Decent little theater to see a production inside. There is no handicap entrance that I could see. The entrance is down one flight of steep stairs with a handrail. The nice thing about this theater is that the seats are all wonderful, and there truly isn't a bad seat in the house. The theater is a short walk from the 72nd Street Metro (1,2 and 3 trains). I saw 'Bedbugs the Musical' and loved the location and the play. I would go back to this theater and suggest it to friends Producing a play who might be on a budget. read more

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Ironically, this place is less than half a block from Broadway but on the upper west side. Therefore, this is WAY Off Broadway! So what did you expect? Have fun and enjoy life! OK. The venue seats less than 100 people but my gosh, you are here to experience the arts! The acoustics are perfect and you are very close to the stage! Where else can you come to a otherwise abandoned spot like this, hidden deep in a church basement, and see a wonderful live performance? So, the bathroom is a bit of a maze journey away through cluttered hallways. There are faded religious murals on the walls and ceilings. Some areas were last dusted at the turn of the previous century. There is an ancient basketball court within the labyrinth. There are old rooms full of broken down furniture, lumber, and dusty books. In the theater itself, the seats are definitely not as comfy as a barcalounger. Who cares? Frankly, I'd be happy if they handed me a milk crate to sit on. This is the arts people! Every play has to start somewhere! read more

The Arclight Theatre - Performing Arts Near Me - New York, New York

We were just here recently to see Bedbugs!!! The Musical. Yes, we actually saw a musical about Bedbugs, don't laugh. It was actually an epic performance! I wish I could say that about the actual venue. It's small. I mean tiny in a cramped way. Only about 100 seats so the view of the stage is pretty good no matter where you sit. The seat in front of me was wedged up against my knees. If you are a bigger/taller person you are screwed unless you get first row to stretch out a bit. No real AC to speak of so be prepared to be a bit warm on a hot day. Yay! Swamp ass! It's in the basement of a church and looks like an old bomb shelter. Finding the bathrooms is like being trapped in a maze. The paintings of Jesus and saints on the ceiling overlook the audience. Kind of a weird spot, but hey, it is off Broadway and the price can't be beat if it's a good show. The seats are horribly uncomfortable. Thank goodness for an intermission to get up and walk around a bit. After two hours I felt like I was being tortured. My ass was killing me! I do have to say that the acoustics here are pretty good, as was the lighting and stage effects. It's definitely an intimate spot to see a performance. Just be prepared to rough it a bit as compared to seeing a show in a more upscale venue. read more

Cozy place for an intimate play or performance. I'm going to be short because is not about food. I wish the seats were more comfortable and the space was bigger. Ok for what it is. read more

The Arclight Theatre - Performing Arts Near Me - New York, New York

The venue is poorly maintained. The theater is full of roaches, even my audience members complained that there were roaches in the restrooms. When the radiator goes off, its sounds like a garbage truck is inside the theater. The place smells of urine, especially in the owner's office where you need to go in to switch on the house lights. Lastly, as everyone mentioned, the owner is absolutely horrendous. He's not in theater during show times so if you have an emergency, you're shit out of luck. There have been other awful experiences which I do not care to bring up. But I will never again showcase my productions at this theater. read more

@Diana- the Arclight is simply a venue and to my knowledge does not produce its own work. The quality of the performances depends entirely on the company coming in. The space is an intimate environment with lovely acoustics and that is about where the benefits of the venue end. The roach problem is disgusting. We came in to find cigarettes and ash mashed into painted floor of our set. People had been backstage and touched personal belongings. Alcohol that had been stored there for concessions or given between the cast as gifts was drank while we were gone. The seats and carpet appear to never have been cleaned and even though we fabreezed them frequently the smell of urine inevitably returned. The electrics are also very shady, and possibly unsafe. We lost power backstage twice and both times the venue owner was nowhere to be found to help us remedy the issue. I agree with the people below when they say that by far the worst part of working in this venue is the owner. He is temper-mental at best. He is verbally abusive, was very nearly physically abusive, and rather than speak to us about minor issues turned off all electricity to the stage and threatened to force us to cancel performance less than an hour before it was meant to begin. And when I say minor issues, I mean issues like one person drinking coffee in the house. Please don't put yourselves through the pain and frustration of working in this environment. It does not deserve your patronage. read more

