The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
theater in the
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
complex at 150 West 65th Street on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broadway theater outside the
Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres.
Places
*Theater District, Manhattan, New York City
*Boston Theater District
*Buffalo Theater District
*Cleveland Theater ...
near
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
. Named after heiress and actress
Vivian Beaumont Allen, the theater was one of the last structures designed by modernist architect
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
. The theater shares a building with the
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...
and contains two off-Broadway venues, the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and the Claire Tow Theater.
The Beaumont occupies the southern and western sides of its building's first and second floors, while the library wraps above and on top of it. The main
facade faces Lincoln Center's plaza and is made of glass and steel, with a
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...
attic above. The main auditorium has approximately 1,080 seats across two levels, arranged in a steeply sloped semicircular layout. The Beaumont differs from traditional Broadway theaters because of its use of a flexible stage, which could be extended with a
thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between perform ...
of varying length. The layout led to complaints about inferior sightlines and acoustics in the theater's early years. The 299-seat Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater is in the basement and the 112-seat Claire Tow Theater is on the roof.
Allen donated $3 million for the theater's construction in 1958 but died before its completion. The Beaumont opened on October 21, 1965, and was originally operated by
Jules Irving
Jules Irving (né Julius Israel; April 13, 1925 – July 28, 1979) was an American actor, director, educator, and producer, who in the 1950s co-founded the San Francisco Actor's Workshop. When the Actor's Workshop closed in 1966, Irving moved ...
and
Herbert Blau of the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, generally presenting four shows a season. The Beaumont was managed by the
New York Shakespeare Festival
Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions ar ...
, under the direction of
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created ...
, from 1973 to 1977. Richmond Crinkley took over the theater for the next eight years, with the Beaumont only operating for two seasons during that time. Controversies over the Beaumont's operation, a proposed renovation, and financial difficulties led to LCT being reorganized in 1985, with
Gregory Mosher
Gregory Mosher (born 1949) is an American director and producer of stage productions at the Lincoln Center and Goodman Theatres, on and off-Broadway, at the Royal National Theatre, and in the West End. He is also a film director and television di ...
and
Bernard Gersten
Bernard Gersten (January 30, 1923 – April 27, 2020) was an American theatrical producer. Beginning in the 1960s through the early 2000s, Gersten played a major role in shaping American drama and musical theatre.
From 1960 to 1978, Gersten wo ...
taking over as the new Director and Executive Producer. The Beaumont became much more successful and was renovated in 1996. The theater has hosted several popular productions since the late 1980s, including ''
Anything Goes
''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...
'', ''
Contact
Contact may refer to:
Interaction Physical interaction
* Contact (geology), a common geological feature
* Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye
* Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects
* ...
'', ''
The Light in the Piazza'', ''
South Pacific'', ''
The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...
'', and ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
''.
Description
The Vivian Beaumont Theater was designed by
Finnish American
Finnish Americans ( fi, amerikansuomalaiset, ) comprise Americans with ancestral roots from Finland or Finnish people who immigrated to and reside in the United States. The Finnish-American population numbers a little bit more than 650,000. Man ...
architect
Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
, with Broadway scenic designer
Jo Mielziner overseeing the design of the interior.
It is part of
Lincoln Center
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 milli ...
, a performing arts complex on the
Upper West Side
The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
.
The Beaumont is in the same building as the
New York Public Library (NYPL)'s
Performing Arts Library, designed by
Gordon Bunshaft
Gordon Bunshaft, (May 9, 1909 – August 6, 1990), was an American architect, a leading proponent of modern design in the mid-twentieth century. A partner in Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Bunshaft joined the firm in 1937 and remained with ...
of
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).
Various contractors were also involved in the Beaumont's construction, including general contractor
Turner Construction
Turner Construction is an American construction company with presence in 20 countries. It is a subsidiary of the German company Hochtief. It is the largest domestic contractor in the United States as of 2020, with a revenue of $14.41 billion in ...
,
acoustical engineer
Bolt Beranek & Newman
Raytheon BBN (originally Bolt Beranek and Newman Inc.) is an American research and development company, based next to Fresh Pond in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.
In 1966, the Franklin Institute awarded the firm the Frank P. Brown ...
,
structural engineer
Ammann & Whitney
Ammann & Whitney was a full-service Civil engineering firm that provided design and construction services for public and private sector projects. The firm provided new construction, renovations, adaptive reuse, historic preservation, interior desi ...
and mechanical engineer
Syska Hennessy
Syska Hennessy is a global Consultant, consulting, engineering and Building commissioning, commissioning firm for the built environment. Established in 1928, Syska Hennessy was ranked the 161st-largest U.S. design firm by Engineering News-Record, E ...
.
The library–theater building is on the western side of Paul Milstein Pool and Terrace, the elevated plaza at the middle of Lincoln Center, just south of 65th Street.
The plaza contains a reflecting pool at its center, measuring around wide and long.
Inside the plaza, just outside the theater's entrance, is a blackened-steel sculpture by
Alexander Calder
Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...
entitled ''
Le Guichet''. Named after the French word for "ticket window", the sculpture measures wide by high.
Another sculpture by
Henry Moore, entitled ''
Reclining Figure'', is in the pool. The structure faces the
Metropolitan Opera House to the south;
David Geffen Hall
David Geffen Hall is a concert hall in New York City's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts complex on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The 2,200-seat auditorium opened in 1962, and is the home of the New York Philharmonic.
The facility, designe ...
to the east; and the
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...
to the north, via a pedestrian bridge across 65th Street.
Form and facade
The library–theater building was the third to open at Lincoln Center. Original plans conceived the library and theater as separate buildings, but the structures were combined in the final plan.
The theater forms the building's core and occupies the southern and western sides of the building's first and second floors.
The library runs along the building's northern and eastern sides, as well as much of the third floor. The theater's stage house protrudes through the third floor, with the library running around it in a "doughnut" shape. Another entrance to the library, facing west toward
Amsterdam Avenue, is below the theater.
The attic houses the library's
stacks.
SOM and Saarinen collaborated on the design of the exteriors.
The main
facade, along Lincoln Center's plaza, is two stories high and made of glass and steel.
The facade consists of a glass
curtain wall and two recessed square concrete columns, which create a
peristyle
In ancient Greek and Roman architecture, a peristyle (; from Greek ) is a continuous porch formed by a row of columns surrounding the perimeter of a building or a courtyard. Tetrastoön ( grc, τετράστῳον or τετράστοον, lit=f ...
flanking the curtain wall.
Unlike the
travertine
Travertine ( ) is a form of terrestrial limestone deposited around mineral springs, especially hot springs. It often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, cream-colored, and even rusty varieties. It is formed by a p ...
surface of the plaza, the columns are finished in exposed
aggregate.
The columns are attached to the attic via steel pins with large bronze pyramidal covers. The other wall surfaces are clad in travertine.
The exterior of the library–theater building contains a heavy roof that protrudes over the main facade, which is covered in travertine.
The roof was designed to screen the library and its performing-arts museum behind it. The top of the roof originally had an exposed-aggregate finish, but this was subsequently covered with stone pavement. On the underside of the roof are coffers containing
recessed downlights as well as
fluorescent
Fluorescence is the emission of light by a substance that has absorbed light or other electromagnetic radiation. It is a form of luminescence. In most cases, the emitted light has a longer wavelength, and therefore a lower photon energy, ...
uplights. Similar lighting fixtures are used in the theater's lobby as well as throughout the library's interior.
The roof is carried by two
Vierendeel trusses measuring high and long.
Part of the library, housing the
Vincent Astor Gallery, is placed between the trusses.
Interior
The Beaumont contains three theaters operated by
Lincoln Center Theater
The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broad ...
(LCT): the main auditorium, which is classified as a
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
theater, as well as two
off-Broadway venues, the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and the Claire Tow Theater.
The main auditorium is the only Broadway theater outside Manhattan's
Theater District A theater district (also spelled theatre district) is a common name for a neighborhood containing several of a city's theatres.
Places
*Theater District, Manhattan, New York City
*Boston Theater District
*Buffalo Theater District
*Cleveland Theater ...
,
and productions there are eligible for
Tony Awards
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual c ...
. The off-Broadway houses' productions are not eligible for Tony Awards unless they move to the Beaumont or another Broadway theater.
The Beaumont has two main access points. Vehicular traffic enters through a ramp beneath the theater, where patrons take elevators to the orchestra. Pedestrians enter through the main plaza facing David Geffen Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House.
The plaza-level lobby is midway between the orchestra and balcony levels of the primary auditorium.
