FLATIRON — The Flatiron Hotel is looking for a few good artists.
The new hotel, owned by actor and businessman Robert “Toshi” Chan, issued an open call for artists and performers to fill spots in what will be a live, weekly theater performance inside the lobby on Broadway at West 26th Street.
The 64-room hotel plans to designate a theater space inside the lobby to be called Toshi’s Playhouse. The unusual hotel amenity is intended “to help our guests connect with the city’s theatrical community,” Chan said in a statement.
“This is an exhilarating opportunity to be part of an ongoing collaboration between the hotel and the entire creative community of New York City,” Chan added. “It’s important to us that we become an integral part of the creative fabric of the neighborhood, providing a venue for creativity whenever possible.”
The theater is part of Chan's unique mission to offer a boutique hotel and a live performance space in one place, according to a press release.
Chan has appeared on television and Broadway, including a stint as a gang leader in the 2006 Martin Scorsese film “The Departed.”
The theater space inside the new hotel is currently under construction. Once complete, Chan said it will resemble something like “the offspring of Carnegie Hall and a Prohibition-style speakeasy clubhouse.”
Chan operates a slew of short-term apartment rentals in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Last year, one of those properties—at 325 E. 10th Street—was investigated by the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement and cited for operating illegally.
In advance of the theater opening, hotel staffers are accepting CDs, scripts, transcripts, photos and general ideas from artists. A spokeswoman said that, so far, they have gotten just a few “bites” from poets and musicians and other performers.
Once the shows begin, they will be posted regularly on YouTube and on the hotel’s website.
Artists interested in applying for a spot in a Toshi’s Playhouse production can call 212-839-8000 or email curator@flatironhotel.com.
