Adult theater group? Look at The Y

To the editor:

(re: “Neighborhood House introduces adult theater group,” Oct. 12)

I read with interest Ms. Moustakas’ article. Do the good folks at Neighborhood House seriously believe they are bringing “something that is lacking” in North Riverdale by introducing a “community theater place for adults”?

Have they ever visited their (practically next door) neighbors?

Since 1985, the Riverdale YM-YWHA on Arlington Avenue has been the permanent home to local teen and adult theater groups, first under the aegis of the late Sue Rose, and for the past 17 years under the talented helm of Broadway veteran Laurie Walton, who also brings in Broadway “ringers” for a one-night performance of a popular musical every spring as a fundraiser for The Y’s Rising Stars, its youth theater program.

Before The Y’s current location at 5625 Arlington, the theater program made use of a small stage in the main hall of the former American Legion building at West 250th Street and Henry Hudson Parkway. There, in the 1960s and 1970s, I was bitten by the theater bug and inspired to become a professional actress. I can still hear Sue Rose keeping time in my ear, her candy apple lipstick perfectly matching her peep toe shows and her Lucille Ball-hued coiffure.

Google Maps puts The Riverdale Y at barely a quarter mile (0.3 miles to be exact) from Neighborhood House. Hardly a schlep for Ms. Herbert and Mr. Adelman. 

Bring an adult theater group to the Bronx? It’s been here for well over three decades!

Leslie Carroll