A CLASSIC PROBLEM
The late Roger Reese with Uma Thurman in Martin Crimp’s adaption of The Misanthrope, on which I interned, at Classic Stage Company in 1999.
By Cassandra Csencsitz
clas·sic | \ ˈkla-sik: Something judged over a period of time to be of the highest quality and outstanding of its kind.
It’s fitting that Gotham is launching a theatre-partnership program with nearby Classic Stage Company, the longstanding Off Broadway theatre renowned for staging theatre history’s greatest hits. But whereas it was once sufficient to adapt established titles, today Classic Stage is tasked with the mission to look anew at what constitutes a “classic.”According to CSC’s new Producing Artistic Director Jill Robson, theatre history is full of potential classics that were shortchanged due to the usual demographic disparities, from lesser funding and visibility to more blatant biases—relegating some works to obscurity. Teasing such underdogs out of history is one of Rafson’s passions as she takes the reins as Classic Stage’s seventh artistic director in its 55 years.
Since deciding to reopen Gotham, introspection around what made Gotham great and what will continue to make it worthy of the label “institution”—two related but different conversations—has been top of mind. For what does it mean to be a classic today? As with classical theatres, Great Books programs, museums and more, longstanding restaurants must examine this question, too. How do people want to dine today? What is the difference between honoring the past and resting on your laurels, between meaningful reinvention versus reinvention for novelty’s sake. Where are our blind spots as we look at presumed greatness amongst our influences in all the arts—literary, culinary, dramatic?
While we celebrate aspects of our heritage, today Gotham is dedicated to amplifying a breadth of culinary influences and voices, from farmers and purveyors to winemakers to the artists behind our gallery, design, and library. We are nurturing a team who feel celebrated for everything they bring to the table. And we are thrilled to be cultivating a vibrant returning and new clientele who both seek excellence and love how they feel at Gotham.
In spite of sterling performances by Sam Rockwell and Laurence Fishburne, the recent reprisal of American Buffalo, a study in overcompensating machismo, called into question what Mamet means today.
Back in 1999, the winter after meeting Bret doing adaptations of Sophocles and The Odyssey in Greece, I interned at Classic Stage Company on an update of Molière’s The Misanthrope starring Uma Thurman. 23 years later I’m delighted to be kicking off a partnership between Classic Stage and Gotham for which we’ll offer a ticket to each production and three-course menu for $135. This collaboration begins with Snow in Midsummer, an adaptation of a 13th century Chinese play and poignant ghost story for today.
Looking backward and forward, memories and dreams, legacy and innovation. Sometime during Classic Stage Company’s next season, I will come downtown from my home in Harlem to see black odyssey—a Harlem take on Homer. Before or after the show, I’ll get bite at Gotham, where Chef Ron Paprocki is building on the vision of Alfred Portale that defined Gotham’s cuisine from 1985-2018. Where our original architect from 1984 James Biber came back and brought to bear four decades of experience on our redesign last year. Gotham, where Bret took me on a date in 1999 and began working shortly after we were married in 2007, bringing influences from his time with Daniel Boulud to this downtown institution, never imagining he’d buy and reopen it in 2021 with the agency to now apply his larger values and passions to the restaurant. Gotham, an American classic restaged for a new chapter of diners. It’s an honor to be one of our players.
The ultimate update: Hamlet more-than-adapted for James Ijames’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Fat Ham at the Public Theater, a short picturesque walk from Gotham.
