The Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre, now owned by A24, will reopen its doors in September, with plans to offer theatrical productions, film screenings and more.
The first official event will be Sundays with Sofia, a film screening series hosted by Sofia Coppola, which will also include a discussion afterwards. It kicks off Sept. 14 with a screening of Adrian Lyne’s Foxes and is expected to have additional events throughout the year.
The 167-seat theater will also include programming such as artist-led mainstage productions for multi-weeks runs, emerging talent presentations, including staged readings, standups and music performances, as well as well-known artists doing pop-up performances. The theater will also host events starting Sept. 8 in the leadup to Sundays with Sofia.
The theatre has been hosting an unofficial, private series of events over the past few weeks to test run operations ahead of its public reopening with performances indicative of its multi-use programming plans. Events include a theater reading of To Be Young, Gifted and Black, a play by Robert Nemiroff that had its original premiere at the Cherry Lane back in 1969, stand-up comedy by Ramy Youssef, and HAIM previewed their new album I Quit with a listening party and performance for a group of their fans.
A24 is partnering with the team behind Frenchette, Le Rock and Le Veau to open a restaurant and bar, entitled Wild Cherry, at Cherry Lane.
The theater has also been renovated with new seating and technical equipment, a film projector and screen and a new concessions kiosk. But the stage itself and historic details remain intact, according to the studio.
In the past few weeks, the theater has hosted a series of private events including stand-up comedy by Ramy Youssef, HAIM previewing their new album I Quit with a listening party and performance for a group of their fans and a theater reading of To Be Young, Gifted and Black, a Robert Nemiroff play that had its original premiere at the Cherry Lane in 1969.
A24 purchased the 100-year-old theater in 2023 for just over $10 million, after the West Village theater had run into financial trouble. This marks a significant real estate holding for the indie film studio, but comes as other commercial entities are snapping up spaces, including Amazon’s Audible, which is staging shows at the Minetta Lane Theater nearby.