New York City Center (previously known as theMecca Temple,City Center of Music and Drama, and theNew York City Center 55th Street Theater[3]) is a performing arts center at 131 West55th Street betweenSixth andSeventh Avenues in theMidtown Manhattan neighborhood ofNew York City. Developed by theShriners between 1922 and 1924 as aMasonic meeting house, it has operated as a performing arts complex owned by thegovernment of New York City. City Center is a performing home for several major dance companies as well as theManhattan Theatre Club (MTC), and it hosts theEncores! musical theater series and theFall for Dance Festival annually.
The facility was designed by Harry P. Knowles andClinton and Russell in theMoorish Revival style and is divided into two parts. The southern section houses a main auditorium, with 2,257 seats across three levels; this auditorium could originally fit over four thousand people, but it has been downsized over the years. Immediately beneath the main auditorium are two smaller theaters, one of which is used by MTC; these occupy what was originally a banquet hall. This section contains an ornate sandstone facade with analfiz–like entryway made of terracotta, as well as a dome measuring about 104 feet (32 m) across. The northern section is much simpler in design, with a largely windowless brick facade, and contains four rehearsal studios and a 12-story office tower.
The Shriners decided in 1921 to construct the 55th Street building after having outgrown their previous headquarters, and the new building was dedicated on December 29, 1924. TheGreat Depression prompted the Shriners to downsize their activities in the 1930s and relocate out of the building entirely by 1940. New York City mayorFiorello La Guardia andNew York City Council presidentNewbold Morris established the City Center of Music and Drama Inc. (CCMD) to operate the building as a municipal performing-arts venue, which reopened on December 11, 1943. In its early years, City Center housed theCity Opera andCity Ballet, as well as symphony, dance theater, drama, and art companies. After the City Opera and Ballet relocated toLincoln Center in the 1960s, the CCMD continued to operate the building until 1976, when the City Center 55th Street Theater Foundation took over operation. City Center largely hosted dance performances during the late 20th century, although it also began hostingoff-Broadway shows when the MTC moved to City Center in 1984. The venue was renovated in the 1980s and again in the 2010s.
The neighborhood was part of a former artistic hub around a two-block section of West57th Street betweenSixth Avenue andBroadway. The hub had been developed during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, following the opening of Carnegie Hall.[8][9][10] Several buildings in the area were constructed as residences for artists and musicians, such as 130 and 140 West 57th Street, theRodin Studios, and theOsborne Apartments, as well as the demolishedSherwood Studios and Rembrandt. In addition, the area contained the headquarters of organizations such as theAmerican Fine Arts Society, theLotos Club, and theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers.[11] By the 21st century, the artistic hub had largely been replaced withBillionaires' Row, a series of luxury skyscrapers around the southern end ofCentral Park.[12]
When the Mecca Temple was constructed in 1923, the city block had contained garages, stables, and a school.[13][14] The lots on the southern part of the building's site, at 131–133 West 55th Street, had been used byFamous Players–Lasky Corporation as a movie studio.[15][16] The two lots on the northern part of the site, at 132 and 134 West 56th Street, contained horse stables.[17][18]
New York City Center was built by theShriners between 1922 and 1924 as theMecca Temple, aMasonic house of worship.[3][19] The building was designed by architectsHarry P. Knowles (aMaster Mason), who died before its completion, in conjunction with the firm ofClinton and Russell.[3][19] The building's design isNeo-Moorish, although sources have described the 55th Street wing as "Moresco-Baroque" and "delightfully absurd".[20] An article for theArchitectural Forum characterized the Shriners' clubhouses in general as "Saracenic".[21]
The building contains a steelsuperstructure.[22][23][24] The roof is carried by a large 65-short-ton (58-long-ton; 59 t)girder measuring 92.5 feet (28.2 m) long and 13 feet (4.0 m) wide. TheNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) wrote that, at the time, it was the largest piece of steel ever installed in a New York City building.[22]
In keeping with the Shriners' heritage, the City Center building's facade incorporates several motifs inspired byIslamic architecture.[25] Knowles had to work around the irregularly shaped site, and he needed to accommodate meeting rooms, an auditorium, and a banquet hall. As such, he placed the clubrooms and lodge rooms on the northern half of the site, which was narrower and faced 56th Street.[22][23] The northern portion of the building, at 12 stories high, is also taller than the rest of the building.[26][27] The auditorium and banquet hall were placed on the wider southern half, facing 55th Street, since these spaces were to be used much more frequently.[22][23] The southern part of the building has atiled rooftop dome.[28]
The southern part of the building, which contains the theater, is largely clad with ashlar sandstone and contains a largepointed arch spanning nearly the entirety of the facade.[22][27] Early plans called for the facade to be laid in contrasting shades of sandstone; ultimately, the building was clad with golden Ohio sandstone. The word "Mecca" was originally inscribed at the top of the large arch.[19] The 55th Street elevation also contains multicolored glazed terracotta tiles originally manufactured by theNew York Architectural Terra-Cotta Company.[25] In the early 2010s, a glass-and-steel marquee was installed above the entrance.[29]
The entrance consists of analfiz with anarcade of ninehorseshoe arches.[22][27] The arches are surrounded by a terracotta frieze with ocher, green, and blue foliate motifs. Each of the horseshoe arches in the arcade is supported by pink-veined and gray-veined granite columns and containvoussoirs made of glazed ocher tiles. Thetympanum of each arch has multicolored tiles, some of which depict a scimitar and a crescent.[27][30] There are also metal lamps within the arches.[27] The entryway's design reflects the arrangement of the staircases and lobby inside.[30] The five central arches are grouped together and lead to the theater's lobby. The two horseshoe arches on either side lead to staircases that ascend to the theater's mezzanine and first balcony. On either side of the arcade are double-height sandstone arches, which connect to staircases that lead down to the basement and up to the second balcony.[27][30]
