|
Manhattan Theatre Club Originally opened in 1925, the Biltmore Theater, located in the heart of New York City's Historic Broadway Theater District, has been shuttered for the last fourteen years. In 2000, the Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) asked Polshek Partnership to take a fresh look at this venerable house and explore alternative ways of adapting it to the particular needs of the twenty-first century. Polshek Partnership's response was simple, proposing to move the rear wall of the house forward, reducing the total number of seats from 1,000 to the MTC's program of 650. This eliminated a formerly problematic, overly-deep balcony and reduced the number of less desirable orchestra level seats under the balcony. This same move created space for much needed facilities including a patrons' lounge, sufficient restrooms and upper and lower lobby spaces. The design strategy for both the building's interior and exterior responds directly to both the historic fabric and Manhattan Theatre Club's progressive mission. Modern interventions in non-designated public and back-of-house areas, which employ a contemporary vocabulary consistent in proportion and design with the historic fabric, are combined with careful restoration and re-creation of the landmarked elements-the auditorium interior, mezzanine corridor and interior stair halls. On the exterior, new doors and windows, signage and marquee complement the restoration of the building's façade. The clearly contemporary glass marquee, whose articulation is an abstraction of some of the original theater's decorative motifs, signals a new identity for this theater as the home of the Manhattan Theatre Club on Broadway. Publications |
|||