From vacant space to art destinationーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS
New York City is a magnet for artists, but with rent skyrocketing, it can be a struggle to find places to make and show work. By transforming a vacant space in an unimaginable site, one group has overcome this challenge and is drawing artloving crowds to soldout events. Inoyuki brings us the story. The Port Authority bus terminal located right by Times Square in center of Manhattan has always been a busy transportation hub. But now it’s not just a hub for commuters. It’s becoming a center for performance as well. Let’s take a look here inside the terminal. All these different passageways and gates leads to the buses that heads to numerous destinations across the country. But this gate will take you to a different world. If you take a step inside, open the curtains, you will see different costumes and all these kinds of decorations. This is a small theater. It’s a speak easy style theater. I’m just coming in inside here. Um I feel like I’ve been taken to a movie set or a different dimension. And this place is the dressing room for the performers. And above us, you could see loads of props on display. Everything just simply handmade. But wait until you see the actual theater. It’s this way. Let me slide down this way. Here we go. Here’s the stage. And right now, the performers are right in the middle of their rehearsal. And the other side you could see all these fancy chairs. Um they have 40 seats for the audiences and it really looks like an antique furniture store. And at this point some of you might have felt this venue is quite small for a theater. But this is what makes this theater special. The closeness of the audience and the performers. It makes an intimate atmosphere for all of us. And now it’s attracting people and becoming one of the hottest tickets in town. We got you. I love this close interaction. So obviously um remember this place is inside a bus terminal. This place originally wasn’t a theater. It was used to be a cookie store. But for over 3 years, this was vacant. So last October, the members of this theater company transformed this place into something sweet and rich, and they named this place the Hidden Jewelbox Theater. Now, one thing worth noting is that some of the performers are from Japan. Let’s ask them some words. Excuse me. Sorry, guys. I’m sorry for interrupting. So, so if I could have a word from you. Yeah, sure. Of course. Hi. So, um, which part of Japan are you from? Uh I’m from Sait, uh Saitama Prefecture, Hano City, very little town. Yeah. Um how do you feel about this place? Uh it’s very intimate. It’s really special because I can see the audience members and then how they’re reacting and then the good thing is that we can feed off of each other’s energy. So sometimes I look I find somebody who is enjoying the show and then I’ll be like, “Okay, you’re going to come to the stage to dance with us.” Yes. Yes. That’s what we actually do a lot. Is that too close though? It is actually more fun to be close to them because they can know I can tell they are enjoying it and then that’s what makes it so different than regular theater. Thank you. Thank you so much. So let’s ask another performer. Uh hello. Hello. So which part of Japan are you from? I’m from Hachu City, Tokyo. City Tokyo. So um how do you feel about this place? Oh, it’s very comfortable to perform because this is our home ground and this material like the director Andre Har put by hand by hand and we helped all together and we create the space from nothing. So, it’s like our home home theater. Thank you so much. You’re welcome. Thank you. So, um, one interesting fact about this story is that this pop-up theater was only possible from the help of a nonprofit organization called Shashama. They connect landlords that have vacant spaces with artists and talent looking for a place to show their work. The artists get to use the spaces for free or for a lower rent until a fullpaying tenant moves in. They support about 200 similar spaces in New York City. So, uh, let’s learn more about this hidden gem. We have the director of this theater company, Angela Hero. Thank you for having us. My pleasure. Thank you for having Thank you for coming. So, Angela, um why was it uh in this bus terminal? Well, the reason it’s in this bus terminal is because uh I had a studio in Bushwick that, um unfortunately I lost and it was very surprising and uh unexpected. And so I contacted Shashama and they allowed me to move the entirety of my studio space into here. Um, and my studio in Bushwick was actually just a rehearsal space in where my costume storage was. So when I took this space on, I thought it would be also a really cool opportunity to try turning it into a little tiny theater as well as rehearsal and storage. I see. And um how did the collaboration with Mo help out you guys with Sashama? Yes. Uh well, it helped out greatly because they provided me a place to go and a place to land when I didn’t know what I was going to do and it’s very difficult in this city to afford studio space or even storage space. It’s allowed this company of mine, which you know has been in operation for over two decades, to have our very first own home base. And that’s been very special to us because everything in here has emotional value behind it. Thank you so much. Yeah, no problem. By filling in the vacant spaces with art and dreamers, they’re preserving the richness of New York City in a new style. You know Yuki in HK World, New York.
New York City is a magnet for artists. But with rents skyrocketing, it can be a struggle to find places to make and show work. By transforming a vacant space in an unimaginable site, one group has overcome this challenge, and is drawing art-loving crowds to sold out events. NHK World’s Inoue Yuki reports. #usa #newyork #dance #tourism
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