Mayor Bloomberg to Conduct Orch at City Center Reopening

New York City Center will reopen following a historic renovation and modernization with a star-studded gala on October 25. The event will kick off a celebratory season of new and expanded programming, festivals, exhibits, a special commission, and performances by world-class dance and theater companies. The renovation, designed by Ennead Architects, LLP (formerly Polshek Partnership), has transformed the landmark building into a contemporary cultural center complete with modern amenities and enhanced historic details, from the mezzanine lobby's painted ceiling and murals to the auditorium's arabesque dome.

New York City Center was constructed in 1923 as a meeting hall for the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (the Shriners), and Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia dedicated it as Manhattan's first major performing arts center in 1943. The City-owned building, which includes a 2,255-seat mainstage auditorium, two smaller theaters, four rehearsal studios and a 12-story offIce Tower, is one of the city's most beloved performing arts centers. It is home to world-class theater and dance, including the acclaimed Fall for Dance Festival and the Tony Award-winning Encores! series.

The revitalized building will feature a lighted and heated street-level marquee that will welcome audiences into a reconfigured box office lobby outfitted with a new ticket window and concessions bar, a video display wall, and a modernized patrons' lounge. The restored auditorium will include plush new seating with expanded legroom and improved sightlines, as well as a dramatic, newly painted interior awash in vibrant color. Performers will welcome the state-of-the-art sprung stage floor, renovated dressing rooms, new lighting and updated backstage amenities.

The renovation, made possible through a $75 million capital campaign, is the most extensive project of its kind in the building's nearly 70-year history. Stepping Forward: The Campaign for City Center, has been raising funds to renovate the landmark building and to ensure the growth of City Center's current and future programs. The City of New York committed $35.6 million for the renovation.

"City Center has been one of the city's preeminent performing arts centers for nearly 70 years," said Arlene Shuler, City Center's President & CEO. "This long-awaited renovation has revitalized our historic building and ensures that City Center will remain a vital part of the city's cultural fabric for many years to come. We are grateful to Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Levin for their extraordinary commitment to City Center, as well as to Speaker Christine Quinn, the City Council, and Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer for their leadership support."

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg stated, "City Center occupies a special place in the lives of New Yorkers as the diverse and accessible ‘People's Theater' founded by Mayor LaGuardia. Generations of New Yorkers flocked to City Center to see performances by many of the world's greatest artists and companies. The City of New York is proud to help City Center remain a vibrant cultural attraction for generations to come."

According to Duncan Hazard, Partner in Charge, Ennead Architects, "City Center's glowing new bronze and glass marquee and dramatically lit façade will draw audiences into a redesigned lobby and beautifully restored auditorium that honor this theater's rich past while providing modern and comfortable amenities for the audiences and performers of today."

REOPENING HIGHLIGHTS

GALA REOPENING, OCTOBER 25, 2011
The October 25 Gala will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Then, as a nod to the building's 1943 dedication ceremony when Mayor LaGuardia conducted the New York Philharmonic, Mayor Bloomberg will take the stage to conduct The Encores! Orchestra. The show, directed by Tony Award winner and former Encores! Artistic Director Kathleen Marshall, will celebrate New York City Center with performances, reminiscences and tributes by stars of dance and theater.

City Center ENCORES! AND JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER COLLABORATION
This new producing partnership will combine the organizations' specialties: musical theater and jazz. The collaborative venture will begin this fall at City Center with Cotton Club Parade, a celebration of Duke Ellington's years at the famed Harlem nightclub. Cotton Club Parade will be directed by Warren Carlyle and will feature the renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis, who also serves as Music Director. It will play for six performances, November 18-22, 2011.

SPECIAL DANCE COMMISSION
City Center has commissioned a new work by resident company American Ballet Theatre in celebration of the theater's reopening. A new ballet by Demis Volpi, winner of the Erik Bruhn Prize for Best Choreography in 2011, will have its New York City premiere during ABT's City Center season in November. The work is a co-commission with American Ballet Theatre.

NEW YORK City Center CHOREOGRAPHY FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM
Three choreographers at critical stages of their careers will be given a creative home at City Center for one year through the New York City Center Choreography Fellowship Program. City Center has a long history of nurturing choreographers, from George Balanchine to Christopher Wheeldon, and we are proud to continue the tradition with this new initiative. The three artists, to be announced soon, will receive a $10,000 stipend in addition to rehearsal space, technical support and a performance opportunity at City Center. They will also have full access to City Center's institutional resources and administrative expertise in programming, fundraising, finance and marketing.

EXPANDED ENCORES! SERIES
City Center's Tony Award-winning Encores! series is expanding to seven performances with the addition of Wednesday evening and Sunday matinee performances.

RENOVATION HIGHLIGHTS

VIDEO DISPLAY WALL / PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NEW MUSEUM
At the heart of the theater's reconfigured orchestra lobby, patrons will be greeted by a video display wall composed of high-definition plasma monitors overlaid with a neo-Moorish latticework design. The New Museum is partnering with City Center to curate three video installations for the 2011-12 season. The state-of-the art video wall, visible to both patrons of the theater and passersby on 55th Street, consists of six video panels and will showcase an evolving roster of video content, adding a dynamic new artistic element and broadening the range of programming presented by City Center.

SEATING
The renovated, 2,255-seat theater will feature improved sightlines and wider seats with more legroom. The width of the seats has increased by an average of two inches and space between rows has been expanded from 32 inches to between 33 and 48 inches, depending on their location.

