SOUND OFF: Lincoln Center History With Patti LuPone

Tonight at 8 PM, PBS/Thirteen in NYC will be airing one of the most comprehensive and revealing documentaries of its kind all about one of the most important theatrical venues in the world, Lincoln Center. The enthralling hour-long doc is hosted and narrated by Broadway baby and a superstar herself at the various venues of Lincoln Center many times over - most famously, perhaps, in ANYTHING GOES in 1987 and her own solo show MATTERS OF THE HEART; plus, this century, the film of COMPANY: IN CONCERT, today's Emmy-nominated SONDHEIM! The Birthday Concert and much more at Avery Fisher Hall - the one and only Patti LuPone. Tracing the origins of the creation of the three-block big performing arts center in what was once a residential neighborhood - the first of its kind in the USA when construction began in the early 1960s - all the way through the recent, extensive renovation, TREASURES OF NEW YORK: LINCOLN CENTER is an engrossing treat for fans of theatre, opera, ballet, architecture and the arts in America in general. Don't miss it!

History & Hats

Documentaries on theatrical institutions are few and far between, so it is a rare privilege to view one so lovingly created and seamlessly enacted as TREASURES OF NEW YORK: LINCOLN CENTER. Every element is just right - and no segment overstays its welcome. Frankly, it could have been even longer given the riveting history and plethora of performance footage they could have included - yet, it is edited with precision and dexterity. Clocking in at only an hour, this doc manages to pack in performance clips, vintage reels, computer visualizations, real-time footage, talking-head interviews and, the crème de la crème, an ideal host and narrator in two-time Tony-winning Broadway legend Patti LuPone. From her sensitive and thoughtful recollections of time spent on the campus of Lincoln Center from her early days at Juilliard to the first time she visited the Metropolitan Opera and witnessed the crystal chandeliers rising pre-performance - incidentally, an anecdote also shared by David Rockwell, who was instrumental in designing two of the new underground theaters that are part of the extensive renovation underway - up to taking the role of Reno Sweeney in the 1987 Lincoln Center Theater's revival of ANYTHING GOES at the Vivian Beaumont and marrying her husband on that very stage during the run, and, later, starring in her hit one-woman-show MATTERS OF THE HEART there, then - bringing it all into the 21st century - starring in a string of successful concert productions with director Lonny Price such as CANDIDE, PASSION: LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER, and, most recently, last year‘s SONDHEIM! The Birthday Concert (which just today received an Emmy nomination), as well as the feature film of COMPANY: IN CONCERT; the building holds a special place in Patti LuPone's heart much like the special place she herself holds in the hearts of Broadway babies in New York and around the world thanks to her supreme talent and searing performances. Patti LuPone is a New York landmark, after all - just like Lincoln Center.

Featuring everything from a vintage black and white kinescope of an ever-smoking Leonard Bernstein introducing the New York Philharmonic as only Lenny could, to a simply spell-binding cell-phone video of the very first instrument (a cello) played in the wee small hours of the morning during construction in the ensemble's newly renovated space as an acoustics check; behind-the-scenes glimpses of the Met in the 1960s featuring the divas and costumers of yore, to stunning HD footage of the hi-tech production of Wagner's DIE WULKERE live onstage in 2010; ballet corps and SWAN LAKE to Broadway hoofers and SOUTH PACIFIC; Juilliard, the New York City Ballet, Jazz At Lincoln Center and far, far beyond - TREASURES OF NEW YORK: LINCOLN CENTER is fascinating, revealing and insightful in a way few documentaries succeed in being. It's a real treat, all around. While the Broadway baby in me wishes more time had been spent on the Lincoln Center Theater complex and the two theaters within it, one being a Broadway house no less - the Vivian Beaumont, which is the only venue recognized as such outside of the theater district; alongside the Off-Broadway one, Mitzi E. Newhouse - news of a third theatre being built atop the pre-existing double-decker building gives me hope we will perhaps see a Part 2 of this documentary once the next stage of construction has been completed. It seems work has just begun on what will be an even more impressive performance arts venue unlike any other in the entire world. Yes, indeed - this brings us to perhaps the most innovative and intriguing aspect of the entire enterprise: the visualizations! To see how painstakingly the designers adapted the old design into a new modern space is almost shocking. Side-by-side visualizations left me agog. The simple fact that Lincoln Center employed artists known most for their art installations - such as new the video welcome screens at JFK International Airport - reveals much of the avant garde and oh-so-apropos renovation that only an idiosyncratic physical structure such as the original design, and, furthermore, only an innovative and forward-thinking organization such as Lincoln Center could, would and did - thankfully - demand. The result is otherworldly and unlike anything in modern New York - just like Lincoln Center. Go see it, take it all in and, if you dare, take a load off on the mid-air lawn if you already haven't - it's like Mars in the middle of Manhattan! Revolutionary, really.

TREASURES OF NEW YORK: LINCOLN CENTER gives us one more reason to love and cherish the home of so many revolutionary plays, ballets, operas, musicals and special events, Lincoln Center, and also affords us yet another opportunity to thank PBS for coming through in a major way and doing the history, goals and future of the venue total and complete justice in such a professional, entertaining and engrossing way. The perfect way to pass a summer evening for fans of the performing arts!

UPDATE: You may now view the entire program here at the official PBS/Thirteen website!