We were in New York this weekend to see the Lehman Trilogy. This is an off-Broadway play telling the story of the Lehman brothers’ dynasty, from their arrival to America in the 1800’s and through the years building their empire, to their ultimate demise with the 2008 market crash. It’s an amazing epic of three hours (I know – ouch) but it does fly by. If the play comes to Broadway, you should go and see it!
Now, about the building. The play took place in the Park Avenue Armory – a true armory in the late 1800’s. Discovering this building is a perfect example of why everyone should, once in a while, be a tourist in their own town. Though we don’t live in New York, we are always going in for theater and meeting friends. We have never had an opportunity to go the Armory, so we walked in having no idea what to expect.
To take a little information from the Armory’s website – “Built between 1877 and 1881, Park Avenue Armory has been hailed as containing the single most important collection of nineteenth century interiors to survive intact in one building” by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The 55,000-square-foot Wade Thompson Drill Hall, with an 80-foot-high barrel-vaulted roof, is one of the largest unobstructed spaces in New York City. The Armory’s magnificent reception rooms were designed by leaders of the American Aesthetic Movement, among them Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, Candace Wheeler, and Herter Brothers. The building is currently undergoing a $210-million renovation designed by Herzog & de Meuron with Platt Byard Dovell White Architects”.
The area that held the stage was originally the drill hall and it felt massive. The most amazing room for us was the room designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany. Like nothing we have seen. I am sure New York is full of these landmarks and I think this experience opened our eyes to look more carefully at the beautiful buildings that make New York so special.
1 Comment
lizabett
May 18, 2019 at 2:22 amWe will be visiting the Armory. It’s amazing what we don’t know about these amazing and historic buildings in Manhattan – how beautiful!