The West District address of 154 Christopher Street has a new occupant: Woodie King, Jr.’s New Federal Theatre. On the second floor of the block-long building, a large photograph of King, who died on January 29, welcomes visitors as it did during the ribbon-cutting ceremony last week.
“With great respect and love, I welcome you with all my heart … to the home of the New Federal Theatre,” said King’s widow, the actress Elizabeth Van Dyke in her greeting to a host of loyal supporters and elected officials in attendance to commemorate the opening. “Today, the theater has a home of its own — for the first time in 56 years, the NFT has a home of its own, with full autonomy, 365 days a year, to program this space.”
The new space, she added, did not happen by accident. “It happened because of people in this room [who] chose to believe in us, to champion us.” One of her superheroes, she announced, was State Sen. Erik Bottcher: “He didn’t just find space for us, he advocated for us — the same way he fights for affordable housing, for gun control, for mental health, for everyone to be included.”
The public servant who championed the theater’s cause made note of how Van Dyke worked hard to make the new space a reality.
“[Van Dyke] tells a story about that Zoom meeting that brought us together,” said Bottcher, “including Claude and Shelley Winfield … but she didn’t mention the emails, the text messages, the phone calls. She fought for this space because she knew that this was out there somewhere, and we just had to find it.”
Manhattan Borough President Brad Hoylman-Sigal emphasized some of Bottcher’s points and also plans to invest in creative spaces. “We’re taking our entire capital budget, and we’re getting into the arts exclusively,” he said.
That comment was met with a loud round of applause. Hoylman-Sigal acknowledged several other notables in attendance and behind the podium: Councilmember Carl Wilson; Diya Vij, commissioner of the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs; and actor Andre De Shields, who led the audience in a rousing rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
The facility will serve as a classroom, for workshops, “and a powerful tool for activism,” Van Dyke added.
Meanwhile, staring at us from the photo on the wall, Woodie seemed to be reminding us, as he had said before, that “the purpose was always the stage, and the stage was always larger than the building.” The stage at this New Federal Theatre will certainly be larger than this enormous building.
For more info, visit newfederaltheatre.com.
