Aurora Theater Announces 'Breaking Through' Expansion

Currently celebrating its 17th season, Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company announced today the company's plan to expand its Addison Street space. More than halfway through a $2.1 million capital campaign, Aurora will officially break through the wall connecting its current space to an adjacent space during a ceremony to be held on January 12, 2009. Once completed, the expansion space will add 2,600 square feet to the 7,200 square feet the company currently occupies, and will house a new rehearsal space for main stage productions, readings, and workshops of new productions, as well as artistic offices; the expansion will also increase space for in-house set-building. The projected completion date of the expansion project is summer 2009.

The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, of New York City, today announced its support of Aurora's campaign with a $200,000 grant. Payable over four years to Aurora Theatre Company to establish The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Fund for Artistic Initiatives, the grant will help underwrite the development of new work as well as the adaptation of large-scale classics, endeavors which the expanded space will soon make possible. The Bernard Osher Foundation has also awarded a grant of $45,000 to Aurora Theatre Company's capital campaign; the grant was given in memory of former Osher Foundation Executive Director Frederick Balderston.

"Up until now, the dedicated capital campaign committee has been working diligently behind the scenes," said campaign co-chair Robert B. Hetler. "The response to our efforts has been very enthusiastic and we're pleased to announce that we've reached $1.3 million in cash and pledges, over 62% of our goal. We thank our committed donors who have found Aurora's need compelling and are demonstrating their support so emphatically and generously."

"From a front row center seat at the theater and as a member of the Board, I've been thrilled to watch Aurora's spectacular rise from a fledging theater to a full-fledged performing company with reviews in the national press," said Carolyn Weinberger, campaign co-chair. "I'm even more thrilled that Aurora now has the opportunity to create a space that will allow it to continue to grow and develop more incredible stage works."

Veteran Bay Area actor and director Barbara Oliver, along with Dorothy Bryant, Marge Glicksman, Richard Rossi, and Ken Grantham formed Aurora Theatre Company in 1992. For its first decade, the company occupied an elegant, intimate 67-seat drawing room in the Julia Morgan-designed Berkeley City Club, quickly attracting a core of loyal patrons for its high-quality chamber productions. Seven years ago, the Aurora moved to its current space in the downtown Berkeley Arts District, a new theater that expanded seating capacity to 150. Today, with attendance at near capacity, the expansion seeks to support the needs, both artistically and operationally, of this growing professional theater company while retaining the actor-audience intimacy that has become Aurora's defining characteristic.

"It's remarkable to me that in its 17 years, Aurora Theatre Company has grown from a single theater production produced in a room where women once played cards into a thriving Bay Area institution that continues to grow, both artistically and once again physically," said Tom Ross, Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director. "This is the next logical and essential step in our development. The impact of the new space will be strongly felt by the artists who work here as well as our audience. I couldn't be happier about the synergy surrounding this project from our community and funders, the hard-working Aurora Board of Directors, and our extraordinary staff."

The new expansion is the final project of the late acclaimed theater architect Gene Angell (with his partner Brian Rawlinson); Oliver & Company, Inc. will be the general contractor, and Edward Van of E.J. Van Company, Inc. will oversee the project as Construction Manager. Once the expanded space is complete, it will allow the Aurora to increase the number of performances per show and extend current productions on the main stage while preparing for the next production; turnover time from one production to the next will be as little as two weeks. The space will also allow for a larger lobby and other patron amenities; it will be built considering all green construction techniques and will be handicapped accessible.

The expanded space will be named The Nell and Jules Dashow Wing in honor of lead campaign donors Deborah and Leo Ruth. Said Deborah Ruth, "Leo and I were founding subscribers of the Aurora Theatre over 16 years ago. It feels wonderful to be in the position to support such a worthy public arts project while paying tribute to my parents, Nell and Jules, who were great patrons of the arts."

Aurora Theatre Company continues its 17th season in January with the West Coast Premiere of journalist George Packer's Betrayed, winner of the 2008 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Play, directed by Robin Stanton (Permanent Collection, The Busy World is Hushed). Mark Jackson, who directed Aurora Theatre Company's acclaimed production of Salome, returns to the company to direct August Strindberg's Miss Julie in April, followed by Bob Glaudini's unconventional romantic comedy Jack Goes Boating, directed by Joy Carlin, rounding out the season in June.

Operating under a Tier 3 Actors' Equity Association Bay Area Theatres contract on an annual budget of $1.4 million, Aurora Theatre Company continues to offer challenging, literate, intelligent stage works to the Bay Area, each year increasing its reputation for top-notch theatre. Located in the heart of the Downtown Berkeley Arts District, Aurora Theatre Company has been called "one of the most important regional theatres in the area" by the San Francisco Chronicle, while The Wall Street Journal has "nothing but praise for the Aurora." The Contra Costa Times stated, "perfection is probably an unattainable ideal in a medium as fluid as live performance, but the Aurora Theatre comes luminously close," while the San Jose Mercury News affirmed "[Aurora Theatre Company] lives up to its reputation as a theatre that feeds the mind," and the Oakland Tribune declared "it's all about choices, and if you value good theatre, choose the Aurora." For tickets or more information about Aurora Theatre Company, the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.

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