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Early history Built in 1923, New York City Center was originally the Mecca Temple, a meeting hall for the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, also known as Shriners. The Shriners had previously held their meetings at Carnegie Hall. According to Broadway lore, Carnegie Hall management was disturbed by the amount of cigar smoke generated during the Shriner's meetings and evicted them. The Shriners then decided to build their own meeting hall one block to the south. The building's design is Neo-Moorish and features elaborate interior and exterior polychromed tile work, murals, and a recently restored terra cotta tiled rooftop dome. The 102 foot wide, 54 foot tall dome is covered with more than 28,000 individual tiles. The building was designed by architects Harry P. Knowles (a Master Mason), who died before its completion, and Clinton & Russell. The auditorium and three masonic lodge rooms included four M.P._Moller pipe organs. In the early 1940s, the building was slated for demolition when New York City Council President Newbold Morris and Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia decided to convert the building into a home for the performing arts. On December 11th, 1943, with publicist and future producer Jean Dalrymple in charge as the volunteer director of public relations, the "New York City Center of Music and Drama" opened its doors with a concert by the New York Philharmonic. The Star Spangled Banner was conducted that evening by none other than Mayor Laguardia. Each season, from the 1940s through the 1960s, City Center presented numerous music and theatrical events with many renowned performers appearing there. Helen Hayes, Gwen Verdon, Charlton Heston, Celeste Holm, Marcel Marceau, Bob Fosse, Tallulah Bankhead, Vincent Price, Jessica Tandy, Hume Cronyn and Uta Hagen have all graced the City Center stage. One of the first dance companies to perform regularly there was the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, from 1944 to 1948. New York City Center was home to the New York City Opera (1944-1964) and the New York City Ballet (1948-1966). With the 1960's construction of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, City Center Theater lost New York City Opera and New York City Ballet, and once again faced demolition. After Newbold Morris retired, Morton Baum, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board led City Center. With the assistance of Lincoln Center, NYCB and NYCO were organized into membership corporations with "City Center of Music and Drama" as the sole member. "CCMD" leased the New York State Theater from Lincoln Center, which leased it from the City of New York. With the departure of that corporation, the theater was reorganized as "The City Center 55th Street Theater Foundation", under Howard M. Squadron, and the building given landmark status.* In 1966, the Robert Joffrey Ballet, became a resident dance company, even changing its company name to "City Center Joffrey Ballet." The Joffrey remained at City Center until 1982. "In its brief heyday, the Joffrey danced two six-week seasons at City Center each year."• In 1984, the Manhattan Theatre Club made New York City Center's lower level (originally a 136'x96' banquet hall) their home. The Manhattan Theater Club performance space is comprised of a 299-seat theater and a 150-seat theater. Later in the 1980's, the main stage was extensively renovated in connection with the adjacent construction of the high-rise mixed-use building, Cityspire: "To complete the deal, Eichner Properties agreed to contribute $3 million to the City Opera and $3 million to the City Ballet, which covered the purchase of the air rights ... and to spend $5.5 million to renovate the theater in exchange for the 20 percent space bonus." The Present In 1994, New York City Center launched its first "Encores! Great American Musicals In Concert" productions. The popular series, which continues to this day, spawned the Broadway revivals of Chicago and Wonderful Town. Those Broadway productions were produced independently of City Center, but with many of the artists and creators of the Encores! performances. Today, New York City Center is the New York performance home to Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet Theatre's fall season, Paul Taylor Dance Company, Eifman Ballet of Saint Petersburg, the Martha Graham Dance Company and The New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players to name a few. In 2000, the American Theatre Wing presented a "Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre" award to City Center for the Encores! series. In 2004, New York City Center began the annual Fall for Dance Festival which featured 30 dance companies in six performances. In 2005, "Fall for Dance" again showcased 30 dance companies, five performing at each of the six nights of the festival. See Also Notes | ||||||||||
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