The plaza-level lobby is plain in design
and was originally decorated in travertine and bronze, with white wall panels and red carpets.
Rather than a traditional
coat room, the theater had lockers along its public corridors.
Broad, curving double staircases lead to from the lobby to both levels of seating. Below the orchestra, another flight of stairs leads down to the Newhouse Theater.
An elevator also connected all the stories.
Primary auditorium
The Beaumont uses steeply sloped
stadium seating
Stadium seating or theater seating is a characteristic seating arrangement that is most commonly associated with performing-arts venues, and derives its name from stadiums, which typically use this arrangement.
Description
In stadium seating, ...
.
Unlike other Broadway theaters, the stage could be configured as a traditional
proscenium stage or extended with a
thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between perform ...
of varying length.
Backstage, there is for set storage.
The stage and its backstage facilities take up about 75 percent of the theater's area.
=Seating areas
=
The Broadway League
The Broadway League, formerly the League of American Theatres and Producers and League of New York Theatres and Producers, is the national trade association for the Broadway theatre industry based in New York, New York. Its members include theat ...
cites the main auditorium as having 1,080 seats,
while ''
Playbill'' gives a figure of 1,069 seats.
The main auditorium originally had approximately 1,100 seats,
with about 770 in the orchestra level and 330 in the balcony level.
The actual capacity depended on the configuration of the stage.
Thirty seats at the front of the orchestra can be stored in the basement when thrust stage is used.
Additional seats can be removed to make way for
vomitories.
Consequently, the theater could have 1,146 seats if a proscenium stage were used, or 1,102 seats if there was an orchestra pit in front of the stage. In a thrust-stage configuration, the theater could have 1,113 seats, which was reduced to 1,083 if actors were allowed to pass through the orchestra seating to get to the stage.
The seating is arranged in a semicircle with its ends cut back, allowing adequate sightlines when a traditional proscenium stage is used.
A cantilevered walkway leads to the balcony level,
which only has five rows of seats, two of which cantilever over the orchestra.
In all configurations, every seat is at most from the stage.
The
American Seating Company installed the seats, which were originally upholstered in red fabric. Plaques were mounted onto the backs of each seat, indicating the seat number and the name of a donor. The seats were covered with deep burgundy fabric in 1990.
The auditorium had a minimalist decorative scheme.
The original decorations comprised dark brown wood and metal, as well as red and gray carpets.
The design includes curving oval motifs, which visually connect the two levels of seating with the stage and ceiling.
The aisle lights were recessed into the ends of the aisles. Typical theaters had lights embedded within the risers of the stairs in each aisle, but the theater's semicircular arrangement meant that such lights could be distracting to patrons on the opposite side of the auditorium.
=Other design features
=
There are seven removable panels placed across the proscenium opening.
When all the panels are removed, the proscenium is wide; the panels can also be used to seal the proscenium completely. The two outermost panels must be manually removed, while the other five panels can be lifted mechanically using a counterweight system. Because of the presence of the removable panels, the stage curtain is placed in front of the proscenium opening, contrary to in most theaters. The stage curtain is mounted on a curving steel frame, which runs parallel to the stage apron.
The entire stage was illuminated with 565 spotlights, hung from four semicircular catwalks and hidden behind "fins" on the ceiling.
The Beaumont was the first Broadway theater with an electronic lighting system because, as Mielziner said, "Economically, we can't afford to use old switchboards and old methods". Speakers were installed during the mid-1990s because, as designed, the auditorium had poor acoustics.
The stage covers .
This was far larger than any other Broadway theater's stage at the time; the next largest stage covered .
The Beaumont's
thrust stage
In theatre, a thrust stage (also known as a platform stage or open stage) is one that extends into the audience on three sides and is connected to the backstage area by its upstage end. A thrust has the benefit of greater intimacy between perform ...
, when fully extended, is deep and wide and is placed on a lift that can descend to the basement.
Lincoln Center's drama consultant
Robert Whitehead
Robert Whitehead (3 January 1823 – 14 November 1905) was an English engineer who was most famous for developing the first effective self-propelled naval torpedo.
Early life
He was born in Bolton, England, the son of James Whitehead, ...
had wanted the thrust stage, saying: "There is something exciting in the way the action spills out into the audience and the audience embraces it." For productions that use only the thrust stage, performers enter from underneath the stage, and the proscenium is closed off.
Various tunnels were provided under the seating areas for this purpose.
Since the semicircular seating precluded good views of the rear of the proscenium stage, many of the theater's productions were forced to use the front of the apron.
The unconventional mixture of stage designs prompted many designers and directors to avoid the theater entirely.
Beneath the stage is a turntable measuring across, which allows the thrust stage to be expanded.
When the thrust stage was used, the first seven rows of the orchestra could be lowered into the basement.
The turntable carries a semicircular floor panel with rows of orchestra seating (for when the theater is configured as a proscenium stage), as well as another semicircular panel with the thrust stage and three rows of seating. Whenever the stage is reconfigured, the lifts beneath the front orchestra rows and the thrust stage are lowered. The semicircular floor panels are then unlocked from the lift and connected to each other before being rotated, disconnected, and raised.
A second platform, measuring wide,
surrounds the turntable and can move independently.
Off-Broadway spaces
=Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater
=
In the lower level of the building is the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, originally known as the Forum when it opened on November 10, 1967.
The theater was renamed in 1972 for Mrs.
Samuel I. Newhouse, a prominent patron of the theater. Designed by Saarinen and Mielziner, the Newhouse is a 299-seat venue in which Lincoln Center Theater presents its off-Broadway plays and musicals.
The Newhouse Theater originally was accessible only through the Beaumont's parking garage.
Unlike the larger Broadway theater above, the Newhouse only contains a thrust stage. Its existence came about because, during planning, Lincoln Center's board could not agree on what types of productions the Forum should present.
=Claire Tow Theater
=
In June 2012, LCT opened the Claire Tow Theater on the Beaumont's roof,
which features work by emerging playwrights, directors, and designers. The auditorium is named for Claire Tow, whose husband
Leonard Tow, an LCT board member, donated $7.5 million.
Located on the Beaumont's planted green roof, the Claire Tow Theater seats 112 people and cost about $41 million to construct. The space was designed by
Hugh Hardy
Hugh Hardy (July 26, 1932 – March 17, 2017) was an American architect, known for designing and revitalizing theaters, performing arts venues, public spaces, and cultural facilities across the United States.
''The New Yorker'' writer Brendan ...
, who had assisted Mielziner in the Vivian Beaumont Theater's original design.
The two-story, glass enclosure has the same width as the Beaumont's base.
The theater is accessed by elevators within the NYPL section of the building. In addition to the auditorium, the Claire Tow houses rehearsal space, dressing quarters, offices, and a pocket lobby with a bar. The structure is wrapped inside a grille of aluminum louvers that help screen out the sun.
Hardy used simple materials for the interior, including stained oak for the lobby floors and walnut for the theater’s sloping walls.
The bar features ''Overture'', a 2012 sculpture by
Kiki Smith
Kiki Smith (born January 18, 1954) is a West German-born American artist whose work has addressed the themes of sex, birth and regeneration. Her figurative work of the late 1980s and early 1990s confronted subjects such as AIDS and gender, whil ...
.
History
Development
The Lincoln Square Renewal Project had been proposed in 1955 as part of urban planner
Robert Moses's
urban renewal
Urban renewal (also called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address urban decay in cities. Urban renewal involves the clearing out of blighte ...
program.
The Lincoln Center performing-arts complex became a key part of the urban renewal, though it was not part of Moses's initial intentions for the site.
John D. Rockefeller III led Lincoln Center's development, which from the start included venues for the
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...
,
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is oper ...
, and
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company' ...
.
The first plans for the complex, announced in May 1956, included plans for five commercial theaters.
Lincoln Center Inc. was founded in June 1956 to oversee the development,
and the company acquired the land in February 1958.
Vivian Beaumont Allen, a former actress and heiress to the
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many c ...
fortune, donated $3 million in May 1958 for the construction of the repertory theater at Lincoln Center.
Lincoln Center's board of directors then pledged to name the theater after Allen,
and Rockefeller named Robert Whitehead as the consultant on the repertory theater.
Planning
Wallace Harrison
Wallace Kirkman Harrison (September 28, 1895 – December 2, 1981) was an American architect. Harrison started his professional career with the firm of Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray, participating in the construction of Rockefeller Center. He i ...
, the architect of the Philharmonic Hall, had declined an offer to design the other buildings in the complex but helped select the other architects.
Various prominent architects and engineers were invited as consultants for the development,
but Lincoln Center Inc. recommended that only American architects be selected for the final designs.
