FRED FONDREN and The Loss of Off Off Broadway
The one thing about moving, when you start unpacking things you hurriedly threw into boxes, you discover memories .
One of the memories that was stirred today was finding this playbill.
There is nothing in particularly spectacular about this one sheet 4 sided info sheet.
A cover, play breakdown , cast bios, an ad upon the back page for the Kastro Lounge (right next door , it proclaims !).
That said, it is a very special memory of what New York City's once vibrant Off Off Broadway scene once was.
Starting in 1958 with the Caffe Cino , there was an explosion in creative spaces throughout the city, with a vast majority of them being located in the Greenwich Village area.
The film NEXT STOP GREENWICH VILLAGE perfectly captures the eccentric energy , both good and bad , of what the area used to be . Dirty , eclectric , but vibrant .
The 1960s through the early 1990s, you could walk about and find converted storefronts turned into a temporary or semi permanent performance space.
For a few dollars (often a pass the hat type payment ), you could experience be -ins, happenings , and hard to describe experiences where you might become part if not the center of the performance. Other times , you might see a reinterpretation of a classic play, or even a straightforward presentation of a piece . You might even discover a modern classic being performed in an unexpected place .
Fred Fondren's productions fell into the latter category .
Fred was born in Alabama May 16 , 1948 . "Freddie" , as he was known to by his friends , went to Chapel Hill University working on a DOUBLE major in Psychology and Chemistry .
After attending an intensive Shakespeare Workshop at the Royal Academy of The Arts in London , Fred's priorities drastically changed. He began auditioning as an actor, working in the arts whenever he could.
Tired of the obstacles within the industry , he was complaining to a good friend about his problems , causing the friend to say "Open Your Own."
It was the right spark that he needed. He and his close friend Robert Stocking (who apparently passed away at age 68 in 2010) found a space at 239 East 5th Street in the East Village.
Robert Stocking
It needed a lot of cleaning and work to convert it into a performance space , as it had been a former motorcucle shop. They had to scrub off deeply imbedded motor oil from the floor, and construct a small stage ( 9' x 12') , add about 50 chairs ,wire ,purchase light and sound equipment.
The two friends named the space THE PROMETHEUS ,opening in the 1980s.
They would produce public domain works, old potboilers, license works that could be performed in their tiny space , as well as original works , often written by Fondren himself. He also performed and directed in many of the productions .Working odd jobs allowed them to produce shows and pay the rent .
The first thing that I ever experienced there was their production of several one acts of The Coarse Actors' Shows. For those who are unaware, there was wonderful 1964 book by Michael Green called "How To Be A Coarse Actor". A coarse actor would be one who is, to put it plainly, terrible but extremely earnest . The book was so popular that it inspired many plays to be written that embodied this so bad it's good idea. All were based upon actual mishaps that had happened Currently, The Mischief Theatre Company has been quite successful , reimagining and re-energizing those with their THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG and their off shoots.
Walking into the unimpressive storefront, their was a tiny box office set up. You paid and were handed the one sheet playbill, and walked through a black curtain on the left into a small blackbox theatre. The seats (were they folding chairs?) were on the right, on risers. The booth was at the rear ,where lights and sound were controlled.
The small stage had curtains that could be opened and closed ,with a tiny waiting area off on either side ,and a small passage behind the stage for crosses. There was a way to get around to the front, as often actors would disappear off stage only to come racing down the side aisle past the audience .
Back to that first performance that we caught. Fred stepped out , a thin figure in his late thirties with a commanding presence . He was dressed as a minister, and was welcoming us to an imaginary play festival. Within two minutes he had the audience roaring when he remarked that his company was not used to performing in such a large theatre(!),and it continued for the rest of the evening .I was laughing so hard that I was having pains in my side. Fondren and his cast showed that you have to a truly fantastic actor to perform "bad" with exquisite timing . What I recall most was Fondren as Captain Ahab in the first act, which was MOBY DICK. Fondren made you believe he was little rehearsed and had not worked with the plunger turned wooden leg until making his way onto the stage at that moment ,slipping and sliding, and almost knocking over the other performers, many of whom were women in beards to make up the number of the crew of the Pequod .
The ending had a two person paper mache "whale" go up the side aisle, with a mechanical sounding mouth that was incredibly humorous to hear, and then a hand pop out of the top to shoot a water pistol's few squirts of water into the air, then grab Ahab and drag him back .
