By Julie Shapiro
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
TRIBECA — Rising rents and grumpy neighbors are forcing Manhattan Children's Theatre to relocate out of TriBeCa after nearly 10 years of enthralling the neighborhood's kids.
The theater is moving out of its White Street home next month after complaints from condo owners in the building that the exuberant young audiences make too much of a racket, said Chris Alonzo, the managing director.
"They were not prepared for the reality of it — an entire theater full of excitable children," Alonzo said.
Manhattan Children's Theatre is a rare playhouse that offers shows only for the school-aged set — a task that Alonzo said is more challenging and fulfilling than adult theater.
"You can't fake it with kids," Alonzo said. "Kids will tell you if it sucks. Whereas adults will just sit there and say, 'Not my favorite,' kids will jump straight up and yell, 'I'm bored!' It's a lot harder."
Children's theater also has to be funny without being dirty and moving without using storyline shorthand that adults recognize but kids may not understand, he said.
The theatre will temporarily move around the corner to share space with Access Theater on Broadway but rising rents in the area mean the theatre will have to relocate again in 2012, likely to Chelsea, Alonzo said.
"TriBeCa has gotten too pricey," Alonzo said. "There was a period about a year ago where we said we were definitely going to stay in TriBeCa. Then we said, 'Well, we'll definitely stay downtown.'"
Now, Alonzo said, the theatre is just focused on finding a space they can afford — no matter where it is. Alonzo is eyeing a new building rising in Chelsea that will open in the fall of 2012 and said he has also looked at some spaces on the Lower East Side.
Alonzo said despite the space and fiscal challenges, he is not worried about waning demand for live theater among the iPhone generation.
"As long as theater concentrates on what we can do that movies and TV can't, we'll be fine," Alonzo said. "You're sitting feet away from live musicians and actors — it's a much more exciting, universal experience."
Young audiences have one last chance to catch Manhattan Children's Theatre at 52 White St.: The theater's final show there, the original "The Complete Works of the Brothers Grimm (Abridged)," is running until May 30.
The theatre is also holding an adults-only benefit May 19 from 6 to 9 p.m. at 52 White St. The $20 ticket includes champagne, cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and performances by Rusty Guns, Stuff Happens, Andrea Steiner & Julie Basem, Out of the Woods, Jessica Krueger and more.
