Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Andre Bishop, Artistic Director, and Bernard Gersten, Executive Producer) has announced plans to expand its operations to the roof of the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Construction will begin this spring on a 23,000 square foot, two-story addition which is designed by noted architect Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture. Budgeted at $41 million, it will house a 131-seat theater and dressing rooms, as well as much needed rehearsal and office space for the LCT staff and an outdoor terrace surrounded by a green roof. The theater will be named the Claire Tow Theater, in honor of the wife of longtime LCT Board Member Leonard Tow, recognizing the Tow Foundation's outstanding leadership support. It will become the home of LCT3, Lincoln Center Theater's programming initiative dedicated to producing the work of new artists and the development of new audiences. Completion of the project is anticipated in late 2011 - early 2012.
This new project will bring to fruition Lincoln Center Theater's long held desire for a third theater to present the work of the next generation of LCT's playwrights, directors and designers. As plans evolved for the campus-wide Lincoln Center Development Project, which is making Lincoln Center more open and accessible, this new addition became a reality as well. The Claire Tow Theater will play a vital role in this expansion with LCT3 productions adding a new dimension of creative activity, as well as bringing a new audience, to Lincoln Center. Paige Evans is the Director of LCT3.
This new addition is designed by renowned architect Hugh Hardy of H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture LLC and is intended to be LEED Silver certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. It will mark a homecoming of sorts for Mr. Hardy who early in his career worked on the design of the Vivian Beaumont Theater as the assistant to designer Jo Mielziner who, with architect Eero Saarinen, designed the Lincoln Center structure that also houses the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.
Lincoln Center Theater has established a Capital Campaign to fund the construction cost as well as to provide endowment and operating funds for LCT3 programming in the new theater. The Capital Campaign has raised 90% of the $41 million construction cost with generous leadership support from Lincoln Center Theater's Board of Directors and Lincoln Center. The additional funds needed will be raised during the public phase of the Capital Campaign.
Lincoln Center Theater created LCT3 to offer new artists fully staged productions. Each year LCT3 will produce a season of new plays and musicals in its new home. LCT3 not only serves as a nurturing arena for artists to hone their skills but will also provide a stepping stone for these artists who, it is hoped, will continue their professional lives at LCTs larger venues. All tickets to LCT3 productions are priced at an affordable $20.00.
Currently in its second season (where it has performed at The Duke on 42nd Street, a New 42nd Street® project, and where it will continue to perform until its new home at Lincoln Center is ready), LCT3's past productions include Clay, a one-man hip-hop musical written and performed by Matt Sax, directed by Eric Rosen, and the plays Stunning by David Adjmi, directed by Anne Kaufmann, and What Once We Felt by Ann Marie Healy, directed by Ken Rus Schmoll. Upcoming LCT3 productions include Graceland a new play by Ellen Fairey, directed by Henry Wishcamper (May 3 - May 29), and On The Levee a play with music, conceived and directed by Lear deBessonet, play by Marcus Gardley and music and lyrics by Todd Almond (June 14 - July 10).
Lincoln Center Theater is currently celebrating its 25th year with a season consisting entirely of new work. This fall LCT presented the New York and world premieres of Nathan Louis Jackson's Broke-ology, directed by Thomas Kail, Sarah Ruhl's In The Next Room or the vibrator play, directed by Les Waters, and What Once We Felt, This spring, in addition to the aforementionEd Graceland and On The Levee, LCT will produce the American premiere of Andrew Bovell's When The Rain Stops Falling, directed by David Cromer beginning Thursday, February 11 in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, followed by the world premiere of A.R Gurney's The Grand Manner, to be directed by Mark Lamos, beginning Sunday, May 30. In addition, LCT's Tony Award winning production of Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific, directed by Bartlett Sher, continues its record-breaking run in the Vivian Beaumont Theater.
THE TOW FOUNDATION, founded in 1988, supports innovative projects and collaborative ventures where there is a shortage of both public and private funding and opportunities for breakthroughs, reforms and significant benefits to society. Investments have been made in areas of groundbreaking medical research, the performing arts, higher education, vulnerable families and juvenile justice system reform. www.towfoundation.org.
Aided by their extensive experience in design of cultural institutions, New York-based H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture has been working closely with Lincoln Center Theater to help create a special place. "This project's core belief in attracting a new generation to Lincoln Center Theater is a brave commitment to the future of American Theater," says Hugh Hardy, principal of H3. The rooftop addition complements the aesthetic and structural clarity of Saarinen's original design with a carefully proportioned rectangular volume set against the existing stage tower. The veiled, transparent addition brings new life and activity to the roof of the Beaumont, while housing new artistic programming that moves Lincoln Center Theater into the future. H3, a leader in the planning and design of cultural institutions, is dedicated to creation of memorable and engaging public places.
