PAUL ROBESON THEATRE

by Kevin Walsh

The Paul Robeson Theatre, formerly St. Casimir’s Roman Catholic Church,  at 40 Greene Avenue near Carlton in Fort Greene in Brooklyn, has been newly given Landmarks status. It’s a small, compact midblock building converted to a theatre by Robeson Theatre head Dr. Josephine English in 1980. The theatre houses local community productions and events — however the interior is in need of repair and renovations.

Paul Robeson, who popularized “Ol’ Man River” from the Kern/Hammerstein musical Show Boat, was a Rutgers football star and Columbia-educated lawyer whose charismatic presence would have propelled him to the top of any entertainment medium not hobbled by racism. In Robeson’s powerful bass-baritone voice you can hear not just mourning for the black underclass but also a brilliant man’s anger at being deprived of his fair measure of roles.

Read more: http://entertainment.time.com/2011/10/24/the-all-time-100-songs/#ixzz1btrX5aDB

1 comment

Terrence M Baltimore December 20, 2017 - 2:40 pm

I am interested in renting, leasing, buying the Paul Roberson Theater. Call me at 347-360-7052

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