The repertory theater and library were the last two buildings at Lincoln Center for which architects were selected. In November 1958, Eero Saarinen was selected as the architect for the Beaumont Theater, while Gordon Bunshaft was picked to design the performing-arts library. Even though Saarinen was not as well-connected as some of Lincoln Center's other architects, he was both an experienced auditorium designer and a prominent architect in the middle of his career.
Whitehead and Harrison had chosen Saarinen for this reason.
Shortly afterward, Jo Mielziner was hired to collaborate on the theater's interior design. The complex's general contractors were selected in January 1959.
Originally, the repertory theater and the library were to be separate buildings.
Allen expressed concerns that the site allotted to the repertory theater was too small, in part because Robert Moses was intractable in his refusal to reduce the size of the nearby
Damrosch Park. After the
New York Public Library (NYPL) joined the project in June 1959, the library building and repertory theater were combined by that October, saving both money and space. Saarinen and Bunshaft had decided that "one building could house the two facilities better than two".
During late 1959,
Elia Kazan was also hired as a consultant for the repertory theater, helping Whitehead select the productions. Whitehead and Kazan established the nonprofit
Lincoln Center Repertory Company in February 1960 to oversee the Beaumont's programming.
Only two conflicts between Saarinen and Bunshaft arose during the three-year planning process. Saarinen wanted to use three columns at each of the building's corners, while Bunshaft wanted to use one column; in addition, both architects sought to create the building's technical drawings. In the end, the architects used Bunshaft's column arrangement and Saarinen created the technical drawings.
The architects considered and rejected 15 plans for the theater;
one such plan envisioned the Beaumont Theater with a concave roof in the center, supported by piers on either side.
The final scheme was tested in an unused movie theater in
Pontiac, Michigan, where Mielziner drew up plans for theatrical sets he had designed in the past.
By August 1960, Saarinen and Mielziner had reportedly finalized their plans for the repertory theater and the basement Forum, but they made minor modifications to these plans before the end of the year.
Construction
In January 1961, the New York state and city governments agreed to fund several buildings in Lincoln Center. The city would provide $12 million in total, including $8.2 million to the library–theater building, but none of the state's funding would go toward the library–theater. The design details were nearly finished when the
New York City Council voted that March to withhold its funding for Lincoln Center. This move might have forced a redesign of the theater and library. However, the Rockefeller family (including state governor
Nelson Rockefeller) agreed to cover the city's $12 million commitment so the theater could be completed by the
1964 New York World's Fair.
Following Saarinen's sudden death on September 1, 1961, his firm continued to work on the theater's development. The next month, excavation started on the library–theater building's site.
That November, Saarinen's firm announced final plans for the repertory theater. Site excavation was more than half finished, and the repertory theater was renamed after Allen at this time.
Lincoln Center's directors reported in March 1962 that the Beaumont's completion had been delayed to at least 1964. The delay was caused by the relocation of the repertory group's offices from the Juilliard School building into the library–theater building. Allen never saw her namesake theater completed, as she died in late 1962.
The Lincoln Center Repertory Company intended to premiere productions in 1963, regardless of whether the Beaumont Theater was completed. The theatre company began training in October 1962 and moved into the
ANTA Washington Square Theatre
The ANTA Washington Square Theatre was a theatre located on 40 West Fourth Street, in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It was run by the American National Theater and Academy (ANTA) and initial home to the Repertory Theatre of Lin ...
, a temporary venue in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...
, in January 1964. Due to conflicts with Lincoln Center president
William Schuman
William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator.
Life
Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...
, Whitehead and Kazan resigned and were replaced by
Herbert Blau and
Jules Irving
Jules Irving (né Julius Israel; April 13, 1925 – July 28, 1979) was an American actor, director, educator, and producer, who in the 1950s co-founded the San Francisco Actor's Workshop. When the Actor's Workshop closed in 1966, Irving moved ...
.
By April 1965, Schuman and the repertory company's new president Robert L. Hoguet Jr. promised that the theater would open that June. The next month, a revival of
Georg Büchner
Karl Georg Büchner (17 October 1813 – 19 February 1837) was a German dramatist and writer of poetry and prose, considered part of the Young Germany movement. He was also a revolutionary and the brother of physician and philosopher Ludwig Büch ...
's play ''
Danton's Death
''Danton's Death'' (''Dantons Tod'') was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution.
History
Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Realism in the so-called Vormärz era in German hi ...
'' was booked as the Beaumont's inaugural production, and the opening date was pushed to October 21. The library–theater building ultimately cost $17 million, partly funded by $3 million from Allen and $7.5 million from the NYPL.
Allen's philanthropic foundation also gave $2.1 million for training the repertory company's members.
Lincoln Center Repertory Company operation
First two seasons
![Lincoln Center Theater courtyard side jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Lincoln_Center_Theater_courtyard_side_jeh.jpg)
The Beaumont opened to the public on October 12, 1965, with previews of ''Danton's Death''.
The Beaumont was dedicated on October 14 and hosted a fundraising gala on October 20, which raised more than $100,000. The theater officially opened on October 21, when regular performances of ''Danton's Death'' began.
The Beaumont's opening was not as widely reported in the media as some of Lincoln Center's other buildings, but it did receive mostly positive commentary.
''
Progressive Architecture The Progressive Architecture Awards (P/A Awards) annually recognise risk-taking practitioners and seek to promote progress in the field of architecture.
History
The editors of ''Progressive Architecture'' magazine hosted the first Progressive Arch ...
'' wrote that the theater was "one of the most theater facilities in this country".
John Chapman of the ''
New York Daily News'' called the Beaumont's opening "the most important theatrical event of the 1965–66 season in this city", despite the mediocrity of ''Danton's Death''.
Wolf Von Eckardt
Wolf Von Eckardt (6 March 1918 – 27 August 1995) was a German-American writer, art and architecture critic for the ''Washington Post''. wrote for ''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'' that the Beaumont had a "classic" architectural appearance "without sweat or striving". The New York Concrete Board gave the Beaumont an award for the quality of its construction.
The Beaumont frequently starred
Philip Bosco
Philip Michael Bosco (September 26, 1930 – December 3, 2018) was an American actor. He was known for his Tony Award-winning performance as Saunders in the 1989 Broadway production of '' Lend Me a Tenor'', and for his starring role in the 2007 f ...
,
Aline MacMahon,
Nancy Marchand
Nancy Lou Marchand (June 19, 1928 – June 18, 2000) was an American actress. She began her career in theatre in 1951. She was most famous for her television portrayals of Margaret Pynchon on ''Lou Grant'' and Livia Soprano on ''The Sopranos''.
...
, and
Robert Symonds
Robert Symonds (December 1, 1926 – August 23, 2007) was an American actor. He was the associate director of the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center from 1965 through 1972.
Career
His stage credits with the Lincoln Center include producti ...
in its early productions.
The Lincoln Center Repertory Company offered subscriptions to each season of plays at the Beaumont. When the first preview of ''Danton's Death'' commenced, there were already 41,500 subscribers for the Beaumont's first season, representing over 90 percent of all available subscriptions.
The other productions of the season were revivals of ''
The Country Wife'' in December 1965,
''
The Condemned of Altona'' in January 1966,
and ''
The Caucasian Chalk Circle
''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a ...
'' in March 1966.
While the first season had high grosses, there was much criticism of the plays themselves.
Richard P. Cooke of ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'' said the Lincoln Center Repertory Company "is still struggling for popular and critical acclaim", despite having both ample funding and up-to-date equipment at the Beaumont.
Furthermore, the theater itself ran a deficit of several hundred thousand dollars each season, as the expenses outweighed the profits.
The theater had 31,400 subscribers before the first play of the Beaumont's second season opened in late 1966. The season's first two plays were
''The Alchemist'' and
''Yerma''.
Blau left at the beginning of 1967, saying: "The climate is no longer right for me to do what I came to do in the form I had in mind." Afterward, the Beaumont produced
''Galileo'' in April 1967.
''Galileo'' was the first play by an American playwright at the Beaumont, placating critics who objected to the number of plays by foreign authors.
Next,
Alexander H. Cohen leased the theater
for the opening of ''
The Unknown Soldier and His Wife'' that July.
The repertory program was still not successful; ''The New York Times'' reported in late 1967 that Lincoln Center's "inability to build a successful repertory theater" was the complex's "greatest shortcoming" creatively. The experimental Forum in the Beaumont's basement opened on November 10, 1967.
Jules Irving management
The third season featured the plays ''
The Little Foxes
''The Little Foxes'' is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 of the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the lit ...
