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Carnegie Hall and City Center Join Artistic Forces in New Deal
By: BWW News Desk Dec. 02, 2005
"The proposed partnership between Carnegie Hall and New York City Center is extremely exciting. These two world-class organizations have coexisted across the street from one another for decades. Now, the combination of their extraordinary strengths will further enliven their neighborhood as it advances the city's cultural preeminence," stated New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
City Center, the home of Manhattan Theatre Club and where all Encores! musicals are performed, will be renovated at the end of the 2006-2007 season for a fall 2008 re-opening. Set at $150 million, the renovations would transform the main stage into a state-of-the-art venue for theatre and dance (with 2,220 seats). MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow and executive producer Barry Grove said, "This is the beginning of a process that was just announced today. Manhattan Theatre Club will continue to stay in close touch with New York City Center as plans unfold. We're hoping that their alliance with Carnegie Hall will lead to a wonderful new environment for all three institutions."
A new 25-person Partnership Board of Trustees will also be formed; it will comprise 14 members of the Carnegie Hall board, 8 members of New York City Center's board, and three outside directors. Sanford I. Weill, Carnegie Hall's current board chairman, will be the chairman of the Partnership Board, while Clive Gillenson, the executive/artistic director of Carnegie Hall, will be president of the board, Raymond A. Lamontagne, City Center's current board chairman, has been appointed as the board's vice president, and Arlene Shuler, the president and CEO of City Center, will serve as the board's executive vice president. Despite the joint efforts of the new board, however, both organizations will keep their own Boards of Trustees, separate 501(c)(3) status, and the use of current endowments.
For more information, visit www.carnegiehall.org or www.citycenter.org.
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