Signature Theater to Get New Off-Broadway Home
by Broadway.com Staff • Oct 23, 2008
Signature Theatre Company plans to move its off-Broadway home base to a new 58-story hotel and residential building at 10th Avenue and 42nd Street, according to a report in The New York Times. The company's lease on its current theater, the Peter Norton Space at 42nd Street and 11th Avenue, ends in 2011, and Signature's efforts to move to the former World Trade Center site or to a college auditorium in Soho had fallen through in recent years.
The new theater, to be designed by Frank Gehry architect of the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, will include three theaters, one with 299 seats and two with 199 seats. The space, to be called the Signature Center, will total 70,000 square feet and will also include two rehearsal studios, a cafe, a bookstore and office space.
Artistic director James Houghton told the Times that Signature is planning a campaign to raise $20 million of the $60 million cost of the new space. The annual operating budget of the company is expected to increase to $9 million from $4 million.
Signature was founded in 1991 to showcase the work of a single playwright each season. The current program year is devoted to the works of the Negro Ensemble Company. Leslie Lee's The First Breeze of Summer recently ended its successful run, and a revival of Samm Art Williams' Home will begin previews on November 11. The 2009-2010 season will center on Suzan-Lori Parks, then the company expects to be in its new home to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a Tony Kushner season.
The new theater, to be designed by Frank Gehry architect of the Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, will include three theaters, one with 299 seats and two with 199 seats. The space, to be called the Signature Center, will total 70,000 square feet and will also include two rehearsal studios, a cafe, a bookstore and office space.
Artistic director James Houghton told the Times that Signature is planning a campaign to raise $20 million of the $60 million cost of the new space. The annual operating budget of the company is expected to increase to $9 million from $4 million.
Signature was founded in 1991 to showcase the work of a single playwright each season. The current program year is devoted to the works of the Negro Ensemble Company. Leslie Lee's The First Breeze of Summer recently ended its successful run, and a revival of Samm Art Williams' Home will begin previews on November 11. The 2009-2010 season will center on Suzan-Lori Parks, then the company expects to be in its new home to celebrate its 20th anniversary with a Tony Kushner season.