'',
''Saint Joan'',
''Tiger at the Gates'', and
''Cyrano de Bergerac''. As part of the 1968 Lincoln Center Festival, French theatre company Théâtre de la Cité performed ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...
'',
''George Dandin'', and ''
Tartuffe
''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; french: Tartuffe, ou l'Imposteur, ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical thea ...
'' at the Beaumont.
This was followed by the play ''
Lovers'', also performed as part of the festival''.''
The plays ''
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
'' and ''
A Cry of Players
''A Cry of Players'' is a drama by William Gibson, first performed in 1968, that portrays the young adult life of William Shakespeare. The title comes from ''Hamlet'', spoken by the aforementioned, Act 3, Scene 2: "Would not this, sir, and a fore ...
'' opened at the Beaumont in late 1968, running as a double bill.
At the beginning of 1969,
Robert Montgomery became the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater's president.
The Beaumont hosted the play ''In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer'' during much of the remainder of the season,
interrupted by a short run of ''
The Miser
''The Miser'' (french: L'Avare; ; also known by the longer name ''L'Avare ou L'École du Mensonge,'' meaning The Miser, or the School for Lies) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September ...
'' that May.
The Beaumont's fifth season in 1969–1970 featured four American plays:
''
The Time of Your Life
''The Time of Your Life'' is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened on Broadway in 1939.
Cha ...
'',
''Camino Real'',
''Operation Sidewinder'', and ''
Beggar on Horseback
''Beggar on Horseback'' is a 1924 play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly.
The play is a parody of the expressionistic parables that were popular at the time; its title derives from the proverb "Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride at a g ...
''.
Montgomery resigned in April 1970, a year after his appointment. The sixth season in 1970–1971 was composed entirely of revivals and included ''
The Good Woman of Setzuan
''The Good Person of Szechwan'' (german: Der gute Mensch von Sezuan, first translated less literally as ''The Good Man of Setzuan'') is a play written by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with Margarete Steffin and Ruth Berla ...
'', ''
The Playboy of the Western World
''The Playboy of the Western World'' is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo (o ...
'', ''
An Enemy of the People'', and ''
Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & R ...
''.
The Beaumont still ran at a deficit, despite near-capacity attendance.
Amyas Ames, who had become Lincoln Center's chairman in 1970, found the Beaumont Theater was losing $750,000 a year.
Lincoln Center's directors forgave $200,000 of the repertory company's debts and agreed to provide another $125,000 a year to cover high overhead costs. In January 1971, City Center proposed taking over the Beaumont and conducting renovations. The plans included relocating the Forum behind the Beaumont's stage and adding three film screens in the Forum space.
Mielziner opposed the plans, saying it would compromise the quality of the Beaumont's design,
but supporters said the main auditorium would not be touched and that the Forum would only be relocated to a better location. That September, the
New York City Board of Estimate
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...
approved $5.2 million for the renovations.
After Irving testified against the plans the next month, the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater was given the chance to submit an alternate plan for the theater. The theatre company proposed selling 500 annual subscriptions of $1,000 to cover the remaining debt. City Center formally withdrew its plan in December 1971, citing the opposition.
Throughout the dispute over the planned renovation, the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater had scheduled four shows for the Beaumont's seventh season in 1971–1972.
''Mary Stuart'' opened in late 1971, followed the next year by ''
Narrow Road to the Deep North
Narrow may refer to:
* The Narrow, rock band from South Africa
* Narrow banking, proposed banking system that would eliminate bank runs and the need for a deposit insurance
* narrow gauge railway, a railway that has a track gauge narrower than th ...
'', ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
'', and ''
The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as ...
''.
The musical ''
Man of La Mancha'', which was not part of the regular season,
was revived in mid-1972 to large success.
The Beaumont's 1972–1973 season featured
''Enemies'', ''
The Plough and the Stars
''The Plough and the Stars'' is a four-act play by the Irish writer Seán O'Casey that was first performed on 8 February 1926 at the Abbey Theatre. It is set in Dublin and addresses the 1916 Easter Rising. The play's title references the Sta ...
'', ''
The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
'', and
''A Streetcar Named Desire''. By then, the Forum was mostly screening films.
The Forum's season was canceled in October 1972 due to a lack of funds, and Irving resigned as the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater's artistic director as a direct result.
Lincoln Center had granted $150,000 to fund the Beaumont's eighth season but was unwilling to repeat the grant.
With Irving gone, Lincoln Center's board decided that, for the 1973–1974 season, they would book a "guest season" of shows from regional theaters. The guest season would run for one year, allowing the Lincoln Center Theater to search for a new artistic leader and give them time to transition into the job.
Papp operation
![Lincoln Center Theater 65 St side jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/Lincoln_Center_Theater_65_St_side_jeh.jpg)
In March 1973,
Joseph Papp
Joseph Papp (born Joseph Papirofsky; June 22, 1921 – October 31, 1991) was an American theatrical producer and director. He established The Public Theater in what had been the Astor Library Building in Lower Manhattan. There Papp created ...
of the
New York Shakespeare Festival
Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions ar ...
agreed to take over the Beaumont as long as he were able to raise $5 million. Papp used the Beaumont to present new productions and continued to stage experimental shows at
The Public Theater
The Public Theater is a New York City arts organization founded as the Shakespeare Workshop in 1954 by Joseph Papp, with the intention of showcasing the works of up-and-coming playwrights and performers.Epstein, Helen. ''Joe Papp: An American Li ...
.
The Forum in the basement would be used for classical plays, a reversal of Irving's policy.
Mitzi Newhouse gave Papp a grant of $1 million that May, the largest individual grant ever made for the Shakespeare Festival, and the Forum was named for Newhouse. The Shakespeare Festival's first production at the Beaumont,
David Rabe
David William Rabe (born March 10, 1940) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He won the Tony Award for Best Play in 1972 ('' Sticks and Bones'') and also received Tony award nominations for Best Play in 1974 ('' In the Boom Boom Room''), ...
's play ''
In the Boom Boom Room
''In the Boom Boom Room'' is a play by David Rabe. The play follows a young go-go dancer who has a difficult relationship with her parents.
Plot summary
Chrissy arrives in 1960s Philadelphia with the dream of becoming a successful dancer. Despe ...
'', opened in November 1973
and was followed the next year by
Hugh Miller
Hugh Miller (10 October 1802 – 23/24 December 1856) was a self-taught Scottish geologist and writer, folklorist and an evangelical Christian.
Life and work
Miller was born in Cromarty, the first of three children of Harriet Wright ('' ...
's ''The Au Pair Man'',
Ron Milner
Ronald Milner (May 29, 1938 – July 9, 2004) was an American playwright. His play ''Checkmates'', starring Paul Winfield and Denzel Washington, ran on Broadway in 1988. Milner also taught creative writing at the University of Southern Californi ...
's ''What the Wine Sellers Buy'', and
Miguel Piñero's ''
Short Eyes''. Of these, only ''Short Eyes'' was successful.
During the 1974–1975 season, the Shakespeare Festival presented
Anne Burr's ''Mert & Phil'',
Bill Gunn's ''
Black Picture Show'',
Henrik Ibsen's ''
A Doll's House
''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...
'', and Anthony Scully's ''Little Black Sheep''. As with the previous season, these plays generally had only lukewarm reception.
Papp announced in early 1975 that he would change the Beaumont's programming to revivals of traditional plays and dramas with established performers, citing "hostility" from the audiences. The previous season had only 22,000 subscribers, compared with 27,000 during the 1973–1974 season. He also wanted to raise $3–4 million to renovate the Beaumont with a permanent proscenium stage. In accordance with his new policy, Papp scheduled four revivals for the 1975–1976 season: ''
Trelawny of the "Wells"'', ''
Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'', ''
Mrs. Warren's Profession
''Mrs. Warren's Profession'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893, and first performed in London in 1902. The play is about a former prostitute, now a madam (brothel proprietor), who attempts to come to terms with her disapproving ...
'', and ''
The Threepenny Opera
''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...
''. These plays were generally much more successful,
and ''The Threepenny Opera'' was extended through the end of 1976.
The lengthy run of ''The Threepenny Opera'', as well as financial shortfalls, prompted Papp to delay the beginning of the following season to February 1977, canceling two of the four shows scheduled for the season.
Anton Chekhov's play ''
The Cherry Orchard
''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...
'' and
Aeschylus
Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...
's classic ''
Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the ...
'' were the only plays featured during that season.
Papp presented plans for a $6.5 million renovation of the Beaumont to Lincoln Center's directors in April 1977.
