Draft:WPA Theatre

WPA (Workshop of the Players Arts ) Theatre (1967-2000 ) is an Off-Off-Broadway theater. Not to be confused with the Works Progress Administration Federal Theatre Project (1935–1939).

History
In 1967, WPA Theatre was formed, at a small cafe in New York City, and performed in a storefront on 4th Street near the Bowery, for two years.

In 1971, WPA Theatre was legally incorporated, with its home at 333 Bowery, under the direction of Virginia Aquino, Dan Dietrich and Harry Orzello, and closed in 1976.

In 1977, in the fall, a new WPA Theatre formed with Howard Ashman and R. Stuart White as Artistic Directors, and Kyle Renick as Managing Director, at 138 Fifth Avenue, in the Flatiron district, In 1985, WPA Theatre moved to 519 West 23rd Street, a 122-seat venue, in Chelsea, until July 1999. WPA Theatre later moved to the Peter Norton Space 555 West 42nd Street.

Works Premiered

 * Fresh Horses
 * Just Say No (play)
 * Little Shop of Horrors (musical) (1982)
 * Songs for a New World
 * Steel Magnolias (play)
 * Stupid Kids
 * The Job (2009 film)
 * Twenty Fingers Twenty Toes

Works Revived

 * Days to Come
 * Picnic (play)
 * The Boys in the Band
 * The Red Devil Battery Sign
 * The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore
 * The Whales of August (play)

Creators

 * Charles Busch
 * Lynnie Godfrey
 * Robert Schenkkan

Actors

 * Elizabeth Ashley
 * Bryan Batt
 * Sandra Bullock
 * Kathleen Chalfant
 * David Gale (actor)
 * Ellen Greene
 * Kelle Kerr
 * Eugene Lee (actor)
 * Jefferson Mays
 * Alexandra Neil
 * Keith Nobbs
 * Mary Beth Peil
 * David Morse
 * Laila Robins
 * J. Smith-Cameron
 * Lewis J. Stadlen
 * Julie White

Playwrights

 * Edward Albee
 * Howard Ashman
 * Jason Robert Brown
 * Mart Crowley
 * Michael Feingold
 * Lillian Hellman
 * D. H. Lawrence
 * Mark W. Lee
 * Michael McClure
 * Alan Menken
 * Stephen Metcalfe (screenwriter)
 * Don Nigro
 * Glyn O'Malley
 * Yoko Ono
 * Richard Ploetz
 * Paul Rudnick
 * Jonathan Marc Sherman
 * Tennessee Williams

Directors

 * Christopher Ashley
 * Pamela Berlin
 * David Esbjornson
 * Barnet Kellman
 * Larry L. King
 * Michael Wilson (director)

Venues

 * (venue, previously known as the Chelsea Playhouse )
 * (as Producer)
 * (venue, previously known as the Chelsea Playhouse )
 * (as Producer)
 * (as Producer)

Recognition
1983 Drama Desk Awards for Little Shop of Horrors:
 * 1983 - Outstanding Lyrics, Winner (Howard Ashman)
 * 1983 - Outstanding Musical, Winner (Little Shop of Horrors)

Outer Critics Circle Award:
 * 1983 - Best Off Broadway Musical, Winner (Little Shop of Horrors)
 * 1983 - Best Score, Winner (Howard Ashman & Alan Menken)

NY Drama Critics Circle Award
 * 1983 - Best Musical, Winner (Little Shop of Horrors)