Christopher Reeve was an unforgettable presence on the New York theater scene in the 1970s before landing his life-changing role in Superman.
Some of these early recordings are shown in Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Storywhich premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The documentary showed a stark contrast between the late icon’s life before and after a tragic riding accident in 1995 that left him paralyzed.
Remembering Reeve from his early pre-superstar days, Crystal Field, co-founder and artistic director of Theater for the New City, the off-off-Broadway theater where Reeve played one of his first roles in Berchtesgaden, talked to PEOPLE.
“He was a guard. He didn’t have a big role,” recalls NYC native Field, who was 23 at the time and fresh out of Juilliard. “Maybe he had a monologue, but I don’t remember a monologue. I remember him.”
“He was very handsome,” adds Field, also an actress who has appeared in films such as 1985. Silver bullet. “Tall. Broad shoulders. Beautiful voice. That’s what I remember. I remember him standing there.”
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Asked if the budding actor already possessed the star quality he’s become known for, Field says, “Oh yeah, he definitely does.”
The play is directed by Barbara Loden, winner of the Tony Award for her role in Arthur Miller’s 1964 film. After the fall, was “a very famous actress at the time,” says Field. “She was my best friend – she cast him in that role.”
Loden, who died in 1980, performed with legends such as Robert Redford. Her film from 1970 Wanda has referenced in 2016 The New Yorker as “one of the best American independent films ever made”. The same year Loden made his play debut, Reeve, appearing on stage with his roommate and best friend Robin Williams, landed his first Broadway role in A question of gravity with Katherine Hepburn.
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Just two years into his performances on and off Broadway, Reeve got his Superman the role, which was greeted with mixed emotions by his theater friends, some accusing him of “selling out”, but ironically, he would devote his entire life – and legacy – to giving it back.
Decades after Field first noticed Reeve at her theater, the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, which continues the philanthropic efforts of Reeve and his late wife, would help Theater for the New City, nicknamed TNC, by awarding a quality-of-life grant to four theaters the space is accessible to people in wheelchairs.
“It was very, very helpful support, but it had nothing to do with my relationship with Christopher Reeve, it had to do with the elevator we wanted to put in and they helped us get it,” says the Obie Award-winning actress. .
“We’re actually being considered for another grant because we want to make our doors more wheelchair accessible,” Field continues. “You can get a wheelchair over it – but we want to be able to press a button and the door opens for you to get in a wheelchair.”
Described by New York playwright Claude Solnik as “hardworking” and “committed,” Field worked tirelessly to keep her theater operating for more than 50 years. “We opened in the spring of 1971,” she says proudly.
Originally located in the West Village, the theater moved to Manhattan’s East Village in 1986. The Pulitzer Prize-winning community cultural center, as described on their website, is known for its community service. Every year, TNC produces 30-40 new American plays, such as Solnikova Fun and games.
TNC, whose productions have won more than 40 Obie Awards and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, was once the stage for artists such as Sam Shepard, Tim Robbins, Adrien Brody and Nobel Prize winner Gao Xingjian.
Proud to host many free festivals, according to TNC’s website, they strive to “inspire future theater artists from New York City’s often overlooked, low-income minority communities by producing minority writers from around the world.”
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Source: HIS Education