Each of the arcade's five central doorways is topped by a pair of arched windows on the mezzanine level; these windows are separated byengaged columns and surrounded by an extension of the terracotta frieze. The five center bays are flanked by blue terracottapilasters and topped by amuqarnas cornice above the mezzanine level.[27][30] The upper portion of the 55th Street facade is relatively plain in design, except forlancet windows on the sides.[27] The uppermost part of the facade is stepped upward at its center, following the curve of the domed roof, and is topped by a large cornice withdentils. The corners arechamfered at the top; this was intended to serve as a transition between the cube-shaped lower stories and the domed roof.[22][27]
The theater's domed roof measures 104 ft (32 m) wide and 50 ft (15 m) tall, with 28,475 pieces ofLudowici Spanish roof tile.[28][31] Structurally, the roof is composed of four main ribs; between these are twelve smaller ribs, which are supported at their tops by a "ring" just below the top of the dome.[32] Unlike other domes in the United States, it was designed as a true sphere.[28] The lower half of each rib is composed of twochords, while the upper half is made ofI-beams measuring 15 inches (380 mm) thick. The inner chord of the dome rises 37.5 feet (11.4 m) and has a diameter of 88 feet (27 m); by contrast, the outer chord has a radius of about 54 feet (16 m).[32]
The dome's outer surface consists of a 3-inch (7.6 cm) layer of a material called "Nailcrete", which was spread acrossmetal lath; the terracotta tiles were then attached to the Nailcrete.[32] Both the 1922 and 2005 tiles for the structure were produced byLudowici Roof Tile and colored in a varied blend of reds and ochers.[28][19] The tiles gradually narrow near the top of the dome, which also makes City Center the only structure in theNortheastern United States with a dome of graduated clay tiles.[28] The top of the dome originally was decorated with a scimitar and a crescent.[26] The roof was renovated in 2005. The refurbished roof includes a1⁄8-inch (3.2 mm) waterproof membrane underneath each tile; a steel frame above the membrane; and 8,000 stainless-steelanchors that connect the tiles to the steel frame.[28]
The 56th Street elevation of City Center's facade was designed in a substantially different manner than that on 55th Street, as the northern part of the building was designed for a different purpose. The facade contains elements of an abstractclassical style. At ground level, the facade is made of limestone and contains five arches. The outermost arches are the widest and are connected directly to stage rear, as is the center arch, which is slightly narrower. The second-outermost arches on either side are the narrowest and are flanked by lanterns on either side.[30][33]
The upper 11 stories are clad with yellow brick. The third story contains three windows, which contain sandstone moldings, balconies, andpediments.[30][33] All the decoration above the third story was made of buff-colored terracotta.[30][20] The stories above originally contained the Shriners' lodge rooms, so Knowles chose not to add windows, as was typical for office buildings of the time. Instead, on the fourth through ninth stories, the center of the facade contains six verticalpiers, which are made of projecting bricks that are angled outward.[30][34] The side elevations of the northern half of the building contain even less decoration; they largely consist of brick walls with some scattered window openings.[30]
Originally, the Mecca Temple included a three-level auditorium with space for 5,000 people in total.[24][35] The building also contained a banquet room in the basement, which could fit 5,000 people, and three lodge rooms on the upper stories, which could accommodate another 3,000 people.[35] By 2010, the building contained 12 stories of offices, a main auditorium with 2,753 seats, two smaller auditoriums in the basement, and four studios.[36]
The main doorways on 55th Street lead to a ticket lobby, where gold-metal doors surrounded by ceramic tiles lead to the main auditorium.[33] In 2011, the lobbies were rearranged so that audiences entered the auditorium from the sides, rather than from the rear. The modern-day lobby is divided into outer and inner sections. The outer lobby has a bar, while the inner lobby has screens for video installations, which are changed three times a year.[29]
The original seating capacity of the main auditorium is disputed but has been variously cited as 4,080[37] or 4,400.[35] According toThe Boston Globe, the main auditorium originally had a foyer with space for another 600 people, bringing the total capacity to 5,000.[35] These seats were spread across a ground-story orchestra level and two steeplyraked balconies;[19] in contrast to the balconies, the orchestra was originally nearly flat.[38][39] Both balcony levels are supported bygirders that are cantilevered from the rear of the auditorium.[40] The first balcony level is supported by a pair of diagonal girders on either end because of its unusual shape. The second balcony level, also known as the gallery, is cantilevered above the first balcony and the orchestra; the center of this level is supported by a truss measuring 92.5 feet (28.2 m) long.[39]
During the mid-20th century, the seating capacity was reduced to approximately 2,932.[41] During a 1982 renovation, City Center officials removed another 186 seats from the orchestra, reducing it to 2.746 seats.[42][43] The 1982 renovation also included raising the entire orchestra and raking the first ten rows.[41] The front rows of the rebuilt orchestra were raised 10 inches (250 mm), while the rear rows were raised by as much as 4 feet 6 inches (1.37 m).[38] City Center was again downsized in 2011 to approximately 2,250 seats.[29][44] This project involved removing six rows of seats, increasing the slope of the orchestra level, widening each seat by 2 inches, and reupholstering them in blue and green.[29]
Theproscenium arch and the ceiling were decorated in the Islamic style, with such motifs as stalactites and honeycombs.[19] The main auditorium's interior contained Moorish motifs such as multi-pointed stars,lancet windows, and large chandeliers hanging from molded ceiling plasterwork.[33] After the city government moved into the theater in 1943, the space was repainted white because it was easier to maintain.[29] During the mid-20th century, the auditorium was decorated in red, green, blue, and gilded rococo, but it was repainted again in beige and taupe in 1982.[38] The original color scheme was restored in 2011, along with the murals on the ceiling of the mezzanine lobby.[29][44]
