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PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
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Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5264Contact: Justin Harmon 609/258-5764
Date: November 30, 1998
$3.5 Million Gift to Support McCarter Theatre Expansion in Princeton
PRINCETON, N.J. -- Distinguished theater producer Roger S. Berlind has made a $3.5 million gift to support a major expansion of the McCarter Theatre building and its educational programs. The centerpiece of the expansion is a modern 350-seat proscenium theater, to be named the Roger S. Berlind Theater. It will be used both by the nationally acclaimed McCarter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts and by Princeton University's renowned Program in Theater and Dance.
The expansion of McCarter's landmark Collegiate Gothic building will be designed by Hugh Hardy, a 1954 Princeton graduate and founder of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associates -- a leading architectural firm that has designed many prominent theaters and public buildings. Hardy's previous work has included renovation and expansion of the Vassar College Libraries, Broadway's New Amsterdam Theatre and New Victory Theatre, as well as The Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia.
In his 20-year career in the theater, Roger Berlind has brought more than 25 productions to the Broadway stage, including Amadeus, Nine, The Real Thing, City of Angels and most recently, the revival of A View From the Bridge. He is the winner of nine Tony Awards. A member of Princeton's Class of 1952 and a former trustee of the University, he has long been a strong supporter of the arts at Princeton. In addition to providing for a second stage for the historic theater, his gift also will provide an endowment for the University's Program in Theater and Dance.
"Roger Berlind's creative mind and generous spirit have benefited Princeton in so many ways," said University President Harold T. Shapiro. "His latest gift will not only encourage students to explore their world through the performing arts, it will also enrich the entire Princeton community."
In addition to its main stage, the Berlind Theater also will include two rehearsal halls for use by students and professional artists. These new facilities will enable McCarter to substantially expand the number and variety of productions it offers each year. They will also provide a wealth of new opportunities for Princeton's Program in Theater and Dance, known for its emphasis on bringing students together with professional actors, playwrights, directors, dancers, designers and critics. The program has long needed a larger and more flexible performance space for faculty and student artists and will benefit significantly from the additional rehearsal areas.
"This project is exciting to me because it will enhance what is already a first-rate program for undergraduates, and at the same time, further enrich the cultural resources of the Princeton community," said Berlind.
Constructed in 1930 for the famed Princeton Triangle Club, the 1,100-seat McCarter Theatre long served as a popular pre-Broadway showcase and venue for professional theater. Since 1973 it has been operated by the McCarter Theatre Center for the Performing Arts, which received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theater in 1994 and is one of the most active performance centers in the nation. The theater now hosts more than 200 theater, dance, music and special performances each year. The addition, with its new stage and increased rehearsal space, will allow for an even greater variety of productions, including more experimental works.
"This new facility will enable McCarter and Princeton's performing arts programs to work even more closely on a wider variety of projects," said Emily Mann, artistic director of the McCarter Center. "And I'm confident that the synergy of working together more closely will provide enormous benefits for McCarter, for Princeton's students and for our audiences."
The McCarter Theatre and Princeton's Program in Theater and Dance have enjoyed a close working relationship for many years. University faculty have served as playwrights and directors in the McCarter Lab -- a laboratory for new plays and playwrights -- and artists performing for the McCarter Center also have taught or presented classes at the University. "This new facility will allow our students to stretch themselves aesthetically, beyond the confines of our existing spaces, to reach new imaginative heights," said Michael Cadden, director of the University's Program in Theater and Dance. "Rubbing shoulders with the professionals at McCarter will challenge our undergraduates to think about their own work in relation to some of the best work now being done in the performing arts."
Berlind acted in Theatre Intime and Triangle Club productions during his undergraduate years at Princeton. He originally planned a career in songwriting, but in 1960, founded the brokerage firm Carter, Berlind and Weill. While he continues to serve as a director of a successor firm, Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc., he retired as an operating officer in 1975 and returned to his interest in theater. He went on to produce a wide variety of musicals and plays, including works by such well-known playwrights as Arthur Miller, John Guare, Peter Shaffer, Tom Stoppard and David Hare.
In 1986, Berlind established the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professorship in the Humanities at Princeton, the chair now held by acclaimed novelist Joyce Carol Oates. A member of the English Department's Advisory Committee, he has also been a trustee of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. His son, William, graduated from Princeton in 1995.
The Berlind Theater is a joint priority of the Anniversary Campaign for Princeton and the McCarter Theatre's current effort to secure endowment for both the new theater and overall operations. The University and McCarter will continue to seek new resources to complete the funding for the project.