Caffe Cino
{{Short description|Former theater in New York City (closed 1968)}}
{{Infobox venue
| name = Caffe Cino
| image = File:Bombay Bistro 2023 jeh.jpg
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| coordinates = {{Coord|40|43|52.6|N|74|00|10.5|W|type:landmark|display=title,inline}}
| address = 31 Cornelia St.
| city = New York City
| country = United States
| designation =
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| operator = Joe Cino
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| type = Off-Broadway theatre
| opened = 1958
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| closed = 1968
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| website = {{URL|https://caffecino.wordpress.com}}
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Caffe Cino was an Off-Off-Broadway theater founded in 1958 by Joe Cino. The West Village coffeehouse, located at 31 Cornelia Street, was initially conceived as a venue for poetry, folk music, and visual art exhibitions. The plays produced at the Cino, however, became most prominent, and it is now considered the "birthplace of Off-Off-Broadway".{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/theater/donation-to-library-opens-new-portal-to-caffe-cino.html|title=Portal to Off Off Broadway's Early Days|author=Steven McElroy|date=December 7, 2001|work=The New York Times|accessdate=April 9, 2018}}
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 2017.{{NRISref|version=|name=Caffe Cino|refnum=100001802}}
Beginnings and early productions
File:The Caffe Cino as a venue for new and unknown playwrights, most of whom were gay men.jpg
Joe Cino was born into an Italian-American family, and moved from Buffalo, New York to be a dancer in New York City. After 10 years, he used his $400 in savings and opened the Caffe Cino Art Gallery.{{Cite web|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/caffe-cino-joe-cino-gay-off-off-broadway-theater|title=The Gay Coffeehouse Where Off-Off Broadway Theater Was Born|author=Natasha Frost|date=February 9, 2018|work=Atlas Obscura|accessdate=April 9, 2018}} Initially, Cino encouraged his friends to hang their artwork on the walls. That led to poetry readings, which led to staged readings and eventually to productions of plays.{{Cite web|url=http://thevillager.com/2015/12/02/magic-time-at-the-caffe-cino/|title='Magic Time' at the Caffe Cino|author=Dusica Sue Malesevic|date=December 2, 2015|work=The Villager (Manhattan)|accessdate=April 9, 2018}}
During the early days of the Cino, plays were produced on the floor. A makeshift 8x8-foot stage was later created using milk cartons and carpet remnants. Productions were initially limited to 30 minutes, and the audience could stand anywhere. The space was only 18x30-feet, and audience members often perched atop the cigarette machine. Admission was one dollar, and audience members were offered a coffee and an Italian pastry along with the show.
Fire and Cino's death
File:31 Cornelia Street, West Village, interior of Bombay Bistro, formerly Cafe Cino.jpg
On Ash Wednesday, March 3, 1965, a fire destroyed the interior of the Cino. The building's structure was not affected. A new lighting system had been installed, along with the fireproofing of the Caffe's ceiling, which prevented the fire from spreading to the rest of the tenement building.{{Cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2009/09/10/caffe-cino-goes-up-in-smoke/|title=Caffe Cino Goes Up in Smoke|author=Tony Ortega|date=September 10, 2009|work=The Village Voice|accessdate=April 9, 2018}} The official cause of the fire was a gas leak, but some suspected that Cino's lover set the fire. The community raised money by staging benefit performances while the Caffe was closed for renovations. Ellen Stewart, founder of La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, offered Cino and his staff a space to continue Caffe Cino productions on Sunday and Monday nights at her theater.
Joe Cino died three days after repeatedly stabbing himself in 1967.
Notable contributors
The Caffe Cino was an incubator for first-time directors, playwrights, actors, and lighting or set designers. Many continued to work in stage, screen, or both after the Cino closed. Notable contributors include:
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- John Guare
- Sam Shepard
- Al Pacino
- Robert Dahdah
- Bernadette Peters
- Robert Heide
- Bette Midler
- Johnny Dodd
- Doric Wilson
- Jean-Claude van Itallie
- Rosalyn Drexler
- Marshall W. Mason
- Tom O'Horgan
- Charles Kerbs
- Magie Dominic
- Irene Fornes
- William Hoffman
- Tom Eyen
- Paul Foster
- Leonard Melfi
- Ondine
- H.M. Koutoukas
- David Starkweather
- Michael Warren Powell
- Mari-Claire Charba
- Robert Patrick
- Lanford Wilson
- Andy Milligan (playwright){{cite book |year=2001 |title=The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Andy Milligan |author=Jimmy McDonough |location=Chicago |publisher=A Cappella |isbn=9781556524950}}
{{div col end}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category|Caffe Cino}}
- [https://catalog.lamama.org/Detail/Entities/245 Caffe Cino on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections]
- [http://www.nypl.org/archives/4381 James Gossage photographs, 1965–1975] Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- [http://www.nypl.org/archives/4598 Robert Patrick papers, c. 1940–1984] Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- [https://www.nypl.org/research/research-catalog/bib/b19431623 Magie Dominic collection of Caffe Cino and Off-Broadway materials] Billy Rose Theatre Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
- [http://libraryguides.missouri.edu/wilson Lanford Wilson Collection] at the University of Missouri Libraries
{{Authority control}}
Category:1958 establishments in New York City
Category:Arts organizations established in 1958
Category:Former theatres in Manhattan