The other two acts were just as brilliant, spoofing Shakespeare and Chekov.
Fondren afterwards was soaked with sweat but super friendly ,chatting about the show, wanting seriously to know what we liked or disliked .
We returned to see other shows at the Prometheus , catching such varied shows as
THE BAT (the 1920 thriller)
SHERLOCK HOLMES VS DRACULA (an original Fondren play, with which
Fred gifted me the script after we discussed our mutual love of Holmes and horror plays)
some Shakespeare
and of course, the plays mentioned in this playbill.
Fred was always a well spoken , intelligent and warm gentle man , who lived to create .
The Prometheus put on new productions nearly every month which is a Herculean effort when you consider the team had to work to afford to do their shows ,as well as write new works, pick projects, audition, rehearse , costume and make use of sets they already owned or borrow what they needed.
It was a marvelous time , not only for the Prometheus , but also off- off Broadway in general. I was fortunate enough to perform and direct at several black box spaces around New York , from mid town and down into the Village. They were thriving .
They had come in when New York was suffering , and people were fleeing . Rents , thus, were relatively cheap . The problem was getting audiences in, but get them in many groups did .
Then , the economy change resulted in rents going up. People wanted to live in the city once again. Thus the gentrification of the Village began. The old guard bohemians were being forced out by yuppification.
At the same time, The first news story on the disease originally called the Gay Cancer appeared on May 18, 1981, in the newspaper New York Native.
AIDS was seen by some lacking human empathy as God's judgement against homosexuals , and was ignored until Rock Hudson passed from the disease. In the interim, many died . They were left in hospitals, often neglected as people ,staff , and even doctors weren't sure how the disease was passed.
The Arts were heavily hit , with figures such as Hudson, Freddie Mercury ,Howard Ashman (who began in off off Broadway theatre), Leonard Frey (from the original off off Broadway production of THE BOYS IN THE BAND , and known for playing Motel in the film FIDDLER ON THE ROOF,1971),Anthony Perkins , Michael Bennett (director of A CHORUS LINE )... many many others getting sick and often passing away.
There were also those who were not as well known. One of those infected was Fred Fondren. He was unable to keep up the strenuous pace of running a theatre company and the Prometheus closed in the early 1990s.
Fred , however , at least had a moment of immortality , as he portrayed a man dying of AIDS in the overlooked film JOEY BREAKER (1993). Spending his scene in a bed, Fred still was a powerful actor, using his voice and eyes to convey the anger underneath the calm way he describes how he feels. That he himself was a sufferer must have made the lines more meaningful for him .
Sadly, he didn't live to see the movie released , as he passed away on June 8, 1992 at 44. The movie was dedicated to him as well as 27 year old costume Jessica Haston (who passed away from melanoma ).
Still, he met life on his own terms , doing what he loved best . In his short span upon our plain , he allowed others to create as well as audiences to share in the experiences. How many can say that ?
I wish I could find more photos of the theatre and their productions, and to hear from people who worked there and with him.
While Fred gave me the script for one of his plays, I would like to know if he had a partner who might control the rights , or even some other entity.
Also, who has his other plays ?
This is a concern I have. So many wonderful plays remain, unseen, undiscovered, lost and sadly tossed out to disappear from existence .
With the creation of the internet, there should be some way to preserve these creations, often unproduced or forgotten , to preserve their creativity.
There also should be a way of preserving the history of the Off Off Broadway movement.
There are occasional efforts (the marker for the CAFE CINO) but so many others have vanished.
Still, that is what theatre often is. It is a moment of history, affecting those who see it ,sometimes profoundly , sometimes negatively . It is a moment where those who are creative get to express themselves, to step outside of the mundane , and move others.
It isn't for fame, but the NEED to create , to reflect on the human experience, to entertain, and hopefully enlighten those who chose to take part .
Memory is what keeps people and their actions alive.
Even if it is only through a yellowing playbill to stir the recollections of the experiences.
-Kevin G Shinnick
Director
The Lion In Winter
(p.s.-if you have any info on Fred Fondren and the Prometheus, or photos, info on his plays ,please feel free to contact me at tetcny@gmail.com and put OFF BROADWAY or FRED FONDREN in the heading, so I will know it is not spam .
I also am always interested in the history of Off and Off Off Broadway .
TETCNY presents THE LION IN WINTER by JAMES GOLDMAN through agreement with Concord Theatricals , Late February, early March ,2025 , Rochester NY .
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