Giorgio Cavaglieri
Giorgio Cavaglieri (August 1, 1911 – May 15, 2007) was an Italian architect and a leading figure in the historic preservationist movement in New York City. He is best known for his 1960s restoration of the Jefferson Market Library in Greenw ...
designed a new flexible auditorium, which if approved would be built during the 1978–1979 season.
Papp announced in June 1977 that he would no longer operate the Beaumont, citing increasing operating costs.
As a result, ''The Cherry Orchard'' was forced to close prematurely in August 1977, with Lincoln Center's directors warning that the theater might be closed for two years. At the time, even a successful season could incur a deficit of $2 million; the previous season had seen operating debts of $6.2 million and ticket sales of only $3.9 million.
This was despite the fact that Papp had been able to reach 97 percent of audience capacity for many shows.
The theater stayed closed even though there was an ongoing shortage of available theaters for new productions. Lincoln Center's directors said the Beaumont's operating expenses were twice as high as traditional Broadway theaters; it cost $1.55 million to mount a typical production at the Beaumont, compared to $930,000 at a typical Broadway theater.
Attempted revival
Crinkley operation
After Papp's sudden departure, Lincoln Center's directors hurried to make arrangements with other producers and theatrical companies to keep the Beaumont open. During its closure, the Beaumont held a benefit party for
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson ( ; April 9, 1898 – January 23, 1976) was an American bass-baritone concert artist, stage and film actor, professional American football, football player, and activist who became famous both for his cultural accomplish ...
in August 1977.
American National Theater and Academy The American National Theatre and Academy (ANTA) is a non-profit theatre producer and training organization that was established in 1935 to be the official United States national theatre that would be an alternative to the for-profit Broadway houses ...
director
Richmond Crinkley was named as the Beaumont's director in early 1978. At the end of the year,
Woody Allen
Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
,
Sarah Caldwell
Sarah Caldwell (March 6, 1924March 23, 2006) was an American opera conductor, impresario, and stage director.
Early life
Caldwell was born in Maryville, Missouri, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She was a child prodigy and gave publ ...
,
Liviu Ciulei
Liviu Ciulei (; 7 July 1923 – 24 October 2011) was a Romanian theater and film director, film writer, actor, architect, educator, costume and set designer. During a career spanning over 50 years, he was described by ''Newsweek'' as "one of the b ...
,
Robin Phillips
Robin Phillips OC (28 February 1940 – 25 July 2015) was an English actor and film director.
Life
He was born in Haslemere, Surrey in 1940 to Ellen Anne (née Barfoot) and James William Phillips. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic, where a c ...
, and
Ellis Rabb
Ellis W. Rabb (June 20, 1930 – January 11, 1998) was an American actor and director who in 1959 formed the Association of Producing Artists, a theatre company that brought new works and noteworthy revivals to Broadway and to regional theatres. ...
were appointed as the theater's new directors, and
Edward Albee was hired as the in-house playwright. The Beaumont's directors leased the theater from Lincoln Center.
The following May, the theater signed new contracts with
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...
and the
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, known as simply the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE or ...
that allowed the Beaumont to operate as a
League of Resident Theatres' venue, thereby decreasing operating costs.
The theater's directors wished to raise $2 million in reserves before reopening the theater, and they wanted to operate for at least one full season. Consequently, the planned reopening in 1979 was pushed back by one year. Crinkley's team wanted to present classics alongside the occasional new production. The directors spent $2 million on improvements, including adding a rehearsal room below the stage and renovating the lobby.
In July 1980, the directors announced the lineup for the 1980–1981 season,
which began in October with a rehearsal of
Philip Barry's comedy ''
The Philadelphia Story''. The two other plays that season were a revival of ''Macbeth'' and Woody Allen's ''
The Floating Light Bulb''.
The poor reception to the three plays prompted Crinkley to keep the theater closed after the 1980–1981 season, which put him in conflict with Lincoln Center chairman
Martin E. Segal.
Canceled renovation and disputes
Crinkley wanted to convert the Beaumont into a proscenium theater, resolving not only poor sightlines but also inferior acoustics that required some of the more recent plays to use amplification.
In May 1981, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation granted Lincoln Center $4 million each for the renovations of the Beaumont and
State (now Koch) theaters.
Frederick R. Koch had pledged $1 million to match the Fox/Samuels grant, and another board member of the Lincoln Center Theater had pledged $500,000.
Acoustics expert Cyril Harris and architect
I. M. Pei
Ieoh Ming Pei
– website of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners ( ; ; April 26, 1917 – May 16, 2019) was ...
were hired to renovate the Beaumont. In addition to changes to the stage and proscenium opening, the theater would be rebuilt with a shallower raked floor, and the seating capacity would be increased to 1,200.
The Beaumont's renovation was planned to cost $6.5 million and begin in November 1981, but the renovation soon encountered delays, as Harris and Pei could not reconcile their disagreement over the proscenium opening's acoustic and esthetic features.
Pei resigned from the project in February 1982 after he was unable to propose a design with which Harris agreed. As a result, Koch withdrew his $1 million grant.
Though a new restoration architect was not appointed for several months afterward,
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson (July 8, 1906 – January 25, 2005) was an American architect best known for his works of modern and postmodern architecture. Among his best-known designs are his modernist Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the po ...
was reportedly working with Harris.
Due to increasing renovation costs, Lincoln Center's board considered delaying the renovation indefinitely by mid-1982.
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation withdrew its $4 million grant in November 1982.
Leslie R. Samuels said the theater's directors had not raised enough money to cover the rest of the renovation, which had increased to $8 million.
By then, Harris was no longer affiliated with the renovation.
Conflicts over the Beaumont's operation persisted through 1983. Lincoln Center's board prioritized reopening the Beaumont for shows, while the theater's directors wanted to renovate the auditorium first. Lincoln Center had requested that the Beaumont's board raise $3 million for a renovation before the end of 1983. Another point of contention was responsibility over maintenance; the NYPL was paying all maintenance expenses for the library–theater building while the Beaumont stood dark, which cost the library an additional $150,000 from 1981 to 1983. Crinkley even objected to the Lincoln Center board's decision in mid-1983 to book the musical
''La Tragedie de Carmen'' for the theater, because he had wanted the sole rights to book shows there.
In August 1983, Lincoln Center's directors voted to prohibit the Beaumont's board from using either the "Lincoln Center Theater Company" name or $500,000 in annual funds. The Beaumont reopened that November with ''La Tragedie de Carmen''.
At the end of ''Carmen'' run, Lincoln Center's restrictions against the Beaumont board were still in effect, prompting renewed discussions. The Greek National Troupe performed ''
Oedipus Rex'' in 1984.
Lincoln Center Theater operation
The directors of Lincoln Center and the Beaumont reached an agreement in June 1984 in which the Beaumont's management would be reorganized in exchange for the lifting of restrictions. Ten board members and a new chairman would be hired, the Beaumont's board had to publish a detailed report about their goals, missions, and operations. Accordingly, former New York City mayor
John Lindsay
John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, mayor of New York City, and candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regular ...
was appointed as the Beaumont's chairman in September 1984, and Crinkley stepped down the next month. Lindsay submitted a report at the end of that November, promising an "artistic purpose" and proposing a partnership with Juilliard.
Gregory Mosher
Gregory Mosher (born 1949) is an American director and producer of stage productions at the Lincoln Center and Goodman Theatres, on and off-Broadway, at the Royal National Theatre, and in the West End. He is also a film director and television di ...
was hired as the director of the Lincoln Center Theater in April 1985, and
Bernard Gersten
Bernard Gersten (January 30, 1923 – April 27, 2020) was an American theatrical producer. Beginning in the 1960s through the early 2000s, Gersten played a major role in shaping American drama and musical theatre.
From 1960 to 1978, Gersten wo ...
was appointed as the Beaumont's executive producer that June. Unlike his predecessors, Mosher believed the Beaumont could operate viably without being renovated.
1980s and 1990s
![Vivian Beaumont Theater NYC 2003](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Vivian_Beaumont_Theater_NYC_2003.jpg)
The Beaumont's leadership hosted a party at the theater in December 1985 to celebrate its upcoming reopening.
The Flying Karamazov Brothers
The Flying Karamazov Brothers (FKB) are a juggling and comedy troupe that has been performing since 1973. They learned their trade busking as street artists starting in Santa Cruz, California, eventually going on to perform nationally and internat ...
performed a live show at the Beaumont in April 1986, the first at the main auditorium under the new leadership.
