PHOTOS: Off-Off Broadway at the Caffe Cino

On October 23, 2018, Caffe Cino historian and veteran Magie Dominic and Project manager Amanda Davis joined with the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) to host “Caffe Cino: Off-Off Broadway and On the National Register,” at the historic Judson Memorial Church. Together, they shared the history and magic of the Caffe Cino, a groundbreaking pre-Stonewall café theater.

Caffe Cino, located at 31 Cornelia Street from 1958 to 1968, was the creation of Joe Cino, an openly gay Italian-American producer who is credited with starting the “Off-Off-Broadway” theater movement. Caffe Cino was the first important venue to regularly stage Off-Off-Broadway productions, was critical in the development of gay theater, and served as a place of support for gay playwrights during a time when depicting LGBT experiences on stage was illegal.

Project manager Amanda Davis is the author of the National Register nomination for the Caffe Cino.

Thank you to our cohosts, GVSHP, to Magie Dominic and to all our guests, especially Obie and Tony Award-winning director Marshall Mason, a veteran of the Caffe cino.