The auditorium's original design focused the audience's attention at the center of the stage, but this design also created difficult sightlines; one observer likened the design to "watching a television screen".[29]Variety magazine stated that the auditorium's stage could fit 100 musicians.[37] Unlike traditional theaters, the stage originally did not have any wing space for performers;[45] even after the theater was renovated in 2011, the wing space was too small to accommodate certain types of productions,[46] To accommodate the Shriners, who frequently smoked in the Mecca Temple,[20] there was an airintake on the auditorium's roof.[32][20] Fresh air traveled from the intake to a fan and heater room above the auditorium's proscenium, and air was then distributed through the floor slabs of each level.[32] A lighting booth was also installed in the auditorium in 2011.[29]
The basement originally contained a banquet hall. This space did not contain columns. Instead, it was spanned by a set of deeplattice trusses, which were flanked by deepplate girders; these formed the floor of the auditorium.[24] The space between the trusses contained ducts that supplied fresh air to the auditorium and basement; a system of exhaust pipes for the basement; and other utilities.[47]
After an attempt in 1970 to convert City Center's basement into acinematheque,[48] the basement became a 299-seatoff-Broadway theater called The Space in 1981.[49] When The Space opened, it was only occasionally used by dance companies.[50] TheManhattan Theatre Club (MTC) moved to The Space in 1984[51][52] and divided the basement into two auditoriums.[53] As of 2022[update], MTC operates two off-Broadway spaces in the basement, known as Stage I and Stage II.[54][55] Stage I contains 299 seats, while Stage II contains 150 seats.[56] MTC also operates a coatroom, restroom, and members' lounge on the landing of the staircase between the basement and the lobby.[55]
The three lodge rooms were placed in the northern wing of the building.[19] When the Mecca Temple was converted to the City Center, the lodge rooms became rehearsal studios.[19][53] During the 1950s, scripts for the television showYour Show of Shows, starringSid Caesar, were written in one of the offices on the sixth floor.[53] The theater's modern-day rehearsal studios occupy the upper stories.[29]
The City Center building on 55th Street was constructed as the Mecca Temple, the headquarters of the Shriners. The order's previous headquarters had been located atSixth Avenue and23rd Street since 1875.[23][57] The order began hosting large events atCarnegie Hall in 1891, but the hall banned smoking,[57] even though many Shriners enjoyed smoking large cigars during their meetings.[58] Although the Shriners moved to the 71st Regiment Armory onPark Avenue in 1905, the armory was not well-suited for theatrical productions. The Shriners also had trouble booking a theater except during the workday.[57] By 1911, the Shriners owned a convertedbrownstone row house at 107 West 45th Street, and they also held large meetings in the concert hall ofMadison Square Garden.[59] The row house contained a grill room on the ground floor, a lounge and committee room on the second floor, executive offices on the third floor, and an assembly room on the fourth floor.[60]
Abond issued in 1922 to raise funds for the construction of the Mecca Temple
By the early 1920s, the Shriners had outgrown their 45th Street location and wished to build a new headquarters prior to their 50th anniversary in 1922.[60] This prompted 1,500 Shriners to vote in favor of a new temple in April 1921.[57] The Shriners planned to fund the new temple by issuing bonds and by constructing an office building above the temple.[60] The order issued $1.5 million in bonds,[61] and its 11,080 members had purchased $1 million worth of bonds by the end of 1921, allowing the Shriners to build a standalone temple.[60] The rest of the bond issue was used to pay expenses, taxes, and interest on the mortgage loan.[61] Mecca Temple paidYale University $400,000 for the lots at 131–135 West 55th Street in Midtown Manhattan in December 1921.[15][16] Yale, in turn, had acquired the site from William S. and Mary E. Mason three months beforehand.[58] The sale was finalized in January 1922; the Shriners hoped that their new temple would increase land values in the surrounding area.[14] The Shriners bought two stables at 133 and 135 West 56th Street from George C. Mason that April for $140,000.[17][18]
H. P. Knowles filed plans for a house of worship on 55th Street with the Manhattan Bureau of Buildings in August 1922. The structure was to cost $750,000 and was to contain a meeting hall in the basement; a three-level auditorium; three studios; and three stories of offices.[6][7] The auditorium was to contain 5,000 seats, which would allow it to be rented out for events such as concerts.[62]James Stewart & Co. was hired as the building's general contractor.[63] The Shriners hosted a parade on October 13, 1923, after whichArthur S. Tompkins, a New York state judge and the Grand Master of Masons in New York State, laid the building'scornerstone on 56th Street. At the time, the building was planned to cost $2.5 million.[64][65] The Mecca Temple received a $1 millionmortgage loan fromManufacturers Trust in July 1924.[66][67] The building was dedicated on December 29, 1924, with the invocation offered by Episcopal bishopWilliam T. Manning; contemporary sources characterized the building as a "mosque".[26][68]
The Mecca Temple's auditorium first opened to the general public in May 1925, when it hosted a fashion show.[69][70] By then, the building was complete except for interior decorations and the installation of seats on the first floor.[69]John Philip Sousa's band performed in the temple's first public concert that October,[71][72] and theNew York Symphony Orchestra relocated its performances to the auditorium from theAeolian Building on 42nd Street.[73] During the 1920s, the Mecca Temple also hosted events such as a meeting of post-office workers;[74] a memorial service forAmerican Revolutionary War military commanderCasimir Pulaski;[75] and the meetings ofCongregation Rodeph Sholom.[76] Unlike other Shriners temples, which were tax-exempt, mainlyphilanthropic concerns, the Mecca Temple earned money from renting its auditorium out, so it was not tax-exempt.[20]
