Following groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Flea Theater building on Thomas Street, celebrants pose for a group photo. Photo: Carl Glassman/Tribeca Trib
“Raising a joyful hell in a small space” has been the slogan of Tribeca’s Flea Theater since it opened 18 years ago at 41 White Street. Next year, that space won’t be so small.
Last month, the Flea held a groundbreaking ceremony in front of its future $18.5 million, 11,500 square-foot home at 20 Thomas St.
The theater, founded in 1996 at its current 41 White St. location, is planning to move into its own four-level venue on Thomas Street, between Church and Broadway. The new space will house three theaters, two lobbies, a box office, a bar and administrative offices. The Flea’s current venue is 7,500 square feet large and has 40- and 74-seat theaters.
“With 16 shows a year, our dressing rooms are cramped, storage is non-existent and we turn projects away due to scheduling constraints,” Flea Theater founder and artistic director Jim Simpson and producing director Carol Ostrow said in a joint statement.
“The Sam,” the largest of the Thomas Street theater rooms, will have 99 seats and be named after the late talent agent Sam Cohn, who was a mentor to Simpson and his wife, actress Sigourney Weaver, at the start of their careers.
A 72-seat indoor-outdoor theater will occupy the center’s main floor. The bottom level will house a 46-seat playhouse, where The Bats, the Flea’s resident-acting company, and late-night theater groups will perform.
The theater bought the building in 2010. It has raised 95 percent of its construction costs through private donations, grants from the city, and from the federal government through the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.
At a groundbreaking ceremony held in front of the Flea’s future home, Weaver—joined by Simpson, Ostrow, Flea board chairwoman Jamie Harris and elected officials—reminisced about the theater’s origins as several members of The Bats, sporting red “Flea” hats, cheerfully distributed donuts and hot chocolate to the audience.
“Seventeen years ago, a handful of us, led by Jim Simpson...decided to create a state-of-the-art theater that would honor and champion the seminal work of off-off Broadway,” Weaver recalled. “And under Jim’s visionary leadership, we created the Flea—tiny, hard-working, audacious and out-there.”
“Today,” she added, “marks the day that the Flea’s contribution to the cultural landscape becomes permanent and rent-free.”