The John Cranford Adams Playhouse and the Legacy of Shakespeare at Hofstra University
Hofstra University's John Cranford Adams Playhouse stands as a testament to the institution's long-standing commitment to theater and, in particular, the works of William Shakespeare. Named after Hofstra's second president, a dedicated Shakespearean scholar, the playhouse has served as a central hub for theatrical productions, lectures, concerts, and readings for over half a century. Its history is intertwined with the University's annual Shakespeare Festival and a unique project: the construction and reconstruction of a replica of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
The Genesis of the Shakespeare Festival and the First Globe Stage
John Cranford Adams, Ph.D., not only served as the second president of Hofstra University but also laid the foundation for its rich theatrical tradition. He established the annual Shakespeare Festival in 1950, which became a cornerstone of Hofstra's cultural identity. Adams, a Shakespeare scholar, further enriched the festival by creating a five-sixths scale model of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, based on his doctoral research.
The first Globe Stage was built in 1951 under the direction of Donald (Doc) Swinney. This 5/6 replica was completed in time for Hofstra's second Shakespeare Festival and erected in the campus gymnasium. In 1958, the Globe Stage found a permanent home in the newly constructed Hofstra Playhouse, which was later dedicated to John Cranford Adams.
Jean Giebel, the University chairperson and associate professor of drama and dance, noted that Hamlet was the first production in the University’s annual Shakespeare festival that was performed in the Globe reconstruction.
The John Cranford Adams Playhouse: A Hub for Performance and Education
Built in 1958 and designed by Aymar Embury, every aspect of the construction of the Playhouse was considered with the Globe reconstruction in mind. The John Cranford Adams Playhouse quickly became a vital space for the University. The Playhouse theater director and alumnus Alan Pittman remembered the time he accidentally slammed a trapdoor on his head, to the horror of those below him, Pittman’s experience was one of many that have taken place at the Playhouse, which has hosted many, quality theatrical productions as well as lectures, concerts and readings during half-century of use.
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The Playhouse has hosted many distinguished alumni and guests including Award-winning filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, who directed a show in the Playhouse and spoke about his experiences in a retrospective promotional video featured on the University’s Web site. In addition to notable alumni such as actresses Lainie Kazan and Madeline Kahn, the stage hosted many guests both political and entertainment related.
Lance Westergard, associate professor of dance, recalled dancing on the Playhouse stage for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company.
Pittman, expressed the enormity of the building’s legacy. “That’s just what the playhouse is: it’s so many stories. It’s hard to cram them into a sardine can version,” Pittman said.
The Shakespeare Festival: A Showcase of Talent and a Celebration of the Bard
Hofstra University's annual Shakespeare Festival began in 1950 with a production of Julius Caesar. Throughout its long history, the festival has presented a varied selection of the plays of William Shakespeare, lesser-known short plays from the period, musicals, and scenes from Shakespeare's plays performed by high school groups from the greater New York area. Each year, a different piece is performed on the main stage, representing one of 37 plays of the Shakespearean canon.
For many decades, the Shakespeare Festival was presented on the Globe Stage within the Playhouse and featured many students who went on to success in the performing arts - the late Madeline Kahn, Susan Sullivan, Susan H. Schulman, Phil Rosenthal, Joe Morton, Tom McGowan, Peter Friedman, and Margaret Colin.
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Hofstra has hosted its annual Shakespeare Festival every year since 1950, featuring such successful actors as Susan Sullivan, Madeline Kahn, Phil Rosenthal, Joe Morton, Tom McGowan, Peter Friedman, Margaret Colin and Broadway musical director Susan H. Schulman.
The Second Globe Stage: A Reconstruction Based on New Discoveries
As Professor Henderson explained in a fall 2016 lecture about his research, the shape of the first Hofstra Globe Stage was altered due to fire code, and it became used more sporadically due to age and the strain of building and dismantling it for so many years.
In 1989, archaeologists in London uncovered the almost-intact foundation of the 16th century Rose Theatre and a partial foundation of the Globe. These discoveries, along with modern imaging techniques and computer analysis of original documents, created a much clearer picture of how the Globe was built, what it may have looked like, and how it functioned.
