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Playing Host to Celebs and Newcomers Alike By Angela Barbuti Tucked away on West 72nd Street between Broadway and Columbus Avenue is the 130-seat Triad Theater. Inside, actors make their Off-Broadway debuts, celebrities take the stage with friends and audiences are always entertained by an eclectic variety of shows, from Erotic Broadway to the smash hit Celebrity Autobiography. We spoke to owner Peter Martin about what to expect there.
Peter Martin. There were two sold-out shows one New Year’s Eve and the coat check girl misplaced all the numbers. People were trying to get their coats out from the first show while others were coming up the stairs for the midnight show. It was a disaster. Another time, John Simon, a well-known theater critic, came in to review Forbidden Broadway. He checked his umbrella and somehow it got lost. A couple of days later, he sent us a bill for $300.
To what do you attribute your success? Times have changed Off-Broadway. What is your favorite show at the the- In the last 10 years, tons of theaters ater currently? have closed. I’ve really had to adapt by Celebrity Autobiography. Celebrities instating a new booking policy. In the read from other celebrities’ memoirs course of a month, we can have 30 difin a comedic tone. ferent shows. I’m always You’ll have Matthew thinking of how I can Peter Martin Broderick reading improve the theater and Owner of The Triad Theater from Tommy Lee’s what’s going on in the 158 W. 72nd St. autobiography. On entertainment industry. (betw. Broadway & Columbus Ave.) another night, you’ll On Broadway, a musical www.triadnyc.com see Kristen Wiig costs about $15 million. reciting the poetry Off-Broadway, you can of Suzanne Somers. We’ve probably had experiment more. Things get started Offmore famous people in it than any show Broadway then move to Broadway. For on Broadway. instance, there’s a new musical in the works about [’50s teen idol] Dion called Have there been any memorable The Wanderer. The first reading was at mishaps? The Triad six weeks ago. O u r To w n NY. c o m
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What is the history of the theater? It started in the early ’80s with Forbidden Broadway. It wasn’t even a theater back then; it was a bar/restaurant called Palsson’s Supper Club. Actor Gerard Alessandrini started writing spoofs of Broadway shows and they were performed there on weekends.
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West Side Spirit: How did you get started at the Triad? Peter Martin: I was the company manager of a show called Forever Plaid at the theater; it went on to become one of the five most successful shows OffBroadway—the producer put in $135,000 and it grossed $300 million worldwide. It seemed like a great business. In 1995, when I was 30, I had the opportunity to buy the theater. I was able to get in at the right time. The theater was a black box originally. About four years ago, I redesigned it based on 1930s movie palaces. I love those kinds of theaters and did a lot of research. I recreated the bathrooms, added a VIP performer lounge. People tell me, “I’ve seen this in Europe.”
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F ebruary 2, 2012
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