The Vivian Beaumont Theater is a Broadway theater in the Lincoln Center complex at 150 West 65th Street on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Operated by the nonprofit Lincoln Center Theater (LCT), the Beaumont is the only Broadway theater outside the Theater District that surrounds Times Square. Named after heiress and actress Vivian Beaumont Allen, the theater was one of the last structures designed by modernist architect Eero Saarinen. Broadway scenic designer Jo Mielziner oversaw the design of the interior. The theater shares a building with the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and contains two off-Broadway venues, the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and the Claire Tow Theater.
The Beaumont occupies the southern and western sides of its building's first and second floors, while the library wraps above and on top of it. The main facade faces Lincoln Center's plaza and is made of glass and steel, with a travertine attic above. The main auditorium has approximately 1,080 seats across two levels, arranged in a steeply sloped semicircular layout. The Beaumont differs from traditional Broadway theaters because of its use of a flexible stage, which could be extended with a thrust stage of varying length. The layout led to complaints about inferior sightlines and acoustics in the theater's early years. The 299-seat Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater is in the basement and the 112-seat Claire Tow Theater is above the Beaumont.
Allen donated $3 million for the theater's construction in 1958 but died before its completion. The Beaumont opened on October 21, 1965, and was originally operated by Jules Irving and Herbert Blau of the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, generally presenting four shows a season. The Beaumont was managed by the New York Shakespeare Festival, under the direction of Joseph Papp, from 1973 to 1977. Richmond Crinkley took over the theater for the next eight years, with the Beaumont only operating for two seasons during that time. Controversies over the Beaumont's operation, a proposed renovation, and financial difficulties led to LCT being reorganized in 1985, with Gregory Mosher and Bernard Gersten taking over as the new Director and the Executive Producer respectively. The Beaumont became much more successful and was renovated in 1996. The theater has hosted several popular productions since the late 1980s, including Anything Goes, Contact, The Light in the Piazza, South Pacific, The King and I, My Fair Lady, and Ragtime.
Description The Vivian Beaumont Theater was designed by Finnish American architect Eero Saarinen, with Broadway scenic designer Jo Mielziner overseeing the design of the interior. It is part of Lincoln Center, a performing arts complex on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The Beaumont is in the same building as the New York Public Library (NYPL)'s Performing Arts Library, designed by Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM). Various contractors were also involved in the Beaumont's construction, including general contractor Turner Construction, acoustical engineer Bolt Beranek & Newman, structural engineer Ammann & Whitney and mechanical engineer Syska Hennessy.
The library–theater building is on the western side of Paul Milstein Pool and Terrace, the elevated plaza at the middle of Lincoln Center, just south of 65th Street. The plaza contains a reflecting pool at its center, measuring around wide and long. Inside the plaza, just outside the theater's entrance, is a blackened-steel sculpture by Alexander Calder entitled Le Guichet. Named after the French word for "ticket window", the sculpture measures wide by high. Another sculpture by Henry Moore, entitled Reclining Figure, is in the pool. The structure faces the Metropolitan Opera House to the south; David Geffen Hall to the east; and the Juilliard School to the north, via a pedestrian bridge across 65th Street.
Form and facade The library–theater building was the third to open at Lincoln Center. Original plans conceived the library and theater as separate buildings, but the structures were combined in the final plan. The theater forms the building's core and occupies the southern and western sides of the building's first and second floors. The library runs along the building's northern and eastern sides, as well as much of the third floor. The theater's stage house protrudes through the third floor, with the library running around it in a "doughnut" shape. Another entrance to the library, facing west toward Amsterdam Avenue, is below the theater. The attic houses the library's stacks.
SOM and Saarinen collaborated on the design of the exteriors. The main facade, along Lincoln Center's plaza, is two stories high and made of glass and steel. The facade consists of a glass curtain wall and two recessed square concrete columns, which create a peristyle flanking the curtain wall. Unlike the travertine surface of the plaza, the columns are finished in exposed aggregate. The columns are attached to the attic via steel pins with large bronze pyramidal covers. The other wall surfaces are clad in travertine.
The exterior of the library–theater building contains a heavy roof that protrudes over the main facade, which is covered in travertine. The roof was designed to screen the library and its performing-arts museum behind it. The top of the roof originally had an exposed-aggregate finish, but this was subsequently covered with stone pavement. On the underside of the roof are coffers containing recessed downlights as well as fluorescent uplights. Similar lighting fixtures are used in the theater's lobby as well as throughout the library's interior. The roof is carried by two Vierendeel trusses measuring high and long. Part of the library, housing the Vincent Astor Gallery, is placed between the trusses.
