The Arena Stage Board of Trustees has voted to commence construction on the $125 million plan to renovate and expand the historic theater campus in Southwest, D.C. The theater will break ground in January of 2008, followed by two years of continuous on-site construction, and anticipates the new Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will open for the 2010/2011 season. The theater has currently raised $104 million of its $125 million fundraising goal since the Next Stage Campaign was launched in 2002.
Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater is named in honor of Life Trustee Jaylee Mead and her husband and longtime Arena Stage Trustee Gilbert Mead, who passed away in May, for their extraordinary gift of $35 million to the campaign. The Meads' gift is the largest ever made to an American regional theater. The Center will be a breathtaking expansion of the current campus, allowing Arena Stage to focus on the strengths of the two existing spaces - The Fichancher Stage and the Kreeger Theater - while reinventing the surrounding building and adding a 200-seat space dedicated to premiering American theater, The Cradle.
To allow for a timely and cost-effective renovation, Arena Stage will move to a temporary home in Crystal City, Virginia at the Crystal Forum. A five-minute drive from the current location in Southwest D.C., the Crystal Forum is close to Reagan National Airport and one block from the Crystal City Metro station, which is serviced by both the Blue and Yellow Metro lines. The Crystal City area boasts many well-known restaurants and has free evening and weekend parking within walking distance to the theater. Arena Stage is currently renovating the Forum to accommodate patrons and productions for the next two and a half seasons while the Mead Center is being built. The theater is roughly the same size as the Kreeger, and seats 460 patrons. Crystal City will also house the Arena Stage administrative offices in a nearby building.
In addition, starting in 2008/2009 Arena Stage plans to have a substantial presence at the Lincoln Theatre in Northwest, D.C. Details on the programming at the Lincoln will be shared at a later date. Throughout the renovation, Arena Stage's current downtown 14th and T location will be actively used to house rehearsals, the Community Engagement staff, student programming and the operations of the costume shop.
Arena Stage will begin productions in Crystal City with
Ella starting December 28, 2007 and does not anticipate changing any existing performance dates for the rest of the 2007/2008 season except for
The Mystery of Irma Vep and possibly
Kiki & Herb: Alive on Broadway. Current ticket-holders will be receiving information about their reservations and further information about Crystal City in the mail during November. As information changes and/or becomes available throughout the transition, Arena Stage plans to keep its website at
www.arenastage.org as up-to-date as possible with Frequently Asked Questions, directions and other relevant information.
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