Stella Holt served as managing director of the off-Broadway Greenwich Mews Theater in New York City for 15 years.
12 Facts About Stella Holt
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Stella Holt became managing director of the Greenwich Mews Theater in 1952.
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Stella Holt went on to produce 38 plays over her 15 years at the 200-seat theater, located in the Village Presbyterian Church.
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Stella Holt's preference was for "plays of serious content, poetic quality".
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Stella Holt quickly began encouraging his directorial work, including a production of Sean O'Casey's Red Roses for Me.
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Stella Holt produced the work of many leading Black writers, including Langston Hughes, Loften Mitchell, Alice Childress, Bill Gunn, and William Branch.
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Stella Holt produced Langston Hughes's musical Simply Heavenly in May 1957, with a budget of $4,200 and a cast that starred Mel Stewart and Claudia McNeil.
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In 1965 Stella Holt produced Hughes's Prodigal Son at the Greenwich Mews, directed by Vinnette Carroll.
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Prodigal Son drew large crowds in New York, and buoyed by this success Stella Holt put together a European tour.
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Stella Holt served as the executive secretary of the Citizens' Committee of the Upper West Side.
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Stella Holt decided to rename the Greenwich Mews Theater in honor of Langston Hughes after his death in May 1967.
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Stella Holt's Legacy continues on in her one living relative, Jami Delia McCluskey-Filiault, who is writing about her and promoting her legacy with theater groups, colleges and more.