Broadway. The company's productions at Ford's included revivals of such plays as Moon for the Misbegotten , Ah, Wilderness! , and Arsenic and Old Lace . However, the company's offerings were ultimately constrained by the fact that the managers of Ford's Theatre were selective about what constituted "acceptable audience entertainment". The Washington's Ford's Theatre Society sought to take over operation of Ford's Theatre in 1971, prompting
17514-487: The time was occupied by the Amato Opera Company. The structure had been constructed in 1917 and had been used for various purposes over the years, including a movie theater. Starting in October 1959, the group rebuilt the space as a circle-in-the-round theater, similar in arrangement to the original location. To comply with Off-Broadway regulations, the theater had 199 seats. Unlike the Sheridan Square location,
17653-666: The venue, both of which were flops, before its lease was terminated. Those two productions were The Cuban Thing , followed by Morning, Noon and Night , a trio of one-act plays. When the Circle's lease was terminated in January 1969, Mann and Libin were already in the process of developing their own theater on Broadway. The Circle began staging productions at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. , in 1968. The Circle's productions in Washington, D.C., were initially successful, contrasting with
17792-453: The world’s best galleries, museums, and theatres, and its tranquil parks. As per the 2021 census , 1,716,961 inhabitants lived within the city limits, a decrease from the figure recorded at the 2011 census. This decrease is due to low natural increase, but also to a shift in population from the city itself to its smaller satellite towns such as Popești-Leordeni , Voluntari , Chiajna , Bragadiru , Pantelimon , Buftea and Otopeni . In
17931-506: Was also cited as a factor in the theater's survival. For 1974–1975, the Circle staged The National Health , Where's Charley? , All God's Chillun Got Wings , and Death of a Salesman . The following season, the theater hosted Ah, Wilderness! , The Glass Menagerie , The Lady from the Sea , and Pal Joey . The Circle celebrated its 25th anniversary on March 8, 1976, which New York City mayor Abraham Beame proclaimed as Circle in
18070-513: Was followed by two relatively short-lived shows: the musical Soul Doctor , which had 66 performances in late 2013, and the play Bronx Bombers , which ran for less than a month in early 2014. The Circle also hosted two more successful plays in 2014: Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill and The River , both of which recouped their production costs. The River set the theater's current box-office record as of 2023 , earning $ 917,000 on opening week in November 2014. The theater then hosted
18209-525: Was followed that September by an adaptation of the musical Sweeney Todd with Bob Gunton and Beth Fowler , which lasted for 189 performances. Libin stepped down as the theater's managing director in 1990. The Circle hosted two plays that year: the American premiere of the Russian play Zoya's Apartment , as well as a revival of The Miser . This was followed in 1991 by Taking Steps , Getting Married , and On Borrowed Time . By 1991–1992,
18348-452: Was generally negatively reviewed when it opened at the beginning of the next season. By then, the theater was running at a significant loss; after Anna Karenina closed, Mann tried to save money by keeping the set of Anna Karenina in place. Many of the theater's productions in the 1990s had been commercially unsuccessful. By November 1992, the theater had a $ 1.3 million deficit, prompting managing director Robert A. Buckley to fire 10 of
18487-440: Was in danger of closing due to a shortfall of nearly $ 200,000. The musical Look, Homeward , as well as all shows during the 1973–1974 season, would have been canceled. The Circle announced in April 1974 that it would not close, having raised the necessary funds, including emergency grants, nearly $ 34,000 in individual donations, and even a grant from rival producer Joseph Papp . The success of Scapino , which featured Jim Dale ,
18626-416: Was named the Circle in the Square–Joseph E. Levine Theatre , for Joseph E. Levine , a longtime benefactor of the Circle. Prior to the Broadway house's opening, the theater hosted a gala on October 26, 1972. featuring several actors who had performed at the Circle's off-Broadway locations. The Levine Theatre hosted its first performance, a revival of Mourning Becomes Electra , on November 15, 1972. In
18765-472: Was operated as a theater in the round . During the 1950s and 1960s, the theater became what Women's Wear Daily described as the "center of Off-Broadway ". The Sheridan Square theater was closed temporarily between 1954 and 1955 and was demolished in 1960. The company then moved to 159 Bleecker Street , known as Circle in the Square Downtown ; that location continued to operate until about 1995. In addition to its Sheridan Square and Bleecker Street locations,
18904-409: Was partly destroyed by natural disasters and rebuilt several times during the following 200 years. The Ottomans appointed Greek administrators ( Phanariotes ) to run the town ( Ottoman Turkish : بكرش , romanized : Bukreş ) from the 18th century. The 1821 Wallachian uprising initiated by Tudor Vladimirescu led to the end of the rule of Constantinople Greeks in Bucharest. In 1813–14
19043-405: Was ranked among the top 100 safest cities in the world in a list compiled by Numbeo. The study found Bucharest to be very safe with regard to aspects such walking alone, home invasions, muggings, cars being stolen, assault, insults, assault due to skin color, ethnic origin, or gender, drug dealing, and armed robberies, with the only crimes in the high category being corruption and bribery. In 2015,
19182-483: Was related to bucurie (joy), bucuros (joyful), or a se bucura (to be joyful), while an early 19th-century book published in Vienna assumed its name to be derived from 'Bukovie', a beech forest. In English , the city's name was formerly rendered as Bukarest . A native or resident of Bucharest is called a 'Bucharester' (Romanian: bucureștean ). Bucharest's history alternated periods of development and decline from
19321-519: Was too focused on a "theatrical community that was rooted in the past". As a direct consequence, the Circle had failed to compete with newer nonprofit theater companies such as Second Stage Theater, Lincoln Center Theater , or the Manhattan Theatre Club . The number of subscribers had decreased to about 5,400 by 1994. Harvey Seifter took over as the theater's executive director in March 1994. The Circle's artistic managers sought to revive
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