Marty Chandler

For those who have never been to E 4th St, the city’s famous “Fourth Arts Block,” tucked amidst a handful of theatres and shops sits Rod Rodgers Dance Company (RRDC). Founded in the 1960s by esteemed dancer and teacher Rod Rodgers, the legacy of the company’s founder is carried on by its current dancers and leadership, including Artistic Director Kim Grier-Martinez and General Manager Rachel Lubell, the latter of whom told me her story as part of the company on a busy Thursday this fall.

January 22, 2026 by Marty Chandler

IN HONOR OF JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT has taken the stage here at the NYTW 4th St Theatre, with sold-out audiences and additional performances for its run in the Under the Radar Festival this January. Creator and performer Roger Guenveur Smith took a moment before a stacked two-show day to chat with NYTW Education & Engagement Associate Marty Chandler about the piece, its history, and Basquiat’s legacy.

January 15, 2026 by Marty Chandler

Our Casebook program pulls back the curtain on one show in the Workshop’s season each year, and this year, participants spent eight weeks taking a behind-the-scenes look at the making of TARTUFFE. From conversations with the generative artists to sitting in on tech rehearsal, Casebook participants (or “Casebookers”) learned all about what goes into taking a new work from page to stage at an Off-Broadway theatre company. NYTW Education & Engagement Associate Marty Chandler chatted with a few Casebookers to recap what Casebook covered this year and hear about their experience in the program. Let’s hear what they had to say!

December 22, 2025 by Marty Chandler

Before SATURDAY CHURCH hit the NYTW stage, and before Damon Cardasis wrote and directed his 2017 film, the West Village-based Church of St. Luke in the Fields opened its doors to members of the LGBTQ+ community and has continued to do so for generations.

Art & Acceptance, St. Luke’s Saturday evening drop-in program for LGBTQ+ young adults, inspired the story at the heart of the film and now musical, serving as a place for the protagonist Ulysses to find community, belonging, and self-expression. The program still runs every Saturday.

September 17, 2025 by Marty Chandler

After months of collaboration, it’s finally here! A TRIPTYCH OF TIME, a new piece created and performed by the 2024/25 Youth Artistic Instigators premieres this week. The Workshop’s youth ensemble is comprised this year of twenty-four students from across the city, who have been working together since October to devise a story to speak to and for their generation in this present moment.

April 18, 2025 by Marty Chandler

It’s super fun and super busy to work at New York Theatre Workshop as a 2050 Administrative Fellow, so I sat down with two of my fellow fellows to keep track of what each of us do day to day. My name is Marty Chandler (Education & Engagement), and I’m joined by Tyra Mishell (Marketing) and Salwa Meghjee (Artistic Workshop). Any given week at the Workshop is different, since there are always new and different events, programs, or shows happening, so we did our best to give you a sense of most of what we do. (We threw in some of our favorite local recommendations, too!) Read all about it below!

March 4, 2025 by Marty Chandler

Despite the cold weather outside the walls of the Workshop, the room feels warm as I watch Khawla Ibraheem’s performance of A Knock on the Roof. I can feel how the audience around me is moved by Khawla’s performance as Mariam, a mother rehearsing how she and her family can run from the titular evacuation warning. Collectively, we consider the questions she asks of us (or individually, answer aloud when asked directly). Parents in the audience laugh at Mariam’s complaints about her family. All of us feel the weight she carries throughout her story.

February 11, 2025 by Marty Chandler