September
28, 2004:
Grand
Opening and Ribbon-Cutting:
"Theatres
of the New":
Wilson Butler Architects design Boston's first theatres in 75 years
Design Team celebrates Grand Opening and Ribbon-Cutting with project partners, The Boston Center for the Arts and The Huntington Theatre Company
The cheers were loud from the crowd that braved the winds and rain of Hurricane Jeanne to attend the opening celebrations for The Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts (BCA), in Boston's South End. Brought into being by a happy collaboration of The Huntington Theatre Company, The Boston Center for the Arts and the City of Boston, this new theatrical hub and cultural landmark includes two venues, the 360-seat Virginia Wimberly Theatre and the 200-seat Nancy and Edward Roberts Studio Theatre.
These new stages, dedicated to productions by emerging playwrights, directors and actors, will begin to fill Boston's long need for venues of this size. The Pavilion will provide a home for artistic innovation, including space for the BCA's resident theatre companies and for new play development for the Huntington.
Michael Maso, The Huntington Theatre Company's Managing Director, calls them "theatres of the new", these first theatres for Boston in over three-quarters of a century. Maso described the design charge that Wilson Butler Architects rose to, "the idea was to provide a space that was contemporary but not trendy, that won't get outdated quickly. We wanted to bridge the gap between old and new but not through tough love. We wanted to wrap the audience in a sumptuous setting." Or as Boston's widely-read daily paper, The Metro, reported, "the Wimberly feels warm, more Queer Eye, than stuffy Opera House, with soft wood paneling, navy blue walls, architectural lighting and gold brushed metal that frames the stage."
related
links:
The Boston Globe article
(4.3 mb pdf file)
The Boston Metro article (325 kb pdf file)
The Boston Center for
the Arts website
The Huntington
Theatre Company website
WBA's
project info webpage