AMENITIES
A lighted and heated street-level marquee, a reconfigured and expanded orchestra lobby, a second elevator, increased and expanded restroom facilities, and a new patrons' lounge will create a welcoming environment.

DÉCOR
The auditorium's walls and dome ceiling have been painted in rich colors that highlight the theater's original decorative detail. Other aesthetic improvements include a restored box office lobby with refurbished glazed terra cotta tiles and ceiling, and a renovated mezzanine lobby with a fully restored stenciled ceiling and decorative wall murals.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
City Center's renovation included a series of energy-saving measures designed to achieve a Silver LEED rating. Environmentally friendly updates include water-saving toilets in all restrooms; energy-efficient lighting, heating and air conditioning; enhanced recycling of building waste; and a "green housekeeping" program that will include nontoxic cleaning products.

DESIGN DETAILS

Ennead Architects' renovation respects and enhances the original theater's unique and much-loved neo-Moorish design, featuring elaborate arabesque motifs and intricate plasterwork. In addition to the careful restoration work throughout the building, new design elements have been based on a careful study of the underlying geometric motifs of Islamic architecture, reinterpreted to be complementary to but not imitative of the existing fabric. The architects' goal has been to create a vibrant new venue, with all of the conveniences and amenities that contemporary patrons expect, but one that is still "City Center," beloved by generations of New York City theatergoers.

A large, glowing bronze and glass marquee with new exterior lighting and signage will dramatically define the building within its urban context. Inside, the auditorium's walls, long covered over with white paint, have once again been painted in rich colors that highlight the theater's original decorative detail. The original box office and mezzanine lobbies have been restored, and several dramatic new spaces will be introduced, including an expanded and redesigned orchestra-level lobby, a new patrons' lounge, new bars, and redesigned and increased restroom facilities. A new elevator has been installed and the existing elevator has been upgraded. The 2,255-seat auditorium is being reconfigured to improve sightlines, and new, wider seats with expanded legroom will make the theater experience more comfortable and accessible.

Back-of-house improvements include a new sprung stage floor suitable for dance, all new theatrical support systems, a completely refurbished dressing room tower, and ADA accessible restrooms for the performers.

HISTORY OF THE BUILDING

Built in 1923 as a meeting hall for the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, or Shriners, the former temple officially became City Center on December 11, 1943, with Mayor LaGuardia himself conducting the New York Philharmonic in the national anthem.

Throughout the 1940s and 50s, City Center flourished as a popular, affordable alternative to Broadway, the Metropolitan Opera House and Carnegie Hall. City Center was so successful in fostering the performing arts that New York City Opera, New York City Ballet and New York City Symphony were founded under its dome. A very young Leonard Bernstein conducted the New York City Symphony in low-cost, after-work concerts. Luminaries of the theater, including Paul Robeson, Orson Welles and Tallulah Bankhead, played the classics on City Center's stage. Still-rising stars such as Bob Fosse, Barbara Cook and Walter Matthau appeared in popular revivals of Broadway musicals.

After the opening of Lincoln Center and the departure of New York City Opera and New York City Ballet, the building became under-utilized and was threatened with demolition. It was saved in the 1970s when, under the leadership of then-chairman Howard M. Squadron, the theater was dedicated as New York's premier home for dance and given landmark status, and the City Center 55th Street Theater Foundation was formed to manage the complex and ensure its survival as a performing arts center. By this point, however, much of the vintage architectural detail had faded or been covered up, and the functional shortcomings of a former Shriners' hall had never been adequately addressed in converting the building into a home for the performing arts. The grand reopening of the modernized and restored theater will usher in a new era for the building and for New York City Center.

NEW YORK City Center TODAY

New York City Center is home to many distinguished companies, including Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre and Manhattan Theatre Club; a roster of renowned national and international visiting artists; and its own critically acclaimed and popular programs. The Tony-honored Encores! musical theater series, now in its 19th season, has been hailed as "one of the very best reasons to be alive in New York." Dance has been integral to the theater's mission from the start, and dance programs, including the annual Fall for Dance Festival and a partnership with London's Sadler's Wells Theatre, remain central to City Center's identity. City Center is dedicated to providing educational opportunities to New York City students and teachers with programs such as Encores! In Schools and the Young People's Dance Series. Special workshops cater to families, seniors and other groups, while events such as the Fall for Dance DanceTalk series offer learning opportunities to the general public.
www.NYCityCenter.org

ENNEAD ARCHITECTS

Ennead Architects is an internationally acclaimed architectural firm whose work includes new building design, planning, renovation and adaptive re-use projects, largely for not-for-profit educational, cultural, scientific and governmental institutions. Among the firm's award-winning projects are: The Standard New York, Rose Center for Earth and Space at the American Museum of Natural History, William J. Clinton Presidential Center, Carnegie Hall renovation and expansion, Yale University Art Gallery renovation and expansion, Brooklyn Museum renovation and expansion, Holland Performing Arts Center, and the Weill Cornell Medical College Weill Greenberg Center. Current Projects include Stanford University Bing Concert Hall, Tisch School of the Arts, The Public Theater renovation, Utah Museum of Natural History, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Education Center, Weill Cornell Medical Research Building and New York City Center. Ennead Architects is the recipient of the AIA Firm Award, the President's Medal of the AIA/New York Chapter, and the Smithsonian Institution's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Award. www.ennead.com

SUPPORTERS

New York City Center is a City-owned facility and is supported by funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, New York City Council, National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts.

For further information and updates on the renovation visit www.NYCityCenter.org