[Ads-l] Antedating of "off-off-Broadway"

[Laurence Horn]

I remember attending productions at the Circle-in-the-Square in the mid-1950s with my parents and everyone referring to it simply as “Off-Broadway”. When I first learned the differentiation, with “Off-Off-” being a subspecies of “Off-“, it was more of a sociological than geographical distinction, and the Circle was too mainstream in terms of the celebrity and status of the playwrights, performers, and productions to count as “Off-Off-“, although that subtlety may not have traveled to Shreveport.  Note the description at the wiki site, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre>”:

During the 1950s and 1960s, the theater became what Women's Wear Daily <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Wear_Daily> described as the "center of Off-Broadway <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Off-Broadway>", largely staging revivals <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revival_(theatre)> at a time when traditional Broadway theaters <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_theatre> presented experimental shows.[25] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre#cite_note-p1627479460-27> Mel Gussow <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mel_Gussow> of The New York Times <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_New_York_Times> similarly described the original Circle as being within "the heartbeat of Off-Broadway" in Sheridan Square.[26] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre#cite_note-28> Over the years, actors such as Colleen Dewhurst <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colleen_Dewhurst>, Geraldine Page <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldine_Page>, Jason Robards <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Robards>, Bradford Dillman <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradford_Dillman>, Dustin Hoffman <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dustin_Hoffman>, George Segal <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Segal>, George C. Scott <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_C._Scott>, and James Earl Jones <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Earl_Jones> starred in the company's productions.[27] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre#cite_note-p143682777-29>[8] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre#cite_note-p511195960-9> In addition, the theater attracted such directors as Michael Cacoyannis <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Cacoyannis>, William Ball <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Ball_(director)>, and Alan Arkin <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Arkin>.[27] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre#cite_note-p143682777-29> The Circle tended to stage productions by well-known playwrights such as Tennessee Williams <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tennessee_Williams>, Eugene O'Neill <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugene_O%27Neill>, Jean Giraudoux <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Giraudoux>, Dylan Thomas <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dylan_Thomas>, and Jules Feiffer <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Feiffer>.[8] <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_in_the_Square_Theatre#cite_note-p511195960-9>

Hard to be “at the center” or "within the heartbeat" of Off-Broadway if you’re Off-Off-.

LH

> On Aug 30, 2023, at 3:00 PM, Bill Mullins <amcombill at HOTMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Slightly earlier:
> 
> 1954 Shreveport Times 7 Mar 4B/7  www.newspapers.com
> 
> Circle-in-the-Square, the off-off-Broadway theater, may extend its operations 'way off Broadway indeed -- London, to be exact.
> 
> https://www.newspapers.com/image/211329824/?terms=%20broadway%22&match=2
> 
> 
> Quote is from a Dorothy Kilgallen column which ran as early as 4 March in some markets. However, the quote is found in in a very short paragraph which appears to edited out of the column in most newspapers, presumably for space reasons.  But the quote could be found a few days earlier if a paper ran the column in its entirety.
> 
> 
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> On Behalf Of
>> Steven Losie
>> Sent: Wednesday, August 30, 2023 12:51 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Antedating of "off-off-Broadway"
>> 
>> Off-off-Broadway.
>> OED3 cites the New York Times on May 5, 1957. Here are two earlier
>> citations:
>> 
>> [begin quote]
>> Audrey Hepburn's understudy in "Ondine," a young lady named Eva Stern,
>> quit her job last week for a real part in what might, under the right
>> circumstances, be referred to as an off-off-Broadway production.
>> [end quote]
>> Source: New York Daily News, Mar 9, 1954, p.15C, col.4 Article title: French
>> 'Mutiny' Stars; R&H Ahead of Schedule
>> Author: Douglas Watt
>> Database: ProQuest Historical Newspapers
>> 
>> [begin quote]
>> One church group is having off-off-Broadway tryouts of its shows, sending
>> them to out of town churches before bringing them in.
>> [end quote]
>> Source: Chicago Tribune, Mar 27, 1955, p.K4, col.1 Article title: A True Actor
>> Can't Be Kept from Theater
>> Author: John Chapman
>> Database: ProQuest Historical Newspapers
>> 
> 
> 
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