The atmosphere is unique, really ny feel, but the practice of letting some people in and adding the rest to waiting list is rediculous, it makes us feel like a bunch of zoo animals. Very distasteful, I will not return. read more

Do not rent this venue for your theater production while Michael G. is in charge. He is horrible to work with, enforcing arbitrary rules to bully his customers, sabotaging performances, verbally attacking people, the list goes on. The venue is nice but it's not worth the misery. read more

The place looks intriguing from the street: an archway, a stone staircase leading into a basement space, Christmas lights. Be aware that on a hot/humid day, you will be hot and uncomfortable. There is no air circulation inside. Small space; really hard chairs (sorry, it's the truth; thank God I come with my own padding but even that was not sufficient). read more

Saw Bedbugs!!! here last night and I found the theater to be charming. There were no bad seats, the acoustic was great, and you felt apart of the play being so close. They had signage posted everywhere to find the bathrooms, which are a walk back into the old church, but simple enough to find. I didn't find the Jesus painting on the ceiling disturbing or obnoxious like some of the other reviewers. Overall, I think the musical made this place because it was awesome, but I was pleased with the whole experience. read more

It would be difficult to imagine a worse venue: an abusive staff, unsanitary conditions, - including most infamously and widely reported bedbug infestation, roaches, antiquated power system, laughable sound equipment, and the list goes on. Worst of all is the abusive venue manager who continually extorted us for more and more money, until the venue ended up costing the same as if we had rented from a far nicer venue with sanitary conditions and adequate power needs. Don't produce here. Ever. You WILL regret it. read more

This is a great venue run by Michael Griffith, a man with an explosive temper who is completely out of control. There is a reason renting this space is so inexpensive, and I should have realized it before I leased the venue. Griffith curses people out for no reason, kicks staff out of the theater in the middle of strike, misrepresents the number of seats in the venue - there are 97, not 99, and took several months to tell my designers about the power available to them for lighting and sound. Not to mention, he almost never stocks public bathrooms. He was so contentious that I had to hire a baby sitter to interface between he and my creatives during tech and previews. Seriously. I paid someone $750 to babysit the manager of this theater. If I had the opportunity to work at that space for free, I would decline. Avoid like the plague. read more

We have produced several shows at the Arclight and found it to be a great space to work in. The ambiance is perfect for our style of theater and I have recommended it to others. Recent upgrades to the dressing room area have made it even nicer. Gotham Radio Theatre is happy to call the Arclight home and look forward to producing many future shows there. Take a look for yourself at their new website www.arclightnyc.com read more

The Arclight Theatre - Gotham Radio Theatre's 'Blithe Spirit' At The Arclight Theater in Manhattan - Performing Arts Near Me - New York, New York

First. The positive. The theatre space is unique in so many ways. The acoustics are amazing. It is a treasure tucked under a church that you would never imagine was there by just walking by. It is a decent sized NEW YORK CITY theatre. A gritty space where across, writers and producers can get to work. The negatives are with reactions by shows that can't get it together. Why not blame the theatre, or manager? A roach in NYC?! Really?! I suggest that if you are going to produce a show ANYWHERE that you check the space very carefully. If you don't like it, don't do the show! Don't find fault once your production fails! read more

This is a great venue run by Michael Griffith, a man with an explosive temper who is completely out of control. There is a reason renting this space is so inexpensive, and I should have realized it before I leased the venue. Griffith curses people out for no reason, kicks staff out of the theater in the middle of strike, misrepresents the number of seats in the venue - there are 97, not 99, and took several months to tell my designers about the power available to them for lighting and sound. Not to mention, he almost never stocks public bathrooms. He was so contentious that I had to hire a baby sitter to interface between he and my creatives during tech and previews. Seriously. I paid someone $750 to babysit the manager of this theater. If I had the opportunity to work at that space for free, I would decline. Avoid like the plague. read more

