An archive of past events
Caffe Cino and the Birth of
Off-Off Broadway
Celebrating the marriage of social justice and theater in Greenwich Village
The evening was introduced by the inimitable and indefatigable Robin Hirsch – “Minister of Culture, Wine Czar, Dean of Faculty” – who left London on a Fulbright scholarship to study avant-garde theatre and established the Cornelia Street Café and Theatre in Greenwich Village in 1976. It is now a culinary as well as a literary landmark.
Robin Hirsch opens the proceedings
All photos ©Liz Thomson
Charles Isherwood (moderator, left) and John Gilman
Robert Heide (right) and John Guare
Magie Dominic and Jean-Claude Van Itallie
From left: Charles Isherwood, John Gilman, John Guare, Robert Heide, Jean-Claude van Itallie and Magie Dominic
John Guare
In words and music, Magic Times celebrated the contribution of Caffe Cino to theater and to gay rights. The event was chaired by theater critic Charles Isherwood, and featured discussion and music from writers and performers whose careers began on Cino’s hallowed stage, among them John Guare, the multi-award-winning author of The House of Blue Leaves and Six Degrees of Celebration; Robert Heide, whose plays include West of the Moon and The Bed, which was filmed by Andy Warhol, his first split-screen movie; Magie Dominic, poet, author, and curator of Caffe Cino - History of Off-Off Broadway at Lincoln Center; and Jean-Claude van Itallie, best-known for America Hurrah and The Serpent.
