I constructed this map as a guide for my visit to Little Italy.

Mapping assignment

Immigrant Women in Italian-American Theatre in New York City

            Finding locations of theatres or relevant destinations related to Italian theatre during the immigration period was quite a challenge. I did however get a lot of information from an article about the Italian theatre in New York within The American Mercury published in September 1927. A lot of my other sources didn’t mention specific theatres or exact locations. I tried to further research some of the theatres I used for my map, but there was barely any information on any of them. The following information was all I could gather. Although many of these theatres no longer exist today, what does currently exist is the Italian American museum. It is located on Mulberry street right in the heart of where

Italian theatre began.

All locations were present during the late 1800’s-1900’s.

• Villa Vittorio Emanuele was located on Mulberry Street near Canal Street. This location is important because it was the first café chantant in Little Italy. A café-chantant was a coffee-house where entertainers would perform. Villa Vittorio Emanuele existing at the time of mass Italian immigration, was always busy. No admission was charged at Villa Vittorio Emanuele. Patrons just had to order drinks. Performers had to take it upon themselves to make collections from the audiences. They quickly rebelled to this, but received little money still because they were paid so poorly.
• Villa Giulia was the first competition for Villa Vittorio Emanuele. Villa Giulia was located on Grand street near Mulberry street.
• Dalessio’s concert hall housed Little Italy’s first stage. Dalessio’s exact location is unnoted, but it did exist within Little Italy and was not very Americanized. It started the trend of halls versus villas.
• Germania assembly rooms performers were moved to Spring Street between Mott and Elizabeth. They were turned into a theatre by Antonio Maiori and Pasquale Rapone. Antonio Maiori gave the first dramatic performance ever in New York and Pasquale Rapone was a natural at improvisation. The Germania assembly rooms were the immigrants only theatre at its time and was always packed.
• Miner’s Theatre was located somewhere in Bowery. Antonio Maiori moved over to the Miner’s Theatre when the Germania assembly rooms became too small to house large audiences.
• Windsor & Thalia were popular theatres that existed within Bowery when theatre was at its peak.
• Sicilian & Neapolitan theatres also existed within Bowery.

When I signed up for THE 4102 I had no idea how inspiring and personal it would be to learn about immigration. I also had no idea what a crazy and fun experience it would be. My main motivation for taking Professor Caplan’s Performing Immigration course was to have her as a Professor. I had taken her for intro to theatre to fulfill an elective and when I found out she was teaching another class that could fulfill another elective for me, I jumped on the opportunity to be in her class again. Why you ask? Professor Caplan makes learning about topics I never thought I’d have an interest in exciting!

So, I know what you might be thinking. Theatre and immigration? What do they have do with one another? Well those were my thoughts exactly when I started the class. I never would have guessed that I would learn so much from a class that had a title that didn’t even make sense to me.

At the beginning of the semester we chose a topic to focus on for a semester long project. The topic was to be relevant to immigrants and theater. I chose “Italian immigrant women in theatre in N.Y.C.”. Clearly, I had to do extensive research about what topic to focus on considering I didn’t even know there was even a relationship between immigrants and theater. Boy was I clueless! First off, I decided to choose Italian immigrant theater because I am after all of Italian decent. I decided women was a good focus considering I’m female and New York City seemed like a good focus since it’s thriving with theater still to this day. So there I chose a topic and started a proposal. I learned so much just from that alone….

Topic Proposal

Topic: Women in Italian-American theatre in New York City

Around the 1870’s Italian immigrants poured into this country and soon after the Italian-American theatre was brought to life. The mass migration had brought both performers and audience members necessary for the birth of the Italian-American theatre. Italians were seeking support, recognition and social exchanges to ease their transition into America and also their insecurities as immigrants. They formed amateur theatre clubs to meet these desires. By the 1900’s Italians had established what now lives on today as what we know as Italian-American theatre.

            Italian immigrant women in America became more flexible and resourceful in their new social and economic situations. During the migration many women experienced absences of their husbands which were usually for extended periods of time. Women’s roles at this time were usually to tend to the household and the children. Taking care of the household included making decisions that affected the family. These decisions pertained to leisure activities, expenditure of money and social affairs. Women’s social networks became extremely important to them mainly because they spent extended periods of time alone and tending to their homes. There were Italian women that made a living as caretakers and some as factory workers, but them women were usually, but not always, single. To meet the needs that all people have such as socialization and enjoyment, As immigrants new to America and as women these needs were heightened and many found satisfaction in the arts.

I really don’t remember when researching my topic became personal for me, but all I know is that it did. Walking away from this class and this project I wish I had talked to my grandparents more about their experiences and struggles. It’s so amazing to think about what it took for me to be here in America today with all the opportunities in the world in my reach. I appreciate my heritage and my ancestors more than I ever thought that I would. Who would ever think that a theatre based class would do that for me.