Gerald W Lynch Theater At John Jay College

Attended a charity show for the actors fund at this venue. Great performers donating their time and talents for an amazing cause. Seating is excellent and full view from any seat location.

Not only in a class by itself this facility is beautiful love the environment. Orientation was good today about to get it in

Very comfortable theater. Good offerings. I’ve been a patron for years, but the best shows I’ve seen there in the past couple of years have been done by one of the theater’s staff, Dana Tarantino. Riveting work. The college has a website which lists their season. Great location, but could use more open restaurants on Tenth Ave. in the 50s.

You climb up some stairs, you pass security and a turnstile, you go down an escalator, you walk back, you keep walking, you keep walking, you pass ticket collectors, and then the magic begins.
The first time I was here, about two years ago, I watched a bleepin’ bloomin’ bloody fantastic performance of Robert Wilson’s Les Fables de la Fontaine with La Comedie-​Francaise… although the performance was delayed about 45 minutes due to technical malfunction (which is understandable, I suppose, because the light-​displays were incredibly demanding and precise), and to make matters worse the air-​conditioning was out of operation, so being packed like sardines in the height of summer in a blistering-​hot room filles with anxious and grumpy show-​goers didn’t exactly set the mood.
The second time here, last year, sitting next to Natascha McElhone (Hank Moody’s ex-​wife in Showtime’s Californication, one of my current favorite guilty pleasures), it was a day-​long marathon (about 8 hours including intermissions) of Samuel Beckett… Seriously, color me happy, I’ve died and gone to heaven, I’m not even kidding… First part, Poetry and Prose — Julliane Moore (yawn), Liam Neeson (yawn), Ralph Fiennes (huzzah), and Barry McGovern (BRAVO!) read (aka didn’t memorize) from various poems («I wish my love were dead») and short-​stories («Watt,» «Comany,» etc.)… Second part, a series of one-​man-​shows: Liam Neeson in «Eh Joe» originally intended for television (I weeped like a baby), Ralph Fiennes in «First Love» (not intended for stage — but the acting was really great), and Barry McGovern in «I’ll Go On» (a mismash-​mélange-​distillation of «Three Novels» (Molloy, Malone Dies, The Unnamable), which honestly featured some of the most powerful acting I’ve ever seen)… Once again, the air-​conditioning was out — and the concession stand was closed — perhaps they were afraid of drunken Irish shenanigans?
The third time, this year (actually, this week), I saw «Ivanov,» a Hungarian Interpretation (by the incredible Katona Jozsef Theatre, directed by the absolutely brilliant Tamas Ascher) of Chekhov — I was almost bawling, this has been a wonderful year for Chekhov in NYC (Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Three Sisters) but this particular performance really got to me – the typical chuckling while self-​loathing rapid-​fire malaise dealt me a serious blow to the solar plexus… But of course the audience really wasn’t having it (COUGH, COUGH, COUGH, YAWN, YAWN, YAWN — quite a few of them got up and left).
The theatre isn’t ideal, the surroundings aren’t perfect, and, um, the audience isn’t as dedicated as they’d like to think themselves (how many people did I hear snoring-​away during the Becketthon?), and although I’ve only been here for Lincoln Center Presents, I really look forward to returning again-​and-​again, year-​after-​year.

Attractive theater playing various plays. Recently, Epic Theatre Company’s «State of the Union,» very good play buy Vern Thiessen.