Yale School of Drama Cabaret

The Yale Cabaret is a Tudor Revival house of weathered brick and stone, a style shared by its neighboring Yale buildings, binding them together in a cohesive urban enclave off of Park Street and tucked around Pierson College. The building holds space utilized by graduate students in the Yale School of Drama. On weekend nights, it becomes alive with performances open to the public at the Yale Cabaret dinner theater, which lies in the building’s basement.

Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity, who turned the building over to Yale University in 1950. (1) Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps suggest that the building's tenant history goes beyond the exchange between Phi Gamma Delta and Yale University. The 1923 Sanborn Maps that were updated to 1930 labeled the building as the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity house, while the 1923 maps updated to 1960 note the building as a general fraternity house. (6) (7)

Before the 1930s, the area that now houses the Yale Cabaret was one of low density, occupied by mostly private homes and some commercial and institutional buildings. (9) (10) The urban landscape along Park Street dramatically changed in the 1930s with the construction of Pierson College and numerous smaller buildings tucked around it, many of which serve to houses the  student fraternities that have pushed out of their previous meeting places due to University expansion. The new concentration of fraternities garnered the walkway that passes the current Yale Cabaret the unofficial title “Fraternity Row.” (6) Through following decades, both the Yale Cabaret building and its neighbors were slowly turned over to the university. (7)

The Yale Cabaret was designed by James Gamble Rogers and constructed in 1931, one of a number of houses erected at that time through the cooperation of both fraternities and Yale University. (4) Fraternities had been centers for Yale’s academic and social life since 1825, but in the 1930s they faced pressure from the university to move from their previous meeting places due to university expansion. (5) (4) The new concentration of fraternity houses on Park Street garnered the area the unofficial title of “Fraternity Row,” and the shift to these new Tudor Revival houses enabled fraternities to suddenly open up their gatherings to the greater student body. (4) Yet, university policy changes, with the introduction of the residential college system and required on-campus meals, in the following decades threatened fraternities’ presence on campus, especially their function as a student dining place. (4) Indeed, the residential college were rivals of these houses, intended to make the benefits of fraternity organizations available to everyone. (5) For much of the first half of the 20th century, the Yale Cabaret building was occupied by Phi Gamma Delta and its neighbors were home to Chi Psi, Zeta Psi, Psi Upsilon, and Beta Theta Pi. (6) (7) (8) Phi Gamma Delta gave the building over to Yale in 1950, and many of the old fraternities on “Fraternity Row” similarly closed their doors and followed suite. (3) Amidst the chaos of change in the 1960s, as the university becomes coed and New Haven faces numerous urban renewal campaigns, the building becomes a Yale School of Drama space and graduate theater students found the Yale Cabaret in the building’s basement in 1968. (1) (4) Ever since, the Yale Cabaret has been a vibrant student arts venue that hosts theater and dance performances, as well as an annual Drag show, performed by Yale School of Drama students. Furthermore, it serves as a meeting space for both Yale students and members of the greater New Haven community. (1)

The Yale Cabaret is situated in an area densely populated by Yale affiliated buildings, including Pierson College, Yale’s Afro-American Cultural Center, and Yale’s Theater Department Studies building. While they all serve various undergraduate and graduate purposes, the area has a strong architectural cohesiveness, as the buildings all share the Cabaret’s brick Tudor Revival style. 

The Yale Cabaret building is a house made of brick and stone with a hip and gable slate roof and was designed in the Tudor Revival Style. Its brick facade shows significant weathering and age, which is understandable as the house approaches being a century old. Only a small portion of the building faces onto Park Street. In fact, the main entrance is located on the side of building, slightly obscured from street view. The house has an unassuming demeanor. It does not proclaim itself, but blends in stylistically with the surrounding buildings and is largely hidden from street view. In contrast, its basement dinner theater has become famous and has been graced by performances of theater students who have gone off to become very prominent actors and actresses.  But perhaps it is, in fact, the perfect physical expression of the Yale Cabaret’s values as a place for experimentation and artistic exploration. Its quieter, non-overpowering presence strengthens the focus on the artistic performances and stories told every weekend.

The house still bears markers from the days that it served as a fraternity. The building’s side facing Park Street still displaces a stone sign detailing “Vernon Hall” and Phi Gamma Delta’s Greek Letters. Next to the main entrance remains the fraternity’s crest, comprised of an owl and three clematis blooms. (1) In addition, it now sports modern signs indicating that it is the location of the Yale Cabaret, which is celebrating its 50th year.

The house had alterations in the 1940s, with renovations to its stairs in 1945 and the erection of a temperature partition in its basement in 1946. Minor alterations to the basement, first and second floor were completed later in 1968, the year that the Yale Cabaret was founded. The house was renovated further in 1993 and 2016 to increase the buildings accessibility. In 1993, renovations were completed to create an exterior handicap ramp and interior handicap lifts. In 2016, the building was renovated to include a wheelchair lift. (2)

1. Yale Cabaret, “Our History,” https://www.cab50.org/history/
2. 217 Park Street Building Permit Renovation Cards
3. New Haven Historic Resources Inventory, Phase I: Essays and Methodology
4. Mark Alden Branch, “They’re Ba-ck!” http://archives.yalealumnimagazine.com/issues/98_10/frats.html
5. Jerel Bryant, “Tapping Into Fraternity Culture at Yale,” http://www.godeke.org/News/Phi_Chapter3.htm
6. Sanborn-Ferris Map Company, Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut 1923 updated to 1930
7. Sanborn-Ferris Map Company, Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut 1923 updated to 1960
8. Sanborn-Ferris Map Company, Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut, 1973, Vol. 2
9. Sanborn-Ferris Map Company, Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut, 1886, Vol. 2
10. Sanborn-Ferris Map Company, Insurance Maps of New Haven, Connecticut, 1901, Vol. 1
11. https://newhavenct.maps.arcgis.com/apps/Minimalist/index.html?appid=4db0c188c19845ee92a56da9dcf36446
12. http://gis.vgsi.com/newhavenct/Parcel.aspx?Pid=16771