The Players Theatre

In a community where theatres are becoming extinct, The Players Theatre survives and thrives.

It was exactly 100 years ago when Oklahoma became a state, Cubism took hold in Paris, the first Ziegfeld Follies was staged, Synge’s Playboy of the Western World caused a riot, and Katharine Hepburn, John Wayne and Sir Laurence Olivier were born. 1907 was also the year a narrow building was constructed on the corner of West Third Street and Minetta Lane in New York’s West Village.
A half century later, that edifice would become both a theatre space and music club, a home for such rebellious icons as Allen Ginsburg, Quentin Crisp, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan. Theatrically, it would also house Charles Busch’s first hit, Psycho Beach Party, the 342-performance run of the campy musical Ruthless! and a comedy called International Stud by the decidedly non-studly and pre-Torch Song, Harvey Fierstein.

Though nestled in a prime location, mere yards from NYU and across the street from fabled Washington Square Park, The Players Theatre languished in relative disuse through much of the last decade. Audiences for the occasional rental show or New York International Fringe Festival performance no doubt looked around and wondered why such a cozy theatre, in such a great spot, was such a blip on the off-Broadway radar.

The same thought occurred to musician Michael Sgouros; only he did something about it: he bought the building. “I didn’t grow up saying I wish I could own a theatre,” he says. “But for the past 15 years, I’d been part of a touring ensemble and was getting road weary. I kept thinking, ‘We’re always going to the audience. Wouldn’t it be great if the audience could come to us?’ So the idea came to me that it’d be nice to have a theatre.”

Of course, what writer or performer hasn’t felt the same way? But Sgouros had the background to make it happen. “My dad’s a pharmacist, my other brothers are a doctor and a mechanic, and I’m a musician,” he says. “I’ve freelanced, gone to Juilliard, subbed for Miss Saigon, Phantom, Sunset Boulevard, but during all that, we all owned real estate…During the 1990s, when real estate really exploded, we had properties in upper Manhattan.”

Which explains the capital and the know-how, but what about the specifics of purchasing The Players? Sgouros says the economics fit the tried-and-true “rent rule.” That’s where you try to find a property that costs no more than 10 times what you expect the annual income to be. For example, a million dollar property should be generating at least $100,000 in yearly revenue. “In this area,” Sgouros says of the West Village, “commercial properties are going for 15, 20 times the rent rule. So when we looked at the building and saw the potential revenue from Café Wha, the theatre, the rehearsal studios and the loft, paying roughly $5 million made great sense.”

Since closing on the property Sept. 15, 2006, Sgouros and company have already performed the most important, albeit cosmetic, renovations. “We don’t really want to change anything or knock down any walls. The building’s not a landmark, but some things about it are grandfathered in,” he explains. “For example, its use for many years has been for the arts. Although we’re technically allowed to, if we were to build another floor, we might lose that grandfathered status and then be told the building would have to turn half-commercial, half-residential.”

Actually, a hundred years ago, the building was a residence. And then a horse stable. Then the police owned it for awhile and turned it into a parking garage before it became a performing arts house in the 1940s. A few years later, Donald Goldman purchased it and held it for 40 years before selling it to Time Equities, which then sold it to Sgouros. What he got was an L-shaped, 100-foot by 25-foot plot, plus another 25 feet in an adjoining L shape — all multiplied by 4 for the basement, theatre, second and third floor.

As currently configured, the mainstage theatre can hold 248 seats, though Sgouros is using only 180 and leaving the front and back of the house open in case he needs to add a few chairs for a specific production. “We want to stay flexible — up to the 199 mark, which then changes the scale of what you pay the actors. You can’t just cover up the seats; you have to physically remove them.”

Sgorous adds with some pride that he skirted the expense of buying new seats by reupholstering the old ones. “We had to level them off, “ he explains. “We made these plastic boards to level them so they didn’t angle down. Just an inch and a half difference helps you sit back in your seat and makes it much more comfortable.”

Sgorous’ team also tore up the old stage that had been fitted on top of the current stage — and they’re using the pieces to reinforce the floor under the seats. Also added to the mainstage are new carpeting, a computerized light board and dimmer rack.

For the Players’ 50-seat, black-box space, the goal is to keep it as flexible as possible. “We’ve painted it black and put up new poles, but seats can still go wherever we want.”

Not surprisingly for New York real estate, Sgouros hopes to utilize every inch of the Players space, especially when it can generate income. “The second floor was being used for storage,” he notes, “so we cleared it out, went online to craigslist.org and bought some office cubicles. We put five cubicles together and rented them out to different arts organizations.”

For now, the steadiest income derives from the Players’ basement, home of the legendary Café Wha. In its heyday, Wha was where the Beats met the hippies and where burgeoning folkies, rockers and comics cut their teeth in front of a hip, young, supportive New York audience. Dylan, Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, Bill Cosby and Richard Pryor were all up and comers here, as was Mary Travers, a waitress at the club before teaming with Peter and Paul. Formerly owned by entrepreneur Manny Roth (David Lee Roth’s uncle), the club holds a regular tenancy lease and, says Sgouros, “still functions pretty much the same as it always has. There’s a house band, a funk band and Brazooka, a Brazilian band. The place seats 250, and it’s always packed.”

But what about theatre — ostensibly the whole point of the venture? Says Sgouros, “We’re approaching it from the standpoint of a rental property, though we do have a monthly show I put together, about instruments from all over the world, called Percussion People. It’s interactive, and my nine-year-old daughter, Emily, plays in it, too. Our first regular, long-run show was Art People by Mark Leib, with Thomas G. Waites producing for the Committed Theatre Company. It was about problems faced by artists in all different disciplines.”

Having a comfortable, reasonably priced space on MacDougal Street certainly solved some problems faced by one off-Broadway theatre company: AMAS Repertory. After receiving notice that their 11-year home, the John Houseman Theatre on Theatre Row, would be torn down, AMAS had two years to relocate.

“It came down to the wire,” admits Producing Artistic Director Donna Trinkoff. “Real estate in Manhattan has become another ball game. Not a lot was available. But with the Players, here was a theatre center with rehearsal space, storage space and an environment where there’s activity going on. Rehearsals and performances could even be done in the same space, which is a blessing.”

The previous owners were looking to fill the theatre on a monthto- month basis, according to Trinkoff, “but when Michael bought the building, we were able to stay.” AMAS’ $2,200 per month rent on a five-year lease is a significant increase from their years at the Houseman, but, says the artistic director, “I have five desks, which is adequate for our needs. Plus we rent the rehearsal studios and theatre on an as-needed basis. As the anchor tenant here, I brought in four pianos, air conditioners, a washer/dryer, chairs, tables, music stands, etc. We get ‘favored rent’ status in exchange for their also using the equipment.”

On its $450,000 annual budget, and within the Equity L.O.A., AMAS produces what Trinkoff calls “musicales” (small original musicals) alongside an educational arm that works with the New York City school system. Their next full production is planned for June–July at the Players. The Fringe Festival will also return in late summer, and, in November, Gotham Stage Company will commence an open run.

Concludes Sgouros, “From a long-range perspective, I’m hoping to have more music in the space. But we’re booked solid through the summer, so I’m just hoping things will continue the way they’ve been going.” Maybe even till 2107.

David Lefkowitz publishes TotalTheatre.com, co-publishes Performing Arts Insider theatre journal, and hosts the weekly radio program “Dave’s Gone By.”

By David Lefkowitz
Apr 02, 2007