Holiday World

Shea Stadium in Queens New York
Opening day of Shea Stadium was April 17, 1964 to a crowd of some 48,736 fans. This $25.5 million stadium was named after William A. Shea who was credited with bringing National League Baseball back to New York. Shea stadium was designed to be the first all-purpose facility capable of hosting baseball and football games with a seating capacity of 55,300 for baseball and 60,000 for the New York Jets football team. (more…)

Rent is the musical hit on Broadway which tells the audience to come celebrate the seasons of love despite all the unsurmountable pitfalls of life. Since it first opened off-Broadway, Rent has been awarded the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and has been credited with re-inventing the Broadway musical. This drama is a modern day version of Giacomo Puccini’s classic 1896 opera, La Boheme. (more…)

Rent in the Making of a Broadway Musical
The musical production of Rent, book, music and lyrics, was created by Johnathan Larson and directed by Michael Greif. Larson suddenly died on the eve of the show’s first off-Broadway performance at the New York Theatre Workshop in 1996. The opening was to (more…)

Drew Lachey’s Broadway Debut in Rent
Drew Lachey of 98 Degrees band fame has joined the cast of Rent as Mark Cohen, the musical’s narrator who is a struggling filmmaker living in New York’s East Village. The multi-platinum recording group 98 Degrees, one of the most popular boy bands in the past 10 years, is presently taking time off. The group’s hit albums include “98 Degrees and Rising” and “Revelation”. Meanwhile, Drew Lachey is making the most of this off-time with numerous guest TV appearances and making his debut on Broadway in Rent. (more…)

The Nederlander Theatre on-Broadway
The now Nederlander Theatre was built in 1921 on an existing tennis court. Originally the theater had a seating capacity of over 1,150. The Shuberts1996 Original Cast Poster of Broadway Production Rent owned the theater from 1927 to 1959, then selling to Billy Rose. In 1978 the theater was purchased by The Nederlanders and was renamed. (more…)

There are Broadway plays, Off-Broadway Plays and Off-Off-Broadway plays. What a play on words. Presently there are some 130 Off-Broadway Plays showing in New York: musical reviews, dramatic plays, one-man presentations and experimental drama. During the late 1950s it became fashionable to venture out to view the non-fashionable, non-commercial and smaller theaters featuring experimental plays. The Provincetown Playhouse in Greenwich Village, where Eugene O’Neil was the resident playwright, is said to be the birthplace of Off-Broadway theater. (more…)

From Off Broadway to Broadway Plays
Among the most Famous of New York’s Off-Broadway theaters are the Cherry Lane and the Sullivan Street Playhouses. In 1959, Edward Albee’s first play, “The Zoo Story” was first performed Off-Broadway in the same playhouse where Eugene O’Neil’s earliest works were performed. Albee’s best-known play “Who@#x27;s Afraid of Virginia Wolf” was first staged in an Off-Broadway theater and later become one of the best known productions in the history of Broadway. The Public Theatre at 425 Lafayette Street, one of a six-theatre complex, featured Robert de Niro in “Cuba and His Teddy Bear” - which later went on to a long successful run on Broadway. (more…)

Off-Off-Broadway Plays
Off-Off-Broadway is today what Off-Broadway was in the 1960s. Off-Off-Broadway is much less expensive and has already surpassed what Off-Broadway used to be. This is where hopeful unknown performers, many whom are working for no monetary reward, may be seen performing on stage by a perspective agent. Off-Off-Broadway theaters are located all over New York and they are expanding their playing seasons to year-round. (more…)

The New Victory Theater is a jewel-box theater, located on legendary 42nd street, dedicated to entertaining children and their families and to develop theater audiences of the future. This is the ninth season for the New Victory Theater and they are presenting twelve grand productions. Since December 11, 1995, the New Victory Theater has presented over 100 unique works. (more…)

Brief History of the New Victory Theater
Oscar Hammerstein opened the theatre on 42nd Street in 1900 and named it the Theatre Republic. This was to become the heart of the theater district in New York. Some ninety-five years later the New Victory Theater became the first historic theater to be renovated on the block. (more…)