By the 1930s, theGreat Depression had forced many fraternal groups, such as the Shriners, to reduce the scope of their activities.[19] The Mecca Holding Company, the Mecca Temple's original owner, transferred the building'stitle to a group of Shriners trustees in 1933.[20] The Fides Opera Company, led byCesare Sodero, began performing at the Mecca Temple the same year.[77] Irving Verschleiser,[a] operator of the Central Opera House on theUpper East Side, leased the building's ballroom and kitchens in 1934, with plans to convert it into the Mecca Temple Casino.[78] Aside from opera, dance, theatrical productions, and concerts, the auditorium's events in the 1930s included aFederal Theatre Project circus,[79] a protest meeting attended by over one-fifth of the city's Armenian population.[80] and a speech by former Greek prime ministerAlexandros Papanastasiou.[81] Manufacturers Trust foreclosed on the building in 1937 after the Shriners failed to make mortgage payments. Verschleiser then took over the building and began operating it through his company, Mecca Temple Casino Inc.[20][82] Verschleiser failed to make a profit on the building, and the 130 West 56th Street Corporation took over in 1939.[20]
The Shriners had stopped using the building completely by 1940.[83] A writer forThe New York Times reported that the auditorium had been relegated to "political oratory, all sorts of organizational harangues and resolutions, [and] second-rate prize fights".[83] Opera and ballet impresarioMax Rabinoff announced in August 1941 that he would convert the auditorium into the Cosmopolitan Opera House and that he would convert the office section into the People's Art Center.[84][85] Rabinoff planned to leave the exterior intact while remodeling the interior for ballet, opera, and concerts.[85] The theater had reopened by November 1941.[86] It hosted shows such as a series of four programs by theNBC Symphony Orchestra;[86] the operettasThe Gypsy Baron[87] andBeggar Student;[88] and a set of concerts to raise money for "war stamps" issued during World War II.[89]
By 1942, the 130 West 56th Street Corporation had not paid taxes for several months, and theNew York City Treasurer's office was acting as thereceiver for the theater and office building.[90] That September, the New York City government bought the building for $100,000 at aforeclosure auction.[90][91] The city was offering the Mecca Temple for rent the next month.[92] MayorFiorello La Guardia andNew York City Council presidentNewbold Morris began planning to convert the Mecca Temple into a theater. In March 1943, La Guardia named a committee to study these plans.[93][94] La Guardia and Morris cofounded the City Center of Music and Drama (CCMD) with tax lawyerMorton Baum, who was described as "the financial, production, and political brain that held it together".[95] The CCMD was to present opera, concerts, dance, ballet, and theatrical productions at the Mecca Temple.[96] The men wished to provide "cultural entertainment at popular prices", with tickets costing as little as $1.[97] To attract working-class audiences, La Guardia proposed that shows start at 5:30 p.m., after the end of the workday.[98]
TheNew York Supreme Court approved thearticles of incorporation for the City Center of Music and Drama Inc. in July 1943.[98] La Guardia and Morris appointed a board of 24 people to operate the CCMD.[99] The city government hiredAymar Embury II the same month to renovate the Mecca Temple's auditorium.[100][101] City officials filed plans for the renovation with the city's Department of Buildings that August,[102] and the Board of Estimate voted to provide $65,000 for the building's renovation.[103][104] The next month, the Board of Estimate gave the CCMD a permit to stage live shows within the Mecca Temple.[105][106] Due to material shortages during World War II, the city government postponed the renovation of the theater's interior.[107]Harry Friedgut was appointed as City Center's first managing director in September 1943,[108][109] while Morris served as chairman of the CCMD.[110] The Mecca Temple was officially renamed City Center shortly afterward.[111][112] The CCMD began paying $2,000 a month in rent that October, before the theater had formally opened.[113]
The newly-establishedNew York City Opera started performing at City Center in February 1944 under directorLaszlo Halasz;[120] the New York City Symphony Orchestra, led byLeopold Stokowski, debuted at City Center the next month.[121] NBC initially sponsored all of City Center's concerts and music performances.[122] The theater's first several shows were profitable, even though ticket prices were capped at $1.65.[123] By the end of the first operating season in May 1944, the theater had grossed over $414,000 from 171 performances, which had attracted 346,000 guests. City Center recorded a net profit of $844.[113][124] This prompted City Center officials to make plans for their ownballet company andrepertory theater company.[125]
Friedgut resigned as managing director in July 1944, citing disputes with Morris.[110] Although attendance at City Center doubled to 750,000 during the 1944–1945 season, the center recorded a net loss of $36,000, in part because of the orchestra company's large expenses.[126][127] TheBallet Russe de Monte-Carlo began performing at City Center in late 1944[128] and remained there for five years.[129][130] To prevent a future mayoral administration from shuttering City Center,[131][132] the CCMD renewed its lease of the building in July 1945 for five years, paying at least $10,000 a year.[133][134] City Center planned to establish a theatrical company for the 1945–1946 season, which would present revivals of plays;[135] during that season, the center hosted 614,000 guests.[136] Officials installed an air-conditioning system in the auditorium in mid-1946.[137]
City Center remained popular in the late 1940s, with over 750,000 guests during the 1946–1947 season.[136][138] Although the city government no longer financially supported the center, City Center sold over $1 million worth of tickets per year.[136] City Center accommodated about 578,000 guests during the 1947–1948 season[139] and around 576,000 guests the following season.[140] The New York City Symphony stopped performing at City Center after that season,[141] mainly due to the theater's poor acoustics.[142]George Balanchine andLincoln Kirstein's Ballet Society became a resident organization of the CCMD in 1948 and was accordingly renamed theNew York City Ballet Company.[143] The CCMD established the New York City Theater Company the same season.[99] The New York City Dance Theater performed at City Center during the 1949–1950 season,[144][145] although it did not schedule any performances afterward.[146] Despite grossing over $1.2 million from opera, ballet, theater, and dance performances during the 1949–1950 season, the CCMD recorded a net operating loss of $3,517 during that season.[147]
