- The Village Gate
The Village Gate was a nightclub at the corner of Thompson and
Bleecker Street inGreenwich Village , New York.Art D'Lugoff opened the club in 1958, on the ground floor and basement of 158 Bleecker Street. The largeChicago School structure built in 1896 by renowned architectErnest Flagg [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GV/GV017TheAtrium.htm] . was known at the time asMills House No. 1 and served as aflophouse fortransient men.Throughout its 38 years the Village Gate featured such greats as
John Coltrane , "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris ",Coleman Hawkins ,Billie Holiday ,Duke Ellington ,Dizzy Gillespie ,Vasant Rai , andNina Simone .Aretha Franklin made her first New York appearance there.The “Salsa Meets Jazz” series at the Village Gate was a seminal part of the history of New York Latin music. In the 60’s, radio DJ and Latin music advocate
Symphony Sid hosted a regular Monday night concert at the Village Gate entitled “Monday Nights at the Gate” featuring the best of New York’s thriving Latin music scene. Assalsa music began to grow in popularity, the Alegre record label began to host quite a few events at the Village Gate - many of which resulted in live recordings. Some of the live recordings from the Village Gate that made a huge impression were the Alegre All-Star (and later Tico All-Star) Descarga sessions. In 1977, WRVR Latin music DJ Roger Dawson developed a weekly event that brought a top Latin band together with a guest jazz soloist. Mr. Dawson named the event “Salsa Meets Jazz” and the musical results are legendary.The club hosted a benefit for
Timothy Leary in May1970 that featured performances from such counterculture luminaries asJimi Hendrix ,Jim Morrison , andAllen Ginsberg . In1971 Madame made her debut on the arms ofWayland Flowers , performing in the high camp "Kumquats, The World's First Erotic Puppet Show".From
1971 to1973 , amusical comedy revue called "National Lampoon Lemmings" had a successful run at the Gate. It starred future comic notablesJohn Belushi ,Chevy Chase Garry Goodrow andChristopher Guest , and lampooned the 1969Woodstock Festival , which had taken place upstate two years earlier, calling it "Woodchuck " and equating the entirehippie generation withlemmings bent on self-destruction.From
1988 to1991 , the improvisational comedy troupe Noo Yawk Tawk performed at the upstairs theater. The group was conceived and directed by Richmond Shepard, a world renowned mime, actor, comedian and teacher. All of the performances for Noo Yawk Tawk were entirely improvised. Characters may have been repeated but never the sketches or the dialogue. The audience always set the scene and conditions for each improvisation so every performance was different. The cast includedStan Taffel ,Marc Kudisch ,Debra Wilson , Garry Goodrow, Miguel Sierra, Ken Dashow, Nola Roeper,Bonnie Comley & Richmond Shepard. Taffel would go on to win three Emmy Awards for his performances inThe News In Revue on PBS. Kudisch earned a Tony nomination in 2002.The Village Gate closed its Greenwich Village location in
1993 . The ground floor is currently occupied byCVS/Pharmacy . Theoff-Broadway capacity Village Theater, which hosted performances of the musically-themed "Love, Janis", "Dream a Little Dream", and "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris" occupied the sub-level performance space until Fall 2007.The Village Gate relocated until 1997 at 240 West 52d Street in a site formerly occupied by the Lone Star Road House. In 1998 the 52nd Street location was taken by a brief reincarnation of
Max's Kansas City .In Spring 2008 the space was re-opened as a multi-use performance venue and gallery bar called (le) poisson rouge [http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/42399/] .
Notable Productions
The Village Gate Upstairs:
Love Lemmings (1991)
Yesterdays: An Evening withBillie Holliday (1990)Noo Yawk Tawk (1998)
Beehive (1986)A... My Name Is Alice (1983)
Rap Master Ronnie (1983)
Lovesong (1976)Tommy Tune Atop The Gate (1975)
TheCharles Pierce Show (1974)The Village Gate Downstairs:
Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1992)
Further Mo' (1990)Sid Caesar & Company: The Legendary Genius of Comedy (1989)
Sing Hallelujah! (1987)
National Lampoon's Class of '86 (1986)
El Grande de Coca-Cola (1986)
Lies & Legends: The Musical Stories ofHarry Chapin (1985)
Shades ofHarlem (1984)
Orwell That Ends Well (1984)
One Mo' Time (1979)
Sterling Silver (1979)
Nightsong (1977)
2 by 5 (1976)Let My People Come (1974)National Lampoon's Lemmings (1973)
A Quarter for the Ladies' Room (1972)Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris (1968)
MacBird (1967)52nd Street
A Brief History of White Music (1996)Trivia
Notable albums recorded live at The Village Gate:
Albert Ayler "Live In Greenwich Village" (1965)Shlomo Carlebach "At The Village Gate" (1963)Alice Coltrane "Journey In Satchidananda" (1970)Chris Connor "At The Village Gate"Larry Coryell "At The Village Gate" (1971)
Tico All-Stars "Decargas: Live At The Village Gate (1966) feat.Tito Puente ,Victor Paz ,Charlie Palmieri ,Johnny Pacheco ,Ray Barretto ,Jimmy Sabater , andJoe Cuba Dick Gregory "Live At The Village Gate" (1970)Coleman Hawkins "Alive! At the Village Gate" (1962)Milt Jackson Quintet "Live At The Village Gate" (1963)Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan "Havin' A Ball At The Village Gate" (1963)Chuck Mangione "Live At The Village Gate" (1989)Herbie Mann "Live At The Village Gate" (1961)Thelonious Monk "Live At The Village Gate" (1963)Tito Puente "Live At The Village Gate" (1992)Sonny Rollins "Our Man In Jazz" (1962)Mongo Santamaria "At The Village Gate" (1963)Horace Silver Quintet "Doin' The Thing (At The Village Gate)" (1961)Nina Simone "At The Village Gate" (1962)Swingle Singers "Live In New York '82" (1982)Clark Terry "Live At The Village Gate" (1990)Toshiko at Top of the Gate (1968)Flip Wilson "Live At The Village Gate" (1964)The Village Gate was a stop on the Greenwich Village Walking Tour, in part because
Bob Dylan wroteA Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall in September1962 in a basement apartment occupied byChip Monck , the Village Gate lighting engineer and future compere and lighting designer of theWoodstock Festival .The Village in popular culture
The Village Gate makes a Cameo Appearance in the Film "Across the Universe" (2007)
References
* [http://www.nyc-architecture.com/GV/GV017TheAtrium.htm NYC Architecture article]
* [http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/42399/ Village Gate to Swing Again]Resources
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0195780/bio Biography for Art D'Lugoff]
* [http://www.nypl.org/research/manuscripts/music/musblack.xml Ivan Black Papers] The personal papers of the longtime publicist for the Village Gate and other New York jazz clubs, in the [http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/mus/mus.html Music Division] of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
External links
*Off-Broadway Theater [http://www.IOBDB.com IOBDB.com]
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