POP IN FOR A WARHOL TRIBUTE
Ytheatergoers down a different path. — the legendary film director who also voiced the “Star Wars” saga’s head Jedi, Yoda — has literally changed the path that audiences will take to enter the picturesque Daryl Roth Theatre in Union Square. Oz (photo), who’s making his theatrical directing debut with illusionist upcoming show “In & Of Itself,” was recently doing a theater walkthrough. He was “befuddled” by why the nearly 180-year-old venue’s entrance was a bland side door on E. 15th St., rather than the grand gateway flanked by Corinthian columns facing Union Square Park, an inside source tells us. So the fourtime Emmy-winner used his influence to make some moves. “With some Jedi mind trickery, he convinced the powers-that-be at (the Roth Theatre) to allow audiences to enter through the front doors of the landmark building,” we’re told. When Oz’s show, which was produced by opens on April 5, theatergoers for the first time in the theater’s history will enter through the striking front doors on Union Square East.
“They do have to send the plans for the interior to the city office for public assembly’s approval,” according to a theater rep. The spokesman added that the venue, which until 1996 housed the Union Square Savings Bank, also had to reconstruct its 20-year-old box office to accommodate the move.
Because no one brought up the door issue in the decade during which “Fuerza Bruta” was running in this theater, no one gave a second thought as to why the landmark building’s striking facade wasn’t being utilized until now, said a theater source.
Oz is no stranger to breaking new ground. In 1982, he co-directed “The Dark Crystal” with Jim Henson. The two would go on to collaborate on numerous Muppets films and TV shows.
In 1986, he put his spin on a remake of “Little Shop of Horrors” starring
and Oz teamed up with Martin again when he directed him in 1988’s “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.” He also directed Murray again in 1991’s “What About Bob?” Forget 15 minutes — Andy Warhol (inset) is still being celebrated 30 years later. Saturday marks the three-decade anniversary of the pop artist’s star-studded memorial at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. On Monday, Art New York fair will commemorate the occasion with a photo exhibit at the Alfstad & Contemporary Booth titled “Remembering Warhol: Thirty Years Ago.” The showcase includes photos of and mourning Warhol, who died Feb. 22, 1987.