206 East 11th Street ca. 1934

All Saints Ukrainian Church has been faced with stucco for as long as most people can remember.

This building was constructed in 1851-52 and originally housed the Welsh Congregational Church, which continued to operate out of the building until well into the 20th century. In 1944 the building was sold to the Free Magyar Reformed Church of New York for a Hungarian congregation.

It remained a church until 1960 when it was converted to an off-Broadway playhouse owned by St. John Terrell, “a flamboyant Chicago-born actor and impresario who pronounced his name Sinjin and led a campaign to clear Richard III’s blackened name,” according to his 1998 obituary in the New York Times. A renowned and eccentric talent, Terrell left behind a great legacy as the founder of the Lambertville Music Circus in New Jersey and the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, PA. Terrell was known for being a showman, and every Christmas Day for 25 years he dressed as George Washington to re-enact his famous 1776 crossing of the Delaware River.

“Moon on a Rainbow Shawl,” the East 11th Street Theatre’s first show, began its run in 1962 starring a young James Earl Jones whose career was just taking off. He received an Obie for his performance in the show.

The building’s run as a theater was short-lived, however, and by 1971 it resumed use as a church operated by the All Saints Ukrainian Orthodox Church of NYC, Inc, which still occupies the building today.