It was followed the same month by a revival of
John Guare
John Guare ( ;; born February 5, 1938) is an American playwright and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of '' The House of Blue Leaves'' and '' Six Degrees of Separation''.
Early life
He was raised in Jackson Heights, Queens.Druckman ...
's play ''
The House of Blue Leaves
''The House of Blue Leaves'' is a play by American playwright John Guare which premiered Off-Broadway in 1971, and was revived in 1986, both Off-Broadway and on Broadway, and was again revived on Broadway in 2011. The play won the Drama Critic ...
'',
which transferred upstairs from the Newhouse. The 1986–1987 season was the first full season since 1980–1981. The season's offerings consisted of
Ben Hecht and
Charles MacArthur
Charles Gordon MacArthur (November 5, 1895 – April 21, 1956) was an American playwright, screenwriter and 1935 winner of the Academy Award for Best Story.
Life and career
MacArthur was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the sixth of seven chil ...
's comedy ''
The Front Page
''The Front Page'' is a Broadway comedy about newspaper reporters on the police beat. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, it was first produced in 1928 and has been adapted for the cinema several times.
Plot
T ...
'';
Wole Soyinka
Akinwande Oluwole Babatunde Soyinka (Yoruba: ''Akínwándé Olúwọlé Babátúndé Ṣóyíinká''; born 13 July 1934), known as Wole Soyinka (), is a Nigerian playwright, novelist, poet, and essayist in the English language. He was awarded t ...
's drama ''
Death and the King’s Horseman'';
Bill Irwin's mime show ''The Regard of Flight and The Clown Bagatelles''; and
Robert Woodruff and The Flying Karamazov Brothers' version of ''
The Comedy of Errors
''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. ...
''.
LCT made relatively minor changes to the theater in the late 1980s, spending $25,000 on handrails and having productions use the thrust stage. The next production, a revision of
Cole Porter's musical ''
Anything Goes
''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...
'', opened in October 1987
and ran for 804 performances over the next two years.
LCT's 1988–1989 season was hosted at the
Lyceum Theatre as a result of the extended run of ''Anything Goes''.
LCT also planned to raise $900,000 for further improvements to the Newhouse and Beaumont. The 1989–1990 season at the Beaumont consisted of two shows: a revival of
Paddy Chayefsky
Sidney Aaron "Paddy" Chayefsky (January 29, 1923 – August 1, 1981) was an American playwright, screenwriter and novelist. He is the only person to have won three solo Academy Awards for writing both adapted and original screenplays.
He was ...
's play
''The Tenth Man'' and a transfer of
Richard Nelson's play ''Some Americans Abroad''.
The Beaumont was renovated between these engagements.
The renovation cost $1.6 million and included repairing the roof and travertine surfaces, reupholstering the seats, and adding carpets and handrails.
The Guare play ''
Six Degrees of Separation
Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also k ...
'' opened at the Beaumont in November 1990,
running for 485 performances.
LCT started booking solo engagements during nights when shows did not run,
starting with
Spalding Gray's ''
Monster in a Box
''Monster in a Box'' is a monologue originally performed live on stage by the writer Spalding Gray then subsequently made into a 1992 film starring Gray and directed by Nick Broomfield.
A follow-up to Gray's earlier work, '' Swimming to Cambo ...
'' monologue in 1991.
After
André Bishop
André Bishop (born November 9, 1948) is an American theatrical producer, and Artistic Director and Producing Artistic Director, of Lincoln Center Theater. He has produced over 80 Broadway plays and musicals and has won numerous Tony Awards.
E ...
replaced Mosher in early 1992, Guare's play ''Four Baboons Adoring the Sun'' opened at the Beaumont.
The musical version of ''
My Favorite Year
''My Favorite Year'' is a 1982 American comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Richard Benjamin and written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo from a story written by Palumbo. The film tells the story of a young comedy writ ...
'' opened that December,
but it was not a success, and neither was a revival of
Jane Bowles
Jane Bowles (; born Jane Sydney Auer; February 22, 1917 – May 4, 1973) was an American writer and playwright.
Early life
Born into a Jewish family in New York City on February 22, 1917, to Sydney Auer (father) and Claire Stajer (mother), Jane ...
's ''In the Summer House'' in August 1993.
Gray returned in November 1993 for his monologue series ''Gray's Anatomy'',
shortly before the play
''Abe Lincoln in Illinois'' opened;
the engagements ran simultaneously.
The theatre next produced a recreation of the
Royal National Theatre production of
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...
's musical ''
Carousel'', which opened in March 1994,
followed later the same year by another engagement of ''Gray's Anatomy''. The theater hosted
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...
's play
''Arcadia'' and
David Hare's play
''Racing Demon'' in 1995.
Following complaints over poor acoustics, System for Improved Acoustic Performance installed 88 speakers and some microphones after ''Arcadia'' closed.
By the mid-1990s, the Beaumont was finally running a surplus. LCT had a $25 million annual budget and had sold all 41,000 subscriptions to the theater, with 12,000 people on a waiting list.
In December 1995, LCT announced it would close the Beaumont for an extensive renovation lasting six to eight months, relocating Broadway shows to the
Plymouth Theatre. The project was originally estimated to cost $4.7 million.
The renovation, led by
Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates
Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates' (HHPA) was an internationally recognized American architecture firm with offices in New York and Los Angeles. Established by Hugh Hardy, Malcolm Holzman and Norman Pfeiffer in 1967 in New York, HHPA was noted ...
,
involved modifying mechanical systems, improving acoustics, and adding accessible restrooms and seating areas.
The work ultimately cost $6.2 million.
The Beaumont reopened in November 1996 with the musical ''
Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass''.
This was followed in 1997 by another revival of ''The Little Foxes''
as well as
''Ivanov''.
The next year, the theater hosted
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...
's comedy ''
Ah, Wilderness!
''Ah, Wilderness!'' is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 2, 1933. It differs from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a ...
'';
a revival of Shakespeare's ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
'';
and a short-lived musical version of
''Parade''.
The last productions of the decade were the revue ''
It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues
''It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues'' is a musical written by Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor, and Dan Wheetman. It was originally produced at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts and later presented by the Crossroads Th ...
''
and the musical ''
Marie Christine
''Marie Christine'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It opened on Broadway in 1999. Set in 1890s New Orleans and then 5 years later in Chicago; the story is loosely based on the Greek play ''Medea'', and uses ...
'' in 1999.
In addition to these Broadway shows, Spalding Gray returned for two monologues: ''It's a Slippery Slope'' in 1996 and ''Morning, Noon and Night'' in 1999.
2000s to present
Further modifications to the Beaumont were proposed in the early 2000s, when Lincoln Center planned to renovate the Beaumont's and Newhouse's lobbies for $58 million as part of a larger renovation of the complex.
Susan Stroman's musical
''Contact'' opened in 2000 and ran for 1,010 performances.
The Beaumont continued to host special productions, including concert series and one-time concerts.
Two specials ran during ''Contact'' engagement:
Patti LuPone
Patti Ann LuPone (born April 21, 1949) is an American actress and singer best known for her work in musical theater. She has won three Tony Awards, two Olivier Awards, two Grammy Awards, and was a 2006 inductee to the American Theater Hall of F ...
's concert series ''Matters of the Heart'' in 2000 and the play
''QED'' in 2001.
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook (October 25, 1927 – August 8, 2017) was an American actress and singer who first came to prominence in the 1950s as the lead in the original Broadway musicals '' Plain and Fancy'' (1955), ''Candide'' (1956) and ''The Music Man'' ( ...
performed the concert series ''Mostly Sondheim'' in 2002, followed later that year by the play
''Dinner at Eight''.
The Beaumont's 2003–2004 season saw the opening of two Shakespeare revivals (
Part 1 and
Part 2 of ''Henry IV''
and ''
King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
''
), succeeded by another Barbara Cook concert. During late 2004, the Beaumont hosted the musical
''The Frogs'' and the play ''
The Rivals
''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 episode of the T ...
''.
A new entrance was added from 65th Street to the Beaumont Theater's plaza level as part of a mid-2000s renovation.
The musical
''The Light in the Piazza'' opened at the Beaumont in April 2005,
followed by Stoppard's three-part play ''
The Coast of Utopia
''The Coast of Utopia'' is a 2002 trilogy of plays: ''Voyage'', ''Shipwreck'', and ''Salvage'', written by Tom Stoppard with focus on the philosophical debates in pre-revolution Russia between 1833 and 1866. It was the recipient of the 2007 Ton ...
'' in 2006
and a revival of Shakespeare's ''
Cymbeline
''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celti ...
'' in 2007.
