Signature Theatre Company Reveals Details for New Signature Center

Signature Theatre Company has revealed details about and models of the Signature Center, a new permanent home for the company, currently under construction as part of Related Companies’ mixed-use development on 42nd Street and 10th Avenue. The 74,000-square-foot space comprises three theaters, two rehearsal studios and a multi-level lobby, and is designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry and will open in 2012.

The largest of the theaters will be The End Stage, with 299 seats. Similar to the Peter Norton Space, the company’s current home, the space will feature a straight rake of seating rises from the stage edge and will be contained within plywood walls that give the space a subtle architectural expression.

The 199-seat Courtyard will be a flexible space that can be configured in an endstage format, as a modified thrust stage, a runway center stage configuration, or in a flat floor format for experimental work. A second level gallery that seats patrons in a single line overlooking the stage will be a feature of the intimate theater, no matter which configuration is being used.

The Jewel Box will also accommodate 199 patrons, and in its intimate design with a single balcony, is reminiscent of a tiny opera house. A distinctive feature of the space will be shaped plywood panels framing the proscenium, wrapping around the balcony front and creating a ceiling under the lighting bridges above the house. These panels will be stained a deep chocolate brown that will disappear as the house is faded to black.

The facility’s lobby will be entered from the sidewalk on 42nd Street under a glass canopy. The street level area will include box office and signage, and will be dominated by a plywood clad stairway that will lead to an upper lobby and then to the three theaters. The larger, second floor lobby will include a bar and informal café seating. The lobby also includes a small bookstore area where books by current and past Playwrights-in-Residence will be sold.

For further information, visit: www.signaturetheatre.org.