Several months before City Center's lease expired in 1950, musicians'labor union Local 802 had proposed buying the building for $850,000.[148] Theatrical criticBrooks Atkinson wrote that "all of the City Center's programs lose money. But the losses are not calamitous" because of the theater's relatively cheap tickets and because of various large donations.[149] Uncertainty over City Center's lease caused the 1950–1951 season to be delayed, as the CCMD could not book shows until its lease had been renewed.[150][151] After mayorWilliam O'Dwyer pledged his support of City Center, the Board of Estimate renewed the CCMD's lease in February 1950. The CCMD agreed to cap ticket prices at $2.50, and its rent was set at 1.5 percent of its annual gross receipts.[152][153] City Center's deficit grew to over $72,000 during the 1950–1951 season.[154] By mid-1951, Baum considered hosting dramas only during the winter, as attendance was generally lower during the spring. Low patronage during the summer had already prompted him to stop staging musicals in July and August.[155]
The CCMD announced plans in March 1952 to convert one of the center's emergency-exit hallways into a visualart gallery;[156] the space would exhibit contemporary sculptures and visual art.[157] Kirstein was appointed as City Center's managing director later that year.[158] CCMD officials, citing increasing production costs asked theNew York State Legislature in early 1953 to pass a law allowing the organization to lease the building for $1 annually.[159][160] The law was enacted later the same year.[161] The CCMD began raising $200,000 in April 1953 as part of its first-ever fundraiser,[162] and theRockefeller Foundation also donated $200,000 to fund the ballet and opera companies for three years.[163][164] The 75 by 15 ft (22.9 by 4.6 m) visual-art gallery opened in September 1953;[165][166] it hosted ten exhibitions of 50 canvases per year.[167] The building needed repairs by the mid-1950s, and the city government did not always fix these issues promptly. To convince the city government to fix the leaking roof, Morris invited mayorVincent R. Impellitteri to the City Center on a rainy night; the mayor'sprogram soon became soaked, and the roof was fixed shortly afterward.[168][169]
The CCMD continued to lose money, recording a deficit of $225,000 for the 1953–1954 season, even as annual attendance had reached 962,000.[170] An organization called the Friends of City Center was created in January 1954, selling annual memberships to raise money.[171] The Friends sold 3,000 memberships, mostly to small-dollar donors; it was reorganized after losing $25,000.[172] The City Center Light Opera Company hosted its first performances in May 1954.[173] Kirstein resigned as City Center's managing director in January 1955 because he and the board of directors could not agree on basic policy. Whereas Kirstein wanted to spend more money to stage experimental shows, the board wished to stage more established shows and reduce its expenses.[174] The Board of Estimate voted that February to lease the building to the CCMD for $1 per year.[161] The CCMD saw an $220,000 operating loss during the 1955–1956 season, although grants and donations covered much of this cost.[175]
After the City Opera suspended the beginning of its 1957 season due to financial deficits,[176] Kirstein unsuccessfully proposed reorganizing City Center and establishing a new opera company.[177] The CCMD had received $281,000 in gifts by the end of the 1956–1957 season, saving it from insolvency, although it still operated at a net loss.[178][179] After the 1956–1957 season, City Center's drama company stopped performing for several seasons.[167] The following season, the CCMD recorded an operating deficit of over $550,000, although donations covered almost all of this deficit.[180] The Friends of City Center had 2,670 members, who paid between $10 and $1,000 per year.[172] Further losses during the 1959–1960 season prompted officials to increase the center's maximum ticket prices by mid-1960.[181]
As early as 1959, the CCMD was negotiating to move all of its shows from the former Mecca Temple to the newly-developedLincoln Center on theUpper West Side of Manhattan.[182][183] The CCMD closed City Center's art gallery in May 1961, as the gallery had been unprofitable and had not attracted sponsorships. At the time, the gallery attracted 2,500 monthly visitors, and it had displayed 3,600 artworks, one-eighth of which had been sold.[184] Donors reduced the organization's operating deficit to $12,000 for the 1961–1962 season,[185] and the CCMD had a $37,500 surplus the next season, although the City Opera's losses soon eliminated this surplus.[186] In advance of the1964 New York World's Fair, the City Ballet announced that it would move to theNew York State Theater at Lincoln Center after the 1963–1964 season.[187][188] By the CCMD's 20th anniversary in December 1943, the theater had received 16 million total guests over twenty 40-week seasons.[130] During the 1963–1964 season, the CCMD recorded a net profit for the first time in 18 years, after donors covered that season's operating deficits.[189]
Meanwhile, the CCMD was still contemplating relocating its opera, light opera, and drama companies to the New York State Theater,[190] although Lincoln Center and CCMD officials could not agree on who would control that theater.[191][192] By then,Variety magazine described the original City Center on 55th Street as having "many faulty seat locations" and a shallow stage.[192] The organization ultimately agreed in January 1965 to permanently relocate its ballet and opera companies to the New York State Theater. The CCMD would relaunch its drama company and would continue to host light opera and drama at the 55th Street theater.[141][193] The CCMD became a member company of Lincoln Center in 1965[194] and signed a sublease for the New York State Theater in January 1966.[195] Although the organization recorded a $1.7 million operating deficit during the 1965–1966 season due to the costs of the second theater, this was offset by nearly $2 million in donations.[196]
