An artist’s rendering of the new marquee of the Terrence McNally Theatre on Waverly Place in New York City.
In one of New York City’s most expensive neighborhoods, theatregoers have long braved a dim flight of weathered stairs up to the charmingly ramshackle Rattlestick Theater, on the second floor of a historic Episcopal parish house, where the bathroom is on the stage, to see plays by the likes of Annie Baker, Diana Oh, Sam Hunter, Jesse Eisenberg, Jose Rivera, David Adjmi, Sheila Callaghan, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Lucy Thurber, Adam Rapp—and, once, Tony winner Terrence McNally (with 2008’s Corpus Christi).
Now McNally’s name will be on the sign above the door at 224 Waverly Place, while the space undergoes an ambitious $5.3 million renovation led by Architecture Outfit, which will add an elevator, new bathrooms, expanded dressing rooms, and an expanded lobby and ticket counter. The naming was announced at an intimate gathering last night at the nearby apartment the late McNally shared with his husband, theatre producer Tom Kirdahy.
Santino DeAngelo and Will Davis at Tom Kirdahy and Terrence McNally’s Village apartment.
“This is the exact right theatre in the exact right place,” Kirdahy gushed as he unveiled an artist’s rendering of the new theatre sign. McNally, he said, was “a gay trailblazer and he was a Village guy, so it’s a particular joy that the building that bears his name will be in this neighborhood.”
Flanking Kirdahy was Santino DeAngelo, executive director of the Terrence McNally Foundation, which has supported emerging playwrights in partnership with Rattlestick via the Terrence McNally New Works Incubator since 2023; and Will Davis, Rattlestick’s artistic director as of that same year. Davis, the first transgender artistic director of a New York theatre, paid tribute to McNally in remarks before the unveiling.
“It’s the honor of a lifetime to name the Rattlestick building for Terrence, a towering artist and a gay icon in the American theatre,” said Davis. “Terrence paved the way for so many LGBTQ+ artists. Without his insistence on putting our stories onstage, I would never have had the opportunity to build my career. It’s an honor to name the building as a living tribute to his work.”
The renaming deepens the relationship between the Terrence McNally Foundation and Rattlestick, which will retain its company name (in much the same way East West Players in Los Angeles, for instance, performs its plays at the David Henry Hwang Theater). The theatre’s renovation is scheduled to be completed this fall, in time for its next season; an official dedication will be held there later this year.
This project is supported by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council/Borough President. It is also made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Last May, Kirdahy and the Foundation joined their city councilmembers and a starry assemblage of McNally collaborators to designate the street outside their longtime apartment “Terrence McNally Way.”
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