"We wouldn't use a textbook from the 1950s to teach our students today," Professor Henderson said. "The stage is our textbook, or one of our many textbooks. The biggest differences in the new Hofstra Globe Stage will be in its shape and more ornate decoration. "Dr. Adams described the interior of the Globe as ‘a short row of London houses,'" said Professor Henderson.
Not long after Hofstra retired the first Globe Stage, drama alumni began asking if there were plans to build a new one. Lydia Leeds and Peter Garino, both Class of 1977, who performed in the Shakespeare Festival together during their student years, produced a 50-Minute Romeo and Juliet at the University in 2015 to jumpstart fundraising for the new Hofstra Globe Stage.
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In 2017, the drama program debuted the Hofstra Globe Stage, the most authentic replica in the Americas, as part of the University's 68th annual Shakespeare Festival. Hofstra University's 68th annual Shakespeare Festival in 2017 was performed the way Shakespeare himself might have envisioned it: on a Globe Stage. Professor David Henderson, the designer of the Hofstra Globe Stage reconstruction, spent time abroad in consultation with the archivists and design staff of Shakespeare's Globe in London.
Construction on major set pieces took place off campus at Cigar Box Studios -- an upstate scenery shop that has worked with Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, ESPN, and other production companies -- assembly and painting took place on campus. Stephanie Stover Ferraioli ‘06, an adjunct instructor of drama, supervised the painting of the Hofstra Globe Stage and was instrumental in rallying other alumni to pitch in. "We had alumni from several decades stop by to see how they could help," said Ferraioli. "Most of us worked on the old Globe Stage at least once, so we feel very nostalgic about it.
The Educational Impact of the Globe Stage
When asked how the new Hofstra Globe Stage will impact the education and performance for Hofstra actors, Professor Dippel called it a time travel experience for the students. "The Hofstra Globe Stage helps us to understand how the stories were told and look at some of the challenges Shakespeare's company was wrestling with. For example, when we presented Hamlet, the house lights were on. "In addition to that, we had to discover how long it takes to go from the Lords Gallery upstairs down to the stage. That is why certain scenes have an extended ending - because one character has to exit and then enter immediately afterward.
Hofstra's annual Shakespeare Festival is performed on the most historically accurate replica of Shakespeare's Globe Stage in the US. The Globe replica is erected each year by students in the Toni and Martin Sosnoff Theater at Hofstra's John Cranford Adams Playhouse. The Playhouse is named for the University's second president, who was a Shakespearean scholar and founder of the Festival.
Hofstra University: A Legacy of Excellence
Hofstra University was founded as an extension of New York University in 1935, and was housed in single building - Hofstra Hall - that still stands today on the south campus. Hofstra became Long Island's first private university, on March 1, 1963.
The University has more than 136,000 alumni, who are spread throughout all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Hofstra students come from all over the world: 50 states and territories and 82 countries.
Hofstra offers more than 180 undergraduate program options, more than 190 graduate program options and more than 100 dual-degree programs. The average undergraduate class at Hofstra is 21 students per class, and our student:faculty ratio is 14:1. Ninety-three percent of Hofstra faculty members hold the highest degree attainable in their field.
Hofstra holds 27 academic and 30 total accreditations.
Hofstra has about 20 research centers through which students can work with professors on scholarly projects in their fields of study. The Fred Dematteis School of Engineering and Applied Science is one of the only schools in the New York metropolitan area that allows undergraduate students to work on sophisticated equipment such as an atomic force microscope as early as their freshman year.
Ninety-nine percent of the 2015-16 graduating class is employed or pursuing graduate studies.
Hofstra is a nationally recognized arboretum, and the 240-acre campus is dotted by more than 12,000 evergreen and deciduous trees, representing 625 species and varieties.
Hofstra has been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll (2008-2015).
Hofstra is among only three schools in the New York metropolitan area with colleges of law, medicine and engineering.
Hofstra has three elevated, enclosed pedestrian walkways between its south and north campuses, including the iconic Unispan, which connects the library to the student center.