The CCMD continued to subsidize the 55th Street theater after relocating its ballet and opera companies.[197] After Newbold Morris retired in 1966, Baum was appointed as the chairman of City Center's board of directors.[198] The same year, theRobert Joffrey Ballet became a resident dance company and was renamed the City Center Joffrey Ballet,[199] relocating to 55th Street that September.[200] The CCMD's drama company also resumed performances at the 55th Street theater during the 1966–1967 season, having been inactive for nine years.[201] The city government donated $500,000 for a renovation of the 55th Street building in 1967.[202] This money was used to overhaul the air-conditioning system, repaint the interior, and replace wiring.[168][202] After Baum died in early 1968, the CCMD's board appointed an executive committee to temporarily take over the organization's operations.[203] Later the same year, the CCMD appointed Norman Singer as the organization's general administrator[204] and Richard Clurman as the chairman of its board.[205][206]
Under Clurman's leadership, the CCMD proposed relocating from its 55th Street theater, which officials felt was obsolete. As part of the proposed City Center Plaza, the CCMD wished to build four theaters, each with 400 to 800 seats, on the site of thethird Madison Square Garden (MSG) onEighth Avenue.[207] While negotiations for the MSG site were ongoing, CCMD officials announced in early 1970 that they would convert the 55th Street theater's basement into the City Center Cinematheque, with one or more movie theaters and a film museum.[48] In January 1971. the CCMD proposed taking over Lincoln Center'sVivian Beaumont Theater and renovating it.[208] To fund the $5.2 million cost of renovating the Beaumont, the CCMD planned to demolish the 55th Street theater and replace it with an office skyscraper containing a 3,000-seat theater.[209][210] The CCMD withdrew its plan for the Beaumont that December,[211] but it continued to contemplate the demolition of the 55th Street theater.[212][213]
City Center stopped producing drama altogether in 1969,[214][215] although Singer proposed creating a drama company in early 1972.[213] Before the 1972–1973 season began, two companies joined the CCMD: theAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater, which became the Alvin Ailey City Center Dance Theater,[216] andthe Acting Company, which became the City Center Acting Company.[217] By October 1972, the CCMD had recorded a total deficit of $1.3 million.[218] The organization had recorded a net operating loss of $3.7 million for the 1971–1972 season, but it had not received enough grants and donations to offset these losses,[218] which grew during the next year.[219] Although theFord Foundation gave $500,000 each to the CCMD's ballet and opera companies in early 1973, the CCMD had to drastically reduce funding for the Joffrey Ballet and for the proposed Cinematheque.[220] Later that year, the Board of Estimate extended the theater's lease for another 52 years.[221]
By the 1970s, the CCMD was subsidizing the ballet and opera at Lincoln Center, as well as the Joffrey Ballet, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the Acting Company, and the Young People's Theater at 55th Street.[222][223] The CCMD also subsidized the Cinematheque, which had leased space under theQueensboro Bridge in 1973;[224][225] the Cinematheque never opened due to a lack of money.[226][227] In addition, the CCMD co-produced theAmerican Ballet Theatre (ABT).[223] CCMD officials considered selling the 55th Street theater in 1974 to a developer who planned to erect a residential and commercial skyscraper on much of the block.[228] The 55th Street theater had hosted dance performances nearly exclusively for several years, so the CCMD planned to construct a dance theater in the proposed skyscraper.[229] Singer resigned as the organization's director that July.[223][230] By then, the center's net deficit had grown to $4 million.[223] The CCMD ultimately decided to retain the existing building in early 1975.[231]
A reorganization of City Center began in May 1975, when the CCMD's interim chairman created a board of governors, which in turn established separate boards of directors for the City Ballet, the City Opera, and the 55th Street theater.[222][232] The board of governors had 12 members, compared to the 41-member board of directors.[197][233]John S. Samuels III became the chairman of the board of governors the same year.[233] The CCMD concentrated its resources on the ballet and opera companies at Lincoln Center. The drama and music companies at the 55th Street theater, no longer subsidized by the CCMD, had already stopped operating.[234]
The Joffrey Ballet, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, the American Ballet Theatre, and the Eliot Feld Ballet proposed taking over the 55th Street theater in April 1976, alleging that the CCMD had retained control over the building while forcing the ballet companies to subsidize their own operation.[235] CCMD officials agreed to turn over the 55th Street theater's operation to theCity Center 55th Street Theater Foundation, headed by these ballet companies.[236] The plan nearly failed because of disagreements between the CCMD and the dance companies,[237] but the agreement was finalized in August 1976 after months of debate.[238] Subsequently, the 55th Street building was almost entirely controlled by the 55th Street Theater Foundation, led by lawyerHoward Squadron.[56][234] The CCMD, meanwhile, focused on its Lincoln Center operations.[234]
Throughout the late 1970s, the 55th Street theater continued to be used mainly for dance performances,[239] attracting companies such as theDance Theatre of Harlem.[240][38] City Center's resident dance companies included the Alvin Ailey,Paul Taylor,Merce Cunningham, andMartha Graham companies; this led to the center being known as "America's premier dance theatre".[56] The 55th Street Theater Foundation installed a new stage in 1978, and it began renovating the facade two years later.[240] Because the auditorium's orchestra level was nearly flat, audience members in the first twelve rows reportedly could not see dancers' feet.[38] By 1980, the 55th Street Theater Foundation was profitable, although the ABT and the Feld company had moved out.[240]
View of City Center, withCitySpire rising above it
