NYU Tisch Renames Theater in
Memory of Beloved Jazz
Figure
Jack Crystal, Father of
Billy Crystal
Ceremony is Part of 50th Anniversary
Celebration
New York, NY – November 11,
2015: In
recognition of the ongoing
support provided by the
family of actor, director,
comedian, writer, and Tisch
alumnus Billy Crystal, Tisch
Dean Allyson Green announced
yesterday that Tisch School
of the Arts will officially
rename its theater at 111
Second Avenue the “Jack
Crystal Theater,” in memory
of Crystal’s father, jazz
impresario Jack Crystal.
From 1949 to
1963, Jack Crystal, manager
of the famed Commodore Music
Shop and Commodore Records
executive, held legendary
jazz concerts known as “The
Sessions” at 111 Second
Avenue. Featured performers
included Conrad Janis,
Willie “The Lion” Smith, Hot
Lips Page, Pee Wee Russell,
Roy Eldridge, and Billie
Holiday. He was one of the
first producers to integrate
bands and was lovingly
referred to as the “The
Branch Rickey of Jazz.”
Commodore Records was a true
pioneer in jazz recordings,
with a notable catalog
including Billie Holiday’s
groundbreaking and timeless
“Strange Fruit.” It was at
111 Second Avenue that
five-year old Billy first
took to the stage to
entertain an audience,
launching a lifelong career
in entertainment.
In 1968, the same building
became the first home to the
School of the Arts where
Crystal studied film and TV,
receiving his BFA in 1970.
Funds received from the 2010
Tisch gala honoring Billy
Crystal supported the
modernization of what is now
known as the Jack Crystal
Theater on the building’s
5th floor.
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Left to right:
Richard, Billy
and Joel
Crystal,
unveiling the
dedication
plaque at the
Jack Crystal Theater
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Left to
right: Joel and
Billy Crytstal,
Dean Allyson
Green and
Richard Crystal,
posing with the
dedication
plaque at the
Jack Crystal
Theater
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Jack Crystal
Theater
dedication
plaque
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Billy Crystal
speaks at NYU
Tisch School of
the Arts' Jack
Crystal Theater
Dedication
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“The Crystal family
history is woven into these walls.
Jack Crystal filled this space with
joy. He daringly paired integrated
teams of artists in this theater
night after night, and along the
way, exposed his son to a rich
history in the arts. We’re
enormously proud to count that son,
Billy Crystal, as an alumnus, and we
are grateful to Billy and his wife,
Janice, for the tremendous
generosity they have shown to our
students year after year,” said Dean
Green. “The Jack Crystal Theater
honors the legacy of the entire
Crystal family and is a place in
which we will continue to develop
and support new artists for years to
come.”
“My family and I are moved and
honored that this theater is now
named for my father,” said Billy
Crystal. “Jack Crystal was a rare
man who devoted his life to the
nurturing of great musicians and
their music. The thought that young
artists will grow and express
themselves in this space is
incredibly powerful to me.”
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Jack Crystal
Theater at NYU
Tisch School
of the Arts
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NYU Tisch School
of the Arts Dean
Allyson Green
speaks at the
Jack Crystal
Theater
Dedication
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Billy Crystal
speaks at NYU
Tisch School of
the Arts' Jack
Crystal Theater
Dedication
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Jack Crystal
Theater
Dedication at
NYU Tisch School
of the Arts
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The Jack
Crystal Theater provides
performance and rehearsal
space to students in the
school’s Institute of
Performing Arts. Central
Plaza was built in 1928,
with apartments on the upper
floors and piano store on
the main floor where George
Gershwin practiced and
composed. It was also the
site of a successful
catering business, feeding
and entertaining as many as
4,000 people each weekend.
In 1949, Jack Crystal began
producing legendary jazz
concerts in the theater.
Today, the building’s
200-seat theater still
retains its original art
deco stenciling and molding,
coupled with
state-of-the-art sound and
lighting equipment,
facilitating almost 100
professional-grade
performances annually.
About Tisch
School of the Arts
For 50 years, the Tisch School
of the Arts has drawn on the
vast resources of New York City
and New York University to
create an extraordinary training
ground for artists, scholars of
the arts, and creative
entrepreneurs. One of the
world's leading centers of
undergraduate and graduate study
in the arts, the Tisch School of
the Arts offers acting, dance,
design, performance, film,
animation, writing for musical
theatre, stage, screen &
television, preservation,
recorded music, photography,
interactive media, games, and
public policy.
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