New Performing Arts Center Will Transform Shakespeare Theatre Company into a Destination Theatre While Providing Performance Spaces for Local, National and International Artists
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Landon Butler, Chairman of the Shakespeare Theatre Company Board of Trustees, announced that the Harman Center for the Arts will open with a gala celebration on October 1, 2007. Comprising the existing Lansburgh Theatre (Seventh and E streets NW) and the new Sidney Harman Hall (currently under construction at Sixth and F streets NW), the Harman Center for the Arts is a 21st-century performing arts center and expanded stage for the Shakespeare Theatre Company and Washington 's performing arts community. These two superb midsized theatres will serve to transform the Shakespeare Theatre Company into a national destination theatre and provide ideal venues for many of Washington 's distinguished performing arts companies.
“This is a historic moment for the Shakespeare Theatre Company and for all of the performing arts in Washington, D.C.,” Butler said. “Sidney Harman Hall and the Lansburgh Theatre, which compose the Harman Center for the Arts, meet a longstanding need of many Washington-based performing arts organizations for midsized venues in the District of Columbia.
“The building of this new complex, along with a number of other recently completed facilities including the Studio Theatre's new space, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and the Atlas Performing Arts Center, represent a significant increase in the infrastructure of the performing arts in Washington, Butler added. “They reflect the growth and vibrancy of theatre and other performing arts in Washington, which has truly become a world-class center for the performing arts.”
The Shakespeare Theatre Company has received $55 million in contributions and more than $20 million in a challenge grant, loan guarantees and other financing toward a total project cost of $85 million for the Harman Center for the Arts. The Harman Center is named for Dr. Sidney Harman and the Harman family, who have given $19.5 million to the project. Recent gifts by the Harmans also include $500,000 in support of the Shakespeare Theatre Company Free For All at Carter Barron Amphitheatre.
“The Harman Center reflects the Harmans' belief in the future of the performing arts in Washington, D.C.,” Butler explained. “Their initial gifts consisted of $13.5 million from Sidney and Jane Harman and the Harman Family Foundation and a $1 million in-kind gift of sound equipment and consulting services from Harman International Industries Inc. I am also pleased to announce that in addition to their gifts which launched this project, the Harmans have now pledged an additional $5 million challenge grant.”
Funds raised for the Harman Center also include a $20 million investment in the form of a grant given by the District of Columbia in 2004.
“This project would not have been possible without the District's support,” Butler said. “The Harman Center for the Arts has been enthusiastically supported by Mayor Anthony Williams, and the grant was unanimously approved by the City Council. The grant was made in recognition that the Harman Center for the Arts will be an economic engine for the entire downtown arts and entertainment district.”
From the federal government, as part of the District of Columbia 's appropriations budget, the Shakespeare Theatre Company received $1.9 million in recognition of the Harman Center 's impact on D.C. and the nation.
Contributions and guarantees from the Board of Trustees, led by Dr. Harman and Miles Gilburne and Nina Zolt, currently exceed $30.65 million. Other major gifts received since the November 2004 groundbreaking on Sidney Harman Hall are from: Bank of America; KPMG, LLP; American Airlines; Landon and Carol Butler; Michael R. Klein and Joan I. Fabry; Howard Milstein; and Roger and Vicki Sant. Purchase of the land at Sixth and F streets NW was made possible in part through the generosity of Sam Rose.
Construction of Sidney Harman Hall was made possible by a partnership with the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, which co-owns the mixed-use building with the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Sidney Harman Hall
The Shakespeare Theatre Company broke ground on the new 775-seat Sidney Harman Hall in November 2004. Construction is divided into two phases (base building construction and interior fit-out) and is 60 percent complete. The base building is 80 percent complete and will be finished in October of 2006. The interior fit-out began in May of 2006 and will be finished in August of 2007. Before the gala opening on October 1, 2007, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will host a series of commissioning concerts for Sidney Harman Hall.
Sidney Harman Hall will be located in an 11-story office building, co-owned by the Shakespeare Theatre Company and the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers. The Shakespeare Theatre Company will own the first five stories; BAC will own the upper six stories, which will consist of approximately 120,000 square feet of commercial Class-A office space. The building features a dramatic façade with a three-story glass bay that projects eight feet over the sidewalk below, creating a marquee that attracts passersby to the light and movement within the theatre's lobby. The BAC headquarters will have a separate entrance with an elegant winter garden.
The building's architect is the Washington-based architectural firm SmithGroup Inc. The firm design team is headed by Colden (Coke) Florence. The design team for Sidney Harman Hall consists of A.J. (Jack) Diamond of Diamond and Schmitt Architects Incorporated from Toronto, theatre consultant Joshua Dachs of Fisher Dachs Associates of New York City, and acoustician Rick Talaske of the Chicago-based Talaske Group, Inc. CarrAmerica Urban Development was chosen as the project developer, while Clark Construction was chosen as general contractor. JM Zell Partners, LTD. serve as the project managers, coordinating the design work and business transaction, and representing both the Shakespeare Theatre Company and BAC during construction.
Harman Center for the Arts
Ever looking forward, the Shakespeare Theatre Company and its Board made an announcement on December 4, 2003, that defined the Theatre's future: the creation of the Harman Center and the building of the new Sidney Harman Hall. As the new home of the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Harman Center will ensure the continuation of the Theatre's extraordinary vision into the 21st century.
“The Harman Center will make it possible for the Shakespeare Theatre Company to become a destination theatre company, one that can expand its repertory of classical plays and its acting company to serve audiences in Washington and across the nation,” said Michael Kahn, Artistic Director of the Shakespeare Theatre Company. “The Harman Center also will enable us to commission new translations and adaptations of classic plays as well as new plays that encourage writers to use language in new ways. With two theatres, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will be able to diversify its audience and increase accessibility to its programs, while expanding its mission to embrace, include and collaborate with music, dance, film and the other performing arts.”
The Harman Center will provide two affordable, downtown, midsized, high-quality venues that will fulfill a need expressed by local, national international performing arts organizations. In collaboration with these artistic partners and using the extraordinary design flexibility of the new facility, the Center will create new perceptions, uphold high artistic standards and encourage innovation and creativity in works that challenge itself and its audiences. At the heart of the Harman Center, the Shakespeare Theatre Company will continue to produce classic plays of size and scope that confront humanity's most profound questions, enabling us to connect to our past and gain insights into our lives and the world in which we live.
The increased facilities of the Center also will allow for expanded education programming that engages students with meaningful and long-term experiences in the arts, and will contribute to the economic vitality of downtown.
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Heralded as “the nation's foremost Shakespeare company” by The Wall Street Journal and “the best classical theatre in the country, bar none” by The Christian Science Monitor, the Shakespeare Theatre Company annually produces five plays in its 451-seat theatre in Washington, D.C.'s Pennsylvania Quarter and one free play in Rock Creek Park's 3700-seat Carter Barron Amphitheatre. Artistic Director Michael Kahn has led the organization for 20 years, establishing a reputation for artistic excellence on stage as well as a series of community-minded education programs and, in 1999, the Academy for Classical Acting, a one-year MFA Acting program in conjunction with The George Washington University.