The Theatrical Assistance Group Foundation converted City Center's basement into a 299-seatoff-Broadway theater in early 1981.[49] Squadron received a $700,000 federal grant in mid-1981 to renovate the 55th Street theater,[241][56] but Samuels still wished to redevelop the 55th Street site, prompting criticism from City Center's board.[242] Samuels ultimately resigned in July 1981[243] and was succeeded byAlton Marshall,[239] who himself was succeeded byMartin J. Oppenheimer in 1983.[244][245] Meanwhile, after the 55th Street Theater Foundation had received the federal grant, the foundation announced in early 1982 that they would renovate the theater.[41]Fred Lebensold andRothzeid, Kaiserman & Thomson designed the project, which ultimately cost $$900,000.[56] The renovation began that June.[42] To improvesightlines, City Center officials removed 186 seats, raised the orchestra level, staggered the seats in each row, and redesigned the aisles.[42][38] In addition, the lobby was expanded; the seats were re-upholstered; a wheelchair ramp was installed; decorations, including the chandeliers, were restored; and the auditorium was repainted. The refurbished theater reopened in October 1982.[42][43]
TheManhattan Theatre Club moved into City Center's basement in 1984,[51][52] and theNew York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated City Center as a city landmark that year.[56] The same year, developerIan Bruce Eichner proposed buying City Center's air rights to obtain additional space for his neighboringCitySpire development.[246][247] Eichner planned to pay the CCMD $11 million, of which $5.5 million would be passed along to the 55th Street Theater Foundation. According to Squadron, this would allow the foundation to expand the cramped stage; construct new storage areas; rebuild the balconies; replace the seats; and add ticket booths, bathrooms, and elevators.[45] Eichner agreed to make improvements to City Center in exchange for the additional space,[246][248] but he had not completed these renovations by 1988, prompting City Center to sue Eichner.[249][250]
Following a separate controversy over CitySpire's height, in 1988, Eichner agreed to build 7,200 square feet (670 m2) of dance studios above a pedestrian arcade at that building's base,[248] which the city approved in early 1989.[251][252] 55th Street Theater Foundation officials contended that the studios were narrow for City Center's dance companies.[253] City Center continued to host ballet and dance shows, as well as events such as theNew York International Ballet Competition.[254] City Center's mezzanine was renamed after Robert Joffrey, the head of the Joffrey Ballet, in 1988.[255] In addition, City Center's executive director Anthony Micocci was considering producing musicals at the theater by the late 1980s, after the stage had been renovated.[256][214] Due to continuing disputes over the CitySpire project, the developers of that skyscraper agreed to pay the New York City government $2.1 million; some of the funding was used to renovate City Center's rehearsal rooms.[257] Starting in mid-1990, part of the auditorium was closed for restoration,[258] andAltria began sponsoring dance shows at City Center.[259]
Squadron appointed Judith Daykin as City Center's executive director in November 1991, after Micocci resigned.[260][261] The Joffrey Ballet had stopped regularly performing at City Center after 1991 due to a lack of money.[262] By the time Daykin assumed the directorship in 1992, the theater was only hosting 17 weeks of shows per year.[263] Within one year of taking over City Center, Daykin had paid off the center's $750,000 debt, and she had increased fundraising and marketing efforts for the theater.[263] Daykin initiated theEncores! Great American Musicals in Concert, which presented rarely heard musicals starting in 1994.[215][264] Daykin perceived Encores! as an experimental program that she hoped would attract new audiences.[215] Daykin was also credited for turning City Center from a rental hall into an organization that produced its own shows.[263][265] Upon City Center's 50th anniversary in 1993, it still largely hosted ballet and dance companies, including Joffrey Ballet and the Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey,Trisha Brown, and Paul Taylor dance companies; the MTC also presented off-Broadway shows there.[266]
By the late 1990s, the center's Encores! series had become popular.[267][268] According to Daykin, the Encores! series attracted people "who probably hadn't been here in 20 years, if they weren't dance fans".[268] City Center continued to host visiting dance companies like the ABT, which resumed performances there in 1996;[269] it also operated a dance-education program for middle-school students, which served 5,000 pupils per year by 1999.[270] The auditorium had been renovated, butThe New York Times reported in 1999 that City Center needed to spend between $8 million and $10 million on repairing the mechanical systems. In addition, the dome was leaking and needed another $3 million in repairs.[19] After Raymond A. Lamontagne succeeded Howard Squadron as the chairman of City Center's board in early 1999, Lamontagne announced that he would create an endowment fund for the center.[271]
Largely because of the changes that Daykin had instituted, the theater was hosting shows 40 weeks per year by 2000. At that point, City Center had a $10 million annual budget, 38 full-time staff members, and hundreds of part-time staff, even as its production costs were increasing.[263] Because City Center's staff were part of alabor union, it cost $200,000 per week to produce a show there, compared to $60,000 for a non-unionized theater such as theJoyce Theater.[259] Consequently,The New York Times wrote in 2003 that City Center was "no longer affordable for many [dance] companies",[272] though the ABT and the Alvin Ailey and Paul Taylor dance companies continued to perform there.[273] The upper balcony was rarely open.[274]
The arch at the far western end of the 55th Street facade
In 2003, former Joffrey Ballet dancerArlene Shuler became president and CEO of City Center.[273] Shuler quickly renamed the venue New York City Center, expanded the board of directors, hired development and marketing teams, and increased the center's annual budget to $12 million.[259] She also launched theFall for Dance Festival, which sold dance tickets for $10, to attract both audiences and dance companies.[274][275] City Center hired architecture firmHelpern Architects and contractorNicholson & Galloway in 2005 to repair the theater's leaky roof for $2.8 million.[28] At the end of that year, City Center formed a partnership with the neighboring Carnegie Hall.[276][277] The partnership would have allowed the venues to host each other's dance, music, and theater programs; at the time, City Center was still mostly a rental venue.[278] To accommodate these new programs, Shuler had planned to renovate City Center between 2007 and 2008 for $150 million.[276][277]