We had the pleasure of working at the Arclight Theatre doing our Christmas show in December of 2013. We were familiar with the space and, after doing research, learned that it had been given poor reviews by other theatre companies. We want you to know that our experience at the Arclight was excellent. Not only was Michael Griffiths instrumental in introducing us to Gotham Radio Theatre Company, who became our Co-Producers for the show, he maintained a professional standard at all times, kept the theatre in good condition, and was available to assist whenever we needed. The Arclight has an excellent location on the Upper West Side and is a charming space architecturally which serves the needs of the Off-Off Broadway community. We look forward to our next production with Michael at the Arclight. Kathleen O'Neill and Hannah Seusy - Co-Producers at BOO-Arts Productions read more

The negative reviews are obviously all from one event, and aren't at all representative of my experience with the theater or the manager. It's a beautiful space and I will definitely be producing a show in the future. read more

While I have never produced a show at the Arclight, I have been there multiple times as a patron and have met the manager, Mike G, many times. I have found the space pleasant and clean and have found Mike to be friendly and helpful. I have spent time in the front office and find it a cozy space carved out from beneath an old church. I never noticed any smells or insects. Clearly the negative reviews on this site come from one production and I wish that other troupes who have had positive experiences at the Arclight would come on to Yelp to describe their experience. read more

This is the best little theater you will get for your money. It has a decent sound and lighting system with a good rep. plot and even a headset system. It is pathetic that one disgruntled production gets its' people to leave mean spirited reviews! Cockroaches and urine? Really? Have any of these people ever worked on Broadway? Probably not. What is clear is that they think they own the space 24/7 once they rent it. They also don't think they have to clean it and take out the trash. I'm quite sure their contract is clear about hours and use of the space. Running extra rehearsals? Trying to do a reading on an off night? Those are always extra and a pain in the butt for the theater manager to deal with especially when they are given NO NOTICE! I've done work at this theater off and on for over 15 years and I've seen these clowns come and go. The renters who enjoy this space stick to their schedule and contract. Yeah and pay their bills on time! read more

Our time at the Arclight theater was great! The theater manager was very helpful and took extra steps to help us with our handicap patrons, helped us with load in and load out; had great suggestions on how to deal with some of the problems; helped fix set pieces. Yes, it's informal, but the rules were clear and easy to keep, and we made sure to respect this beautiful space. read more

Sour grapes are so painful to see, bad productions , are painful sour grapes are sad. sad. this is a great space for theatre, if you have talent you will love this space, if you don't no space will make you happy ,because your sadness is coming from you not the audience not the theater but from you. Your not connecting with your audience so you have to strike out , at someone or some theatre. the audience that go to big shows on Broadway know it's N.Y.C. and they have to share life with the rodents that city life brings , but the show their seeing is so good that they don't care.This Theatre can only give you the space to create great art, If you are an artist and have something of value to share ,this is a great place to do it read more

The ArcLight is a wonderful space to work in. I was looking at some of these negative reviews and you have to wonder whether these "theater-types" aren't are being overly dramatic. Putting up a production is very difficult as anyone who has produced a play knows. Lots of things can and will go wrong. Everyone looks for someone to blame and it sounds like that's what's happening in these negative reviews. The ArcLight is a great , intimate venue with unbelieveable acoustics. But it also shares the space with a small ,homeless aids shelter. Proceeds from the productions at the ArcLight actually go to maintaining the shelter. So there are additional "rules" which have to be adhered to in that environment.. Maybe these folks who are so vitriolic in their reviews found it hard to live within those rules. Anyway, this is a great space and a great space to put a production on. Richard D. read more

The above five 'NEGATIVE' reviews of the Arclight, it's manager, and in general, seem to have all be written by the same person. Odd as it is, none of the authors of these reviews had the courage to put their names on their comments. Well I will put my name and 40 years experience in the theater on the line for this wonderful small venue. As a designer of the Retro/Bleecker production of "The Runner Stumbles" I have been extremely impressed with the space (I have yet to see one roach) and it's manager, Michael Griffiths. The space is located in the basement of a lovely Catholic church and is shared by other organizations, and is strictly overseen by the church. My only problem with the space is that it has to be vacated and locked by 11:00 PM each evening, a rule that is enforced by the city as well as the church. Working at the Arclight and with Michael has been a rewarding experience. I highly encourage other theater groups to consider using this venue. I am Jack Hilton Cunningham, Playwright and Theater Designer. read more