On a wintry night in New York’s West Village, MIKE makes an off-Broadway debut. In a live, three-night run of his Tiny Desk performance, the Brooklyn-born artist and his Band of the Century commanded the stage at Cherry Lane Theatre, taking audiences into an immersive sonic journey, riding lines between hip hop, neo-jazz, funk and gospel with ease. The rapper found home in this newfound theatrical side, and spectators reflected that warmth back onto him.
While an experimental rap set may not be top of mind for the average off-Broadway-goer, the performance embodied the kind of creative friction that’s defined Cherry Lane, the now A24-backed downtown staple, since its founding. After acquiring the space in 2023, the indie powerhouse finally threw open the iconic, cherry red doors last September, welcoming audiences into a new chapter for the century-old theater.
Nestled in the charming, cobblestoned corner of Commerce Street and Cherry Lane, the theater, billed as the “Birthplace of Off-Broadway,” wears its history proudly. Complimenting its preserved exteriors, the interior details keep a vintage sensibility intact. Visitors are greeted by a retro concession stand stocked with merch, drinks, cocktails and showtime fares, surrounded by photographs of legends that have passed through those same doors. Wild Cherry, the art-house supper club by Frenchette’s chefs, is just beyond the lobby, for those looking for an elevated “dinner and a show.”
Cherry Lane Theatre
Cherry Lane Theatre
Cherry Lane Theatre
Under new management, the theater has added music, film and comedy shows to its calendar, alongside its storied slate of theatrical programming. Since its re-opening the space has hosted Sofia Coppola’s curated Sunday film series; Spike Lee‘s 25th Hour screening; cozy performances by MIKE, Tame Impala and Lizzy McAlpine; a set by Ramy Youssef; the one-woman Weer; with Clare Barron’s You Got Older, Alia Shawkat’s stage debut, on deck for 2026. All at just 166 seats, Cherry Lane packs a punch.
For its first official, in-person venture, A24 is putting intimacy first – a choice that, while aligned with its auteur-esque roots, can feel at odds with its global scale in recent years. With the fear of small theater’s flattening commercialization heavy in the air, the move hasn’t gone without its fair share of skepticism: What’s a Hollywood heavy hitter doing in off-Broadway’s corner of town?
The studio, as its made clear in recent months, isn’t interested in reinventing the wheel, nor are they banking on major financial return. Rather, the revival reads more as a cultural expansion, and it’s letting the avant-garde spirit of Cherry Lane’s past and present – and future – speak for itself.
Founded by a group of downtown bohemians in 1923, the theater has always been a by-artists-for-artists counter to the Broadway scene, championing creative risk-taking, nontraditional storytelling and artistic ambition unburdened by the commercial pressures of mainstream theater. Over the years, that modest stage has hosted a star-studded range, with Barbra Streisand, Stephen Sondheim, Samuel Beckett, Pablo Picasso, James Dean, John Malkovich, F. Scott Fitzgerald among the sort.
As it stands today, Cherry Lane aims to keep this experimental ethos close at heart. While occasional film tie-ins may occur, A24’s cinematic involvement has largely taken a backseat role, with heavy resistance to turn the theater into an IP playground. Instead, as head of programming Dani Rait told the New York Times, the theater is positioned as an independent space that can breathe on its own, a place for discovery that can intersect with the studio’s ecosystem without being defined by it.
From the stage, to the silver screen, back to the stage again, renewed interest in small theaters like Cherry Lane, speaks to a shift in American entertainment, and culture at large: a place for us to satisfy a hunger for presence. As industry grows ever more optimized and algorithmic, spaces like this quench a desire for meaning, to wrestle with it and, together, in the flesh, make sense of art.
As the house empties at Cherry Lane, audiences slip back through its glossy red doors, just as generations of writers, performers and artists have done before. When everything is documented, distributed, there’s power in the fleeting. Whether it’s a rap set, experimental play or a film screening hosted by one of the greats, the theater keeps its bets big on art made for the moment, works meant to be experienced — you just have to be there.