Interior
The Beaumont contains three theaters operated by Lincoln Center Theater (LCT): the main auditorium, which is classified as a Broadway theater, as well as two off-Broadway venues, the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater and the Claire Tow Theater. The main auditorium is the only Broadway theater outside Manhattan's Theater District, and productions there are eligible for Tony Awards. The off-Broadway houses' productions are not eligible for Tony Awards unless they move to the Beaumont's main auditorium or another Broadway theater.
The Beaumont has two main access points. Vehicular traffic enters through a ramp beneath the theater, where patrons take elevators to the orchestra. Pedestrians enter through the main plaza facing David Geffen Hall and the Metropolitan Opera House. The plaza-level lobby is midway between the orchestra and balcony levels of the primary auditorium. The plaza-level lobby is plain in design and was originally decorated in travertine and bronze, with white wall panels and red carpets. Rather than a traditional coat room, the theater had lockers along its public corridors. Broad, curving double staircases lead from the lobby to both levels of seating. Below the orchestra, another flight of stairs leads down to the Newhouse Theater.
There are two basements for backstage areas such as offices, dressing rooms, workshops, rehearsal studios, and green rooms. The Shiki Room hosts auditions, and there are also three rehearsal studios known as the large, medium, and small rehearsal rooms. A cellar beneath the basements contains mechanical equipment, and more backstage spaces are located on the roof. An elevator connects all the stories.
Primary auditorium The Beaumont uses steeply sloped stadium seating. Unlike other Broadway theaters, the stage could be configured as a traditional proscenium stage or extended with a thrust stage of varying length. Backstage, there is for set storage. The stage and its backstage facilities take up about 75 percent of the theater's area.
Seating areas
The Broadway League and the LCT Review magazine cite the main auditorium as having 1,080 seats, while Playbill gives a figure of 1,069 seats. The main auditorium originally had approximately 1,100 seats, with about 770 in the orchestra level and 330 in the balcony level. The actual capacity depended on the configuration of the stage. As designed, 30 seats at the front of the orchestra could be stored in the basement when the thrust stage was used; these seats were placed on a hydraulic lift, which was never used and was eventually scrapped in the 1990s. Additional seats could be removed to make way for vomitories. Consequently, the theater could have 1,146 seats if a proscenium stage were used, or 1,102 seats if there was an orchestra pit in front of the stage. In a thrust-stage configuration, the theater could have 1,113 seats, which was reduced to 1,083 if actors were allowed to pass through the orchestra seating to get to the stage.
The seating is arranged in a semicircle with its ends cut back, allowing adequate sightlines when a traditional proscenium stage is used. A cantilevered walkway leads to the balcony level, which only has five rows of seats, two of which cantilever over the orchestra. In all configurations, every seat is at most from the stage. The American Seating Company installed the seats, which were originally upholstered in red fabric. Plaques were mounted onto the backs of each seat, indicating the seat number and the name of a donor. The seats were covered with deep burgundy fabric in 1990.
The auditorium had a minimalist decorative scheme. The original decorations comprised dark brown wood and metal, as well as red and gray carpets; Saarinen's firm described the color scheme as "bittersweet chocolate brown" and red. The design includes curving oval motifs, which visually connect the two levels of seating with the stage and ceiling. The aisle lights were recessed into the ends of the aisles. Typical theaters had lights embedded within the risers of the stairs in each aisle, but the theater's semicircular arrangement meant that such lights could be distracting to patrons on the opposite side of the auditorium.
Other design features There are seven removable panels placed across the proscenium opening. When all the panels are removed, the proscenium is wide; the panels can also be used to seal the proscenium completely. The two outermost panels must be manually removed, while the other five panels can be lifted mechanically using a counterweight system. Because of the presence of the removable panels, the stage curtain is placed in front of the proscenium opening, contrary to in most theaters. The stage curtain is mounted on a curving steel frame, which runs parallel to the stage apron. The entire stage was illuminated with 565 spotlights, hung from four semicircular catwalks and hidden behind "fins" on the ceiling. The Beaumont was the first Broadway theater with an electronic lighting system because, as Mielziner said, "Economically, we can't afford to use old switchboards and old methods". Speakers were installed during the mid-1990s because, as designed, the auditorium had poor acoustics.