Hofstra has been named to the President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll (2008-2015).
Hofstra has two Rhodes Scholar finalists: Joe Burg '13, a math and physics major and star pitcher on the baseball team, and Dr. Hilarie Cranmer '89, a physician and professor at Harvard University.
Hofstra is the host university for the ROTC Program on Long Island. The famous GI bulge, which brought back to Hofstra prosperity, students galore, the best students one could possibly ask for, serious, devoted, eager, attentive, ambitious so we devised a program of ROTC. It was very popular at the start. It had several things going for it: it gave every student in the Hofstra book an income that otherwise you would not have had; it gave him a priority in case the Korean War should call for mobilization a priority on rank and privilege; and for ten years we not only were the largest single unit of ROTC but had also the distinction of being the best by the rating.
For Hofstra's 75th anniversary in 2010, the University celebrated with a cake shaped like Axinn Library and the Unispan, made by baker Duff Goldman, who starred in the television show "Ace of Cakes."
Hofstra has a tulip named for it. The Hofstra University Tulip was designated and presented to Hofstra by Dr. Robert Leonard, PhD.
The Lawrence Herbert School of Communication has state-of-the-art production and post-production facilities, including the News Hub, which is a converged multimedia classroom. And in 2015, the school became the first university worldwide to use Hitachi's innovative 4K-technology cameras in its broadcast curriculum.
The Hofstra University Museum has been awarded continued accreditation by the American Alliance of Museums, the highest honor a museum can receive and a distinction bestowed on just three percent of museums nationwide.
Notable Alumni and Faculty
Hofstra boasts a diverse and accomplished alumni network, including individuals who have made significant contributions to the arts, sciences, politics, and business.
Academy Award winner Francis Ford Coppola, director of such classics as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now, graduated from Hofstra in 1960 with a theater arts degree. Two Hofstra alumni have played James Bond villains. Academy Award winner Christopher Walken, who was an English major at Hofstra, appeared in A View to a Kill, and Robert Davi, a drama major, was in Licence to Kill.
Emmy Award-winning actor and drama alum Joe Morton, best known for his role as the sinister Eli Pope in the hit ABC series Scandal, returned to campus for Hofstra's 68th Annual Shakespeare Festival in 2017. Actress Madeline Kahn ‘64, twice nominated for an Academy Award, attended Hofstra on a drama scholarship.
Phil Rosenthal, creator, writer and executive producer of the Emmy-winning sitcom "Everybody Loves Raymond," and his wife, Monica Horan, who played Ray's sister-in-law, are both Hofstra alums.
New York Yankees President Randy Levine is a graduate of the Maurice A. Deane School of Law, and a member of Hofstra's Board of Trustees.
Billy Joel delivered the commencement speech to Hofstra's Class of 1997, and was awarded an honorary degree.
Four-time Ultimate Fighting Championship Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman is a 2007 alumnus who was a two-time All American on the wrestling team.
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Stephen Dunn is an alum of Hofstra's history program.
Civil rights leader Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was commencement speaker in 1965 and received an honorary degree.
The first African-American governor of New York, Honorable David A. Paterson, is an alumnus of Hofstra's Maurice A. Deane School of Law.
American anti-war activist Ron Kovic, who was portrayed by Tom Cruise in the Academy Award-winning film Born on the Fourth of July, is a Hofstra alum.
Hofstra law professor Alafair Burke is a bestselling author of 16 crime novels, several of which she collaborated with "Queen of Suspense" Mary Higgins Clark.
NY1 News anchor/reporter Kristen Shaughnessy '90 graduated from Hofstra's journalism program.
Dr. Sabrina G. Sobel, PhD, chair of the chemistry department, collaborated with her chemist father to develop Cold-Eeze, the zinc lozenge cold remedy.
Dr. Robert Leonard, PhD, director of Hofstra's graduate programs in forensic linguistics, is one of the world's foremost experts in the field and was also a founding member of the doo-wop music group Sha Na Na. The graduate forensic linguistics program is the first of its kind in the Western Hemisphere.
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