The
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...
musical
''South Pacific'' was revived in 2008, running for 1,000 performances.
Guare's play ''
A Free Man of Color'' had a brief run at the Beaumont in 2010.
The next year, the play ''
War Horse
The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...
'' opened, running for 718 performances.
The Claire Tow Theater on the Beaumont's roof was approved in 2010, and the new venue opened in June 2012.
The Beaumont then hosted
Holland Taylor
Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003). ...
's solo show ''Ann'',
as well as a revival of ''Macbeth'', during 2013.
James Lapine
James Elliot Lapine (born January 10, 1949) is an American stage director, playwright, screenwriter, and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for ''Into the Woods'', '' Falsettos'', and '' Passion''. He ...
's play
''Act One'' premiered the following year.
Next, a revival of the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''
The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...
'' opened in April 2015
and ran for 499 performances.
J. T. Rogers's play ''
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
''
and
Ayad Akhtar
Ayad Akhtar (born October 28, 1970) is an American playwright, novelist, and screenwriter of Pakistani heritage, awarded the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His work has received two Tony Award nominations for Best Play, an Award in Literature fr ...
's play ''
Junk'' were then performed during 2017.
The next year,
Frederick Loewe and
Alan Jay Lerner's musical ''
My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
'' was revived for 509 performances.
Robert Schenkkan
Robert Frederic Schenkkan Jr. (born March 19, 1953) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1992 for his play '' The Kentucky Cycle'' and his play '' All the Way'' earned the 2014 Tony Awar ...
's comedy ''
The Great Society'' had a limited run in late 2019,
and the theater was dark when the Broadway industry was shut down in March 2020 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in New York City. The Beaumont reopened on November 11, 2021, with previews of the musical ''
Flying Over Sunset
''Flying Over Sunset'' is a musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Michael Korie, and book by James Lapine. The musical is a fictional account of a meeting between Aldous Huxley, Clare Boothe Luce and Cary Grant, who all used the drug LSD.
P ...
'', which had a limited run.
This was followed in April 2022 by a limited revival of
Thornton Wilder
Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...
's ''
The Skin of Our Teeth
''The Skin of Our Teeth'' is a play by Thornton Wilder that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942, at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, ...
''.
The theater hosted
Mike Birbiglia
Mike may refer to:
Animals
* Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum
* Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off
* Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and document ...
's solo show ''Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool'' starting in November 2022;
[ this will be followed by the musical '']Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...
'' in early 2023.
Management
The Lincoln Center Theater (LCT) is the nonprofit organization that has operated the Beaumont since 1985, after the Beaumont's management was reorganized. LCT operates the Beaumont, Newhouse, and Claire Tow theaters. André Bishop has served as LCT's director since the beginning of 1992, replacing Gregory Mosher. LCT has not had an executive producer since 2013, when Bernard Gersten resigned from the position.
LCT is one of four nonprofit theater companies to own and operate Broadway theaters, along with the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has g ...
, the Roundabout Theatre Company
The Roundabout Theatre Company is a leading non-profit theatre company based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres.
History
The company was founded in 1965 by Gene Feist, Michael Fried and Elizabet ...
, and Second Stage Theater
Second Stage Theater is a theater company founded in 1979 by Robyn Goodman and Carole Rothman and located in Manhattan, New York City. It produces both new plays and revivals of contemporary American plays by new playwrights and established wri ...
. Consequently, none of the theatre company's employees personally profit from LCT's shows at the Beaumont. Bishop said in 2011 that all profits from shows are used to fund more shows. Particularly successful shows such as ''South Pacific'' are used to finance further productions. LCT mostly hosts its Broadway productions at the Beaumont but uses other theaters when the Beaumont is unavailable, starting in the 1988–1989 season. LCT's Broadway productions were also relocated during the Beaumont's 1996 renovation, as well as in the 21st century, such as during the runs of ''Contact'', ''The Light in the Piazza'', and ''South Pacific''. LCT publishes the ''Lincoln Center Theater Review'', where writers reflect on LCT shows.
Notable productions
The following productions are Broadway shows at the Vivian Beaumont Theater's main auditorium. This list does not include shows produced in the off-Broadway venues nor the Lincoln Center Theater's other productions.
*1965: ''Danton's Death
''Danton's Death'' (''Dantons Tod'') was the first play written by Georg Büchner, set during the French Revolution.
History
Georg Büchner wrote his works in the period between Romanticism and Realism in the so-called Vormärz era in German hi ...
''
*1965: '' The Country Wife''
*1966: '' The Condemned of Altona''
*1966: ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle
''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (german: Der kaukasische Kreidekreis) is a play by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht. An example of Brecht's epic theatre, the play is a parable about a peasant girl who rescues a baby and becomes a ...
''
*1966: ''The Alchemist
An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy.
Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to:
Books and stories
* ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho
* ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...
''
*1966: ''Yerma
''Yerma'' is a play by the Spanish dramatist Federico García Lorca. It was written in 1934 and first performed that same year. García Lorca describes the play as "a tragic poem." The play tells the story of a childless woman living in rural S ...
''
*1967: '' Galileo''
*1967: '' The Unknown Soldier and His Wife''
*1967: ''The Little Foxes
''The Little Foxes'' is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 of the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the lit ...
''
*1968: '' Saint Joan''
*1968: ''Tiger at the Gates
''The Trojan War Will Not Take Place'' (french: La guerre de Troie n'aura pas lieu) is a play written in 1935 by French dramatist Jean Giraudoux. In 1955 it was translated into English by Christopher Fry with the title ''Tiger at the Gates''. The ...
''
*1968: ''Cyrano de Bergerac
Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist.
A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th cen ...
''
*1968: ''The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...
''
*1968: '' George Dandin''
*1968: ''Tartuffe
''Tartuffe, or The Impostor, or The Hypocrite'' (; french: Tartuffe, ou l'Imposteur, ), first performed in 1664, is a theatrical comedy by Molière. The characters of Tartuffe, Elmire, and Orgon are considered among the greatest classical thea ...
''
*1968: '' Lovers''
*1968: ''King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
''
*1968: ''A Cry of Players
''A Cry of Players'' is a drama by William Gibson, first performed in 1968, that portrays the young adult life of William Shakespeare. The title comes from ''Hamlet'', spoken by the aforementioned, Act 3, Scene 2: "Would not this, sir, and a fore ...
''
*1969: ''The Miser
''The Miser'' (french: L'Avare; ; also known by the longer name ''L'Avare ou L'École du Mensonge,'' meaning The Miser, or the School for Lies) is a five-act comedy in prose by the French playwright Molière. It was first performed on September ...
''
*1969: ''The Time of Your Life
''The Time of Your Life'' is a 1939 five-act play by American playwright William Saroyan. The play is the first drama to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. The play opened on Broadway in 1939.
Cha ...
''
*1970: '' Camino Real''
*1970: '' Operation Sidewinder''
*1970: ''Beggar on Horseback
''Beggar on Horseback'' is a 1924 play by George S. Kaufman and Marc Connelly.
The play is a parody of the expressionistic parables that were popular at the time; its title derives from the proverb "Set a beggar on horseback, and he'll ride at a g ...
''
*1970: ''The Good Woman of Setzuan
''The Good Person of Szechwan'' (german: Der gute Mensch von Sezuan, first translated less literally as ''The Good Man of Setzuan'') is a play written by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, in collaboration with Margarete Steffin and Ruth Berla ...
''
*1971: ''The Playboy of the Western World
''The Playboy of the Western World'' is a three-act play written by Irish playwright John Millington Synge and first performed at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on 26 January 1907. It is set in Michael James Flaherty's public house in County Mayo (o ...
''
*1971: '' An Enemy of the People''
*1971: ''Antigone
In Greek mythology, Antigone ( ; Ancient Greek: Ἀντιγόνη) is the daughter of Oedipus and either his mother Jocasta or, in another variation of the myth, Euryganeia. She is a sister of Polynices, Eteocles, and Ismene.Roman, L., & R ...
''
*1971: '' Mary Stuart''
*1972: ''Narrow Road to the Deep North
Narrow may refer to:
* The Narrow, rock band from South Africa
* Narrow banking, proposed banking system that would eliminate bank runs and the need for a deposit insurance
* narrow gauge railway, a railway that has a track gauge narrower than th ...
''
*1972: ''Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
''
*1972: ''The Crucible
''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as ...
''
*1972: '' Man of La Mancha''
*1972: ''Enemies
Enemies or foes are a group that is seen as forcefully adverse or threatening.
