THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY THEATER
The OBIE- and Bessie-winning Chocolate Factory Theater
is a leading incubator for experimental performance. The
5,000-square-foot facility is home to work emphasizing multidisciplinary
collaboration combining movement, music, video,
and text to devise a means of storytelling that is immediate,
collage-like, highly visual, and dependent on new technologies.
When successful, the work is not easily categorized as theater,
dance, new music or video art and is rather a thorough
intermingling of these disciplines.
The factory provides more than 100 visiting artists a year
with dedicated access to the space and technical equipment,
substantive creative residency periods, commissioning funds,
administrative support and a guaranteed artist fee.
Inside scoop: The agency secured a $3.8 million grant in 2017
to purchase a one-story building at 38-29 24th St. in Long Island
City. The space is currently undergoing a renovation to create a
99-seat flexible performance space with a sprung-wood dance
floor, a 2,000-square-foot rehearsal space, an office, and on-site
nursery for artists with small children.
Address until 2019: 5-49 49th Ave., Long Island City, and www.
chocolatefactorytheater.org. High-quality video documentation is
at vimeo.com/chocolatefactory.
THE SECRET THEATRE
The Secret Theatre features a custom-built, 98-person
performance space and a rehearsal room. A Mecca for
independent troupes, it hosts musicals, operas, film festivals, and
even art openings.
Inside scoop: The venue has an in-residence company, The
Queens Players, an improvisational comedy group.
Address: 44-02 23rd St., LIC, and www.secrettheatre.com.
YORK COLLEGE PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
The York College Performing Arts Center has a main stage for
about 1,360 patrons and a 152-seat little theater. The center puts
on a wide variety of plays, concerts, dances, benefits, operas,
tributes, and poetry nights, often celebrating African-American,
Latin, and Caribbean cultures. The center has a parking lot with
750 spaces with an additional, 170-space lot nearby.
66 QUEENS IN YOUR POCKET • www.itsinqueens.com