Home Is Where the Artist Is
apartment building is home to bevy of actors and artists
against a bright blue sky, the red bricks of the aurora house appear illuminated as it reaches into the heavens. but for the artists and other creative types who live within the upper west side apartment building, heaven is actually found within the door of the 30-story apartment building.
"i feel like one of the luckiest people ever for getting in this place," said andy redeker, an actor and mc who has lived on the 26th floor for eight years.
among a chorus of rockettes, extras from law and order, artists and dozens of theater workers, redeker joins 171 other residents who call the building home.
established in 1996, the aurora house, soon to be re-christened "the dorothy ross freidman residence," after the freidman family who helped support the project, is run by the actors fund. the purpose of the aurora house is to provide affordable housing to artists, writers, theater workers, people with hiv and aids and the elderly in a city notorious for pricing out its most creative members.
"actors and artists earn so little, it's important for them to have decent housing," said joe benincasa, actors fund president and ceo. "this is one of the roles the actors fund is playing."
the nonprofit also keeps their offices on the second floor, a bonus, said resident raissa dorff, who has utilized their resources to help with her theater troupe, the active theater company, which she started in february 2009. she loves that they let her group practice their plays in the large, hardwood-floored community room, where she also hosts scene study groups.
originally from philadelphia, dorff moved to new york after receiving a ba in acting at the catholic university of america in washington, d.c. after a friend hooked her up with a sublet in the aurora house, dorff decided she never wanted to leave. for a while she bounced from sublet to sublet in the building until she finally got a permanent spot, in 2001.
"it's wonderful to be able to live as an actor in the city and have that standard of living," she said. "we live in a really nice building with a doorman, with rent that is affordable, and in a nice area."
the apartments are all shares with two to four bedrooms, a washer and dryer, and almost every unit has a balcony. from his terrace on the 26th floor, redeker covets his view of the hudson river.
"if anyone even starts to complain about living here, well, i just don't have time for that," he said. "aside from my amazing view and beautiful apartment, the staff that works here makes it a joy to come home every day."
like dorff, redeker also came to the building because of subletting. having just finished a tour with the musical titanic, he found himself running out of money and time to find a new place to live.
as he was getting kicked out of one place, the actors fund called and said they had a room for him, and he has been there ever since. he's busy as well: the chicago native was leaving for a trip to qatar, where he has a gig hosting and working with the doha tribeca film festival.
while redeker packed his bags, another aurora house resident was busy putting on a show. actor ron neill has thrown together an "alternative haunted house" with the production of i'm afraid at the living theater.
as one of the original tenants in the building, neill said he appreciates his home since it has "afforded me the luxury to be a performer, writer and director without having to kill myself to make ends meet."
though he has acted since he was a teenager in ripon, wis., neill's path to the aurora is different than the other residents. he graduated with a degree in philosophy and russian from grinnell in iowa before following his current career move to london, where he attended theater school. then he came back to the states and worked on stage in chicago before settling in new york in 1995. now, neill manages the neo-futurists theater company, which does a piece consisting of 30 plays in 60 minutes called too much light makes the baby go blind at the kraine theater.
aside from hosting a bevy of actors and theater people at the aurora house, jonathan margolies of actors fund said that the house is broken into three populations: low-income workers, seniors and people with hiv and/or aids.
"clearly we prioritize the people in entertainment, but don't exclude others," he said. "it's just a hair under 80 percent of people in entertainment."
despite having 30 floors, it's not easy to get into the aurora house. first, you have to qualify and then you have to hope that you are one of the 10 to 15 people chosen each year to take up a spot.
when dorff first moved there, her first thought was, "i don't ever want to leave this building."
with the actors fund planing to open new residential units like the aurora in new york and in other big cities (so far they have four), hopefully more artists will have a chance to say the same thing.