The partnership with Carnegie Hall was canceled in early 2007, prompting Shuler to delay City Center's renovation;[278] by mid-2008, Shuler planned to begin renovations at the end of the next year.[279] Shuler also expanded the Encores! program and continued to host dance and off-Broadway shows at City Center, although theTimes wrote in 2009 that "Fall for Dance has redefined the theater's identity".[280] A $75 million renovation of City Center finally began in March 2010.[36] Designed byEnnead Architects LLP, the work included improved sightlines, improved seating, and a new canopy, as well as restoration of historical elements.[36] To accommodate the theater's 2010–2011 theatrical season work, contractors renovated the center in two phases during 2010 and 2011.[36] The renovation was completed in October 2011 with a ceremony led by mayorMichael Bloomberg.[44][281]
Just before the theater reopened, the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater signed a contract to become City Center's main dance company.[282][283] Two dance and ballet companies left City Center in the early 2010s.[46][283] The Paul Taylor Dance Company left City Center in 2011,[284] and ABT departed the following year, citing City Center's small wing space.[46] City Center temporarily suspended in-person shows in March 2020 due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in New York City.[285] This affected two of the theater's most popular programs;[286] the Encores! series was suspended for two years,[287] while Fall for Dance was held virtually in 2020.[285] After Shuler resigned as City Center's president in 2021,[288][289]Michael S. Rosenberg was appointed as City Center's new director in September 2022.[286][290]
The 55th Street theater was originally controlled by theCity Center of Music and Drama Inc. (CCMD),[105][106] which the city government established in July 1943.[96] The City Center for Music and Drama Inc. is the organizational parent of theNew York City Ballet and was formerly also the parent company of theNew York City Opera,[291] which was liquidated in 2013.[292] During its first two decades, the CCMD was largely synonymous with the 55th Street theater, which for the most part was its only location.[197] The CCMD temporarily operated theInternational Theatre onColumbus Circle during the 1948–1949 season.[293][294] In January 1965, the CCMD became a member company of Lincoln Center.[194] In subsequent years, the CCMD used other venues such as theANTA Theatre.[295]
Several of the CCMD's constituent companies are no longer affiliated with City Center or no longer exist. The New York City Symphony performed there from 1944 to about 1948,[141][142] and the New York City Dance Theater only performed at the 55th Street theater during the 1949–1950 season.[146] The City Center Art Gallery operated between 1953 and 1961.[184] Another former constituent company was the City Center Cinematheque, which was proposed in 1970[48] but never formally opened.[226][227]
The City Center 55th Street Theater Foundation took over the 55th Street theater in August 1976,[236] subleasing the theater from the CCMD.[38] The foundation rents out the main auditorium to various performers and leases the basement space to the Manhattan Theatre Club.[53]
New York City Center Inc., a501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in 1976, controls the theater. As of 2023[update], Michael S. Rosenberg is listed as the president and CEO of New York City Center Inc.[296][297] For the fiscal year that ended in June 2020, the organization recorded $21,340,158 in revenue and $23,620,235 in expenses, for a total net loss of $2,280,077.[297]
Upon the theater's 75th anniversary in 2018,The New York Times characterized City Center as "a multidisciplinary space for artists in theater, dance and music".[298] From the 1940s to the 1960s, the City Center's resident companies included the CCMD's opera, symphony, drama, dance, and ballet companies,[53] Since the late 20th century, City Center has hosted a variety of dance performances each season.[280] It also hosts events including the Fall for Dance Festival and Encores!.[53]
In 2004, New York City Center introduced the annualFall for Dance Festival.[274][275] The festival attracted many young adults, as well as those that had never previously been to City Center or seen dance performances.[299] The theater has also hosted events such as the New York City edition of theVail International Dance Festival, which began in 2016.[300]
The New York City Center Choreography Fellowship, established during the 2011–2012 season, accepts three fellows per season.[301] Fellows receive a stipend, are given access to rehearsal space, and receive administrative support from City Center officials.[301][302]
Encores! Off-Center, dedicated to hosting rarely-heard off-Broadway musicals, premiered in mid-2013.[311] ComposerJeanine Tesori served as the series's first artistic director,[312] whileAnne Kauffman has directed the series since 2019.[313] City Center andJazz at Lincoln Center launched a partnership during the 2011–2012 season, starting with the showCotton Club Parade.[314][315] These shows are presented separately from the Encores! series.[315]
TheNew Dramatists Committee and City Center formed the Elinor Morgenthau Players and Playwrights Workshop in April 1951, with funding from the family of former U.S. Treasury secretaryHenry Morgenthau Jr., whose wife Elinor had been on the CCMD's board.[316][317] The workshop opened in October 1951 and was headquartered on three stories of the City Center building.[318] The workshop itself consisted of 50 regular members and 50 alternate members, who were divided into three groups. Half of the regular members created their own plays and presented them at City Center, while the other regular members and the alternates studied plays by established playwrights.[319]
In celebration of theMetropolitan Museum of Art Centennial, he City Center co-sponsored "Cinémathèque at the Metropolitan Museum", which showed seventy films dating from the medium's first 75 years from July 29 to September 3, 1970.[320] The films were selected byCinémathèque Française founder and directorHenri Langlois, from its archive of more than 50,000 films.[321] The Met exhibition had led to the creation of the City Center Cinematheque, although the CCMD's film division was never formally opened.[227]
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Harvey Fierstein / Marco Paguia, David Oquendo, Renesito Avich, Gustavo Schartz, Javier Días, Román Diaz, Mauricio Herrera, Jesus Ricardo, Eddie Venegas, Hery Paz, and Leonardo Reyna / Jamie Harrison, Chris Fisher, Gary Beestone, and Edward Pierce (2025)
