Renovated Public Theater to Include New Lounge

This fall The Public Theater will unveil its revitalized downtown home as the Company celebrates a milestone year that also includes the 50th anniversary of the Delacorte Theater, home to Shakespeare in the Park. The revitalization will transform the lobby into a piazza where audiences, artists, and the public will engage with one another. A central element of the project is the addition of The Library at The Public Theater, a new lounge serving food and drinks on the lobby's expanded mezzanine level. The Library at The Public Theater is named in honor of the landmark building's original use as the Astor Library, New York City's first public library.

"The Library is where our audience and artists can meet, talk, eat, drink, and extend the conversation past the curtain call. It's going to be a beautiful expression of the community of The Public Theater," said Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis.

Acclaimed Chef Andrew Carmellini and restaurateur Luke Ostrom have joined Joe's Pub Partners, which has operated the food and beverage service at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater for more than 14 years, to direct the expanded dining options, which will now also include The Library, lobby concessions, and catering.

The Library at The Public Theater will serve classic cocktails, wine, and craft beers and an American menu of classic and signature dishes, appetizers, bar snacks, and desserts nightly until 2 a.m. The Library is a perfect downtown destination to connect before or after the theater. As part of the expanded food and beverage offerings starting this fall, patrons will be able to experience the dynamic new food and drink menu at The Library or while enjoying a show at Joe's Pub.
"Theater is a shared experience, and The Library at The Public Theater will be a continuation of that experience, where patrons, artists, and people in the neighborhood can gather for food, drink, and conversation. This intimate new space offers something different from the live music atmosphere at Joe's Pub, making The Public's downtown home a place where all are welcome,"
noted Chef Andrew Carmellini. "The revitalization project is momentous for downtown New York
and we are looking forward to playing our part."

The Library will be a welcoming gathering space in the East Village for Public Theater artists
and audiences, as well as the larger community. Designed by The Rockwell Group, the 2,000-
square-foot space on the new mezzanine level draws design inspiration from the building's
original use as a public library, incorporating vintage elements-including a textured area rug in
The Library's central gathering area, distressed leather chairs, and industrial steel-frame
bookcases along the perimeter of the room-intended to invoke a cozy and informal
environment.

"We created a space that will make guests feel like they have found the type of vintage library
lounge you might stumble upon in a hidden corner of the New York Public Library," said David
Rockwell, Founder and CEO of the Rockwell Group. "We also designed the space with a nod to
The Public Theater's continued spirit of making art accessible to all, while also paying homage
to the building's rich history."

The revitalization of The Public's downtown home in the former Astor Library has been designed
by Ennead Architects (formerly Polshek Partnership). A physical expression of the democratic
values at The Public's core, the project encompasses enhancements to the building's interior
and exterior while preserving the historic structure-creating a dynamic dialogue between The
Public and the street and transforming the lobby into a public piazza and gathering space. The
Public's revitalized lobby will also encourage the cross-pollination of audiences from the five
theaters and Joe's Pub, and the new Library at The Public Theater.

The project has been undertaken in phases so The Public could continue to serve audiences at
its downtown location throughout the four-year process. Renovations to Joe's Pub, a venue for
emerging and established musical artists, have already been completed-creating improved
sightlines and seating for audiences.

The $40 million project is funded through a public-private partnership, with more than 95%
raised to date. Individuals, foundations, corporations, as well as state and local government
have contributed to the project, including an initial $27.5 million provided by the City of New
York.

Kevin Abbott, Serge Becker, Josh Pickard and Paul Salmon have been the food and beverage
partners at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater since 1998. Part of The Public Theater, Joe's Pub is one of New York City's most celebrated and in-demand showcase venues for live music and performance. In conjunction with The Public's revitalization, celebrated restaurateurs Luke Ostrom and Chef Andrew Carmellini have joined the partnership in supplying food and beverage service to The Public Theater's new and existing outlets: The Library at The Public Theater, Joe's Pub, lobby concessions and catering within the building. Carmellini, Ostrom, and Pickard are best known for creating the wildly popular Locanda Verde in The Greenwich Hotel (2009) and The Dutch in SoHo and Miami Beach (2011). Becker has created a string of seminal New York nightlife and dining venues including La Esquina (2005), The Box (2007), Cafe Select (2008), Superlinda (2012) and his latest, La Bodega Negra in London. Salmon is chairman of Rockhouse Hotel, an award-winning boutique hotel on the cliffs of Negril, Jamaica, and Rockhouse Foundation, a New York-based charity that has raised and invested over $1.25 million on improving the lives of children in Jamaica. He partners with Becker at Miss Lily's & Melvin's Juice Box (2011), their Caribbean diner and juice bar in SoHo. Abbott is the founding Managing Director of Joe's Pub LLC Partners and shares a 14-year work history with Pickard at Time Café & Fez, Pickard's iconic live music and restaurant collaboration opened with Becker in 1990, and Chinatown Brasserie in the same space on Lafayette Street in 2006. Pickard is also known for his SoHo restaurants, Lure Fishbar (2004) and Burger & Barrel (2010).

Rockwell Group is an award winning, cross-disciplinary 140-person architecture and design firm specializing in cultural, hospitality, retail, product, and set design. Based in New York, with a satellite office in Madrid, the firm crafts a unique narrative and an immersive environment for each project. Rockwell's interest in theater has informed much of the firm's work, including: the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center at Lincoln Center; the Children's Hospital at Montefiore; W Hotel New York, Union Square and Paris-Opèra; Maialino at the Gramercy Park Hotel; the central Marketplace of the JetBlue terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport; the Walt Disney Family Museum; the Robin Hood Foundation's L!brary Initiative; the Cohen Children's Medical Center; set design for the 2009 and 2010 Academy Awards ceremonies; the Kodak Theatre, Los Angeles; Nobu restaurants worldwide; set design for Broadway's Hairspray; and the Imagination Playground initiative. In May 2010 David Rockwell was inducted into the James Beard Foundation Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America. He was also honored with the 2009 Pratt Institute Legends Award, and the 2008 National Design Award for Interior Design from Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt. For more information, please visit www.rockwellgroup.com.

About The Public Theater The only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare and the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure, The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to the beloved, free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Shakespeare Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all, new and experimental stagings at its downtown home, and a range of artist and audience development initiatives including its Public Forum series, which brings together theater artists and professionals from a variety of disciplines for discussions that shed light on social issues explored in Public productions. The Public is located on property owned in full by the City of New York, and its operation is made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. www.publictheater.org