Enemies may also refer to:
Literature
* ''Enemies'' (play), a 1906 play by Maxim Gorky
* '' Enemies, A Love Story'', a 1966 novel by Isaac Bashevis Singer
* '' Enem ...
''
*1973: ''The Plough and the Stars
''The Plough and the Stars'' is a four-act play by the Irish writer Seán O'Casey that was first performed on 8 February 1926 at the Abbey Theatre. It is set in Dublin and addresses the 1916 Easter Rising. The play's title references the Sta ...
''
*1973: ''The Merchant of Venice
''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock.
Although classified as ...
''
*1973: ''A Streetcar Named Desire
''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pers ...
''
*1973: ''In the Boom Boom Room
''In the Boom Boom Room'' is a play by David Rabe. The play follows a young go-go dancer who has a difficult relationship with her parents.
Plot summary
Chrissy arrives in 1960s Philadelphia with the dream of becoming a successful dancer. Despe ...
''
*1974: '' Short Eyes''
*1975: '' Black Picture Show''
*1975: ''A Doll's House
''A Doll's House'' ( Danish and nb, Et dukkehjem; also translated as ''A Doll House'') is a three-act play written by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 21 December 1879, having be ...
''
*1975: '' Trelawny of the "Wells"''
*1975: ''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
''
*1976: ''Mrs. Warren's Profession
''Mrs. Warren's Profession'' is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1893, and first performed in London in 1902. The play is about a former prostitute, now a madam (brothel proprietor), who attempts to come to terms with her disapproving ...
''
*1976: ''The Threepenny Opera
''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...
''
*1977: ''The Cherry Orchard
''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by '' Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate editio ...
''
*1977: ''Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; grc-gre, Ἀγαμέμνων ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Greeks during the Trojan War. He was the son, or grandson, of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the ...
''
*1980: '' The Philadelphia Story''
*1981: '' Macbeth''
*1981: '' The Floating Light Bulb''
*1983: '' La Tragedie de Carmen''
*1984: '' Oedipus Rex''
*1986: ''The Flying Karamazov Brothers
The Flying Karamazov Brothers (FKB) are a juggling and comedy troupe that has been performing since 1973. They learned their trade busking as street artists starting in Santa Cruz, California, eventually going on to perform nationally and internat ...
''
*1986: ''The House of Blue Leaves
''The House of Blue Leaves'' is a play by American playwright John Guare which premiered Off-Broadway in 1971, and was revived in 1986, both Off-Broadway and on Broadway, and was again revived on Broadway in 2011. The play won the Drama Critic ...
''
*1986: ''The Front Page
''The Front Page'' is a Broadway comedy about newspaper reporters on the police beat. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, it was first produced in 1928 and has been adapted for the cinema several times.
Plot
T ...
''
*1987: ''Death and the King's Horseman
''Death and the King's Horseman'' is a play by Wole Soyinka based on a real incident that took place in Nigeria during the colonial era: the horseman of a Yoruba King was prevented from committing ritual suicide by the colonial authorities. In ...
''
*1987: ''The Comedy of Errors
''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. ...
''
*1987: ''Anything Goes
''Anything Goes'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The original book was a collaborative effort by Guy Bolton and P. G. Wodehouse, heavily revised by the team of Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. The story concerns madcap ant ...
''
*1989: '' The Tenth Man''
*1990: '' Some Americans Abroad''
*1990: ''Six Degrees of Separation
Six degrees of separation is the idea that all people are six or fewer social connections away from each other. As a result, a chain of "friend of a friend" statements can be made to connect any two people in a maximum of six steps. It is also k ...
''
*1991: ''Monster in a Box
''Monster in a Box'' is a monologue originally performed live on stage by the writer Spalding Gray then subsequently made into a 1992 film starring Gray and directed by Nick Broomfield.
A follow-up to Gray's earlier work, '' Swimming to Cambo ...
''
*1992: ''My Favorite Year
''My Favorite Year'' is a 1982 American comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Richard Benjamin and written by Norman Steinberg and Dennis Palumbo from a story written by Palumbo. The film tells the story of a young comedy writ ...
''
*1993: '' Abe Lincoln in Illinois''
*1993: '' Gray's Anatomy''
*1994: '' Carousel''
*1995: '' Arcadia''
*1995: '' Racing Demon''
*1996: '' Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass''
*1997: ''The Little Foxes
''The Little Foxes'' is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman, considered a classic of 20th century drama. Its title comes from Chapter 2, Verse 15 of the Song of Solomon in the King James version of the Bible, which reads, "Take us the foxes, the lit ...
''
*1997: '' Ivanov''
*1998: ''Ah, Wilderness!
''Ah, Wilderness!'' is a comedy by American playwright Eugene O'Neill that premiered on Broadway at the Guild Theatre on October 2, 1933. It differs from a typical O'Neill play in its happy ending for the central character, and depiction of a ...
''
*1998: ''Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
''
*1998: '' Parade''
*1999: ''It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues
''It Ain't Nothin' But the Blues'' is a musical written by Charles Bevel, Lita Gaithers, Randal Myler, Ron Taylor, and Dan Wheetman. It was originally produced at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts and later presented by the Crossroads Th ...
''
*1999: ''Marie Christine
''Marie Christine'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and book by Michael John LaChiusa. It opened on Broadway in 1999. Set in 1890s New Orleans and then 5 years later in Chicago; the story is loosely based on the Greek play ''Medea'', and uses ...
''
*2000: ''Contact
Contact may refer to:
Interaction Physical interaction
* Contact (geology), a common geological feature
* Contact lens or contact, a lens placed on the eye
* Contact sport, a sport in which players make contact with other players or objects
* ...
''
*2001: '' QED''
*2002: '' Dinner at Eight''
*2003: '' Henry IV, Part 1 and Part 2''
*2004: ''King Lear
''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare.
It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane ...
''
*2004: ''The Frogs
''The Frogs'' ( grc-gre, Βάτραχοι, Bátrakhoi, Frogs; la, Ranae, often abbreviated ''Ran.'' or ''Ra.'') is a comedy written by the Ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. It was performed at the Lenaia, one of the Festivals of Dionysus in ...
''
*2004: ''The Rivals
''The Rivals'' is a comedy of manners by Richard Brinsley Sheridan in five acts which was first performed at Covent Garden Theatre on 17 January 1775. The story has been updated frequently, including a 1935 musical and a 1958 episode of the T ...
''
*2005: '' The Light in the Piazza''
[
*2006: '']The Coast of Utopia
''The Coast of Utopia'' is a 2002 trilogy of plays: ''Voyage'', ''Shipwreck'', and ''Salvage'', written by Tom Stoppard with focus on the philosophical debates in pre-revolution Russia between 1833 and 1866. It was the recipient of the 2007 Ton ...
''
*2007: ''Cymbeline
''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celti ...
''
*2008: '' South Pacific''
*2010: '' A Free Man of Color''
*2011: ''War Horse
The first evidence of horses in warfare dates from Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC. A Sumerian illustration of warfare from 2500 BC depicts some type of equine pulling wagons. By 1600 BC, improved harness and chariot designs ...
''
*2013: ''Ann
Anne, alternatively spelled Ann, is a form of the Latin female given name Anna. This in turn is a representation of the Hebrew Hannah, which means 'favour' or 'grace'. Related names include Annie.
Anne is sometimes used as a male name in the ...
''
*2013: '' Macbeth''
*2014: '' Act One''
*2015: ''The King and I
''The King and I'' is the fifth musical by the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein. It is based on Margaret Landon's novel '' Anna and the King of Siam'' (1944), which is in turn derived from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, governess to the chil ...
''
*2017: ''Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
''
*2017: '' Junk''
*2018: ''My Fair Lady
''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
''
*2019: '' The Great Society''
*2021: ''Flying Over Sunset
''Flying Over Sunset'' is a musical with music by Tom Kitt, lyrics by Michael Korie, and book by James Lapine. The musical is a fictional account of a meeting between Aldous Huxley, Clare Boothe Luce and Cary Grant, who all used the drug LSD.
P ...
''
*2022: ''The Skin of Our Teeth
''The Skin of Our Teeth'' is a play by Thornton Wilder that won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It opened on October 15, 1942, at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, before moving to the Plymouth Theatre on Broadway on November 18, ...
''
*2022: '' Mike Birbiglia: The Old Man and the Pool''
*2023: ''Camelot
Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...
''
See also
* List of Broadway theaters
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
Official Lincoln Center Theater website
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{{Authority control
Eero Saarinen structures
Lincoln Center
Broadway theatres
Off-Broadway theaters
1965 establishments in New York City
Theatres completed in 1965
Theatre companies in New York City