BY CHRISTINA JELSKI
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY DBOX FOR COOK+FOX ARCHITECTS
Although Henry Miller’s Theatre is part of the recently completed Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park, its exterior hardly looks brand new. The beautiful façade of the original 1918 building remains intact: the red brick walls, Greek-inspired urns, and neo-Georgian details are flanked by contrasting towers of glass and steel. Just inside, the small, carefully reconstructed oval lobby is frozen in time, featuring a classic black and white marble floor and plaster ceiling.
Beyond the lobby, however, Henry Miller’s Theatre expands into a modern, sophisticated space; an entirely new interior that breaks its historic mold. Built about 70 feet below street-level, the stage and house of the theater are surprisingly spacious and airy. The sweeping balcony descends sharply, giving audience members a close, unobstructed view, while the plush, red upholstery and cherry woodwork provide a sense of luxury. The newest Broadway theater built in over two decades, Henry Miller’s Theatre is the latest in a long line of playhouses that populate the Great White Way. But the theater is unlike any of its predecessors, not due to size or cost, but because it is the first LEED-certified Broadway theater in New York City. Through a partnership between the Durst Organization Inc. and Bank of America, N.A., the theater is set to receive LEED Gold Certification, while the tower it occupies will achieve an overall rating of platinum. Completed in May, the new theater retains the name of actor-producer Henry Miller, who built the original theater and opened it in 1918 with The Fountain of Youth, by Louis Evan Shipman. The theater continued to house Broadway productions until its conversion to a movie house in 1969. Legendary playwrights such as Eugene O’Neill, George Bernard Shaw, Elmer Rice, and Lorraine Hansberry all premiered works on Henry Miller’s stage, creating historical significance for the theater. After 1969, the theater was renamed the Park-Miller, then the Avon-at-the-Hudson, and eventually became the discotheque, Xenon. In 1998, it transformed into the Kit-Kat-Club, housing the revival of the musical Cabaret. It was not until 2001, however, that the building was rechristened as Henry Miller’s Theatre, after premiering Mark Hollman and Greg Kotis’s successful musical Urinetown. “The biggest aesthetic challenge was trying to live up to the writings and expectations of Henry Miller,” says Rick Cook, of Cook+Fox Architects LLP, the company responsible for the design of the theater. “He believed a Broadway theater should have certain characteristics, one of which is that a great theater should never be more than 1,000 seats.”
Along with salvaging the façade, other pieces of the old theater were saved and recycled, such as a decorative section of the original proscenium, and the original exit doors, which are unexpectedly suspended along the walls.
The theater fulfills this prerequisite, and also upholds Miller’s ideal that a theater should, above all else, create a close connection between the actors and audience.
“From the stage, the house feels quite intimate, and that was quite purposeful in the design,” says Jordan Barowitz of the Durst Organization. “If you stand on the edge of the stage and look out at the house, you can make out the facial expression of every person in the audience.”
“They show the history of the theater,” says Barowitz, describing the building’s colorful past. “The theater had many different uses throughout its life. It started as a Broadway playhouse, it was a cabaret, movie theater, porno theater, disco. It’s been a lot of different things, and the doors speak to that.”
Begun in 2004, the new Henry Miller’s Theatre was constructed by the Tishman Construction Organization using the most advanced green building techniques and materials available.
“Tishman’s commitment to environmental responsibility has been a core value of our company for decades and, as a result, is embedded in everything we do,” says Daniel Tishman, chairman and CEO of the organization. “We were also committed not just to having a green building, but to building it green.
Forty-five percent of Henry Miller’s Theatre’s foundation and structure cement was replaced with an iron by-product, which greatly reduced the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere. The theater was also built using high recycled content, as well as wood that was harvested sustainably and certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Likewise, bamboo, a material known for quick regeneration, was used as veneer for the paneling on mezzanine fronts and the orchestra bar.
“We used a series of materials which we believed worked with the environmental aspect of the building, which includes a material called paperstone,” adds Cook. “It’s like stone, but literally made from compressed paper.”
Tishman Construction was also aware of the waste that a typical construction site generates, and was careful to prevent unnecessary pollution. By simply dampening debris while it was being loaded, the builders avoided releasing harmful dust and dirt into the air. Meanwhile, soil and concrete runoff were contained to protect local catch basins and at least 25 percent of materials were locally sourced to avoid excess pollution caused by transport. According to Tishman, “a minimum of 85 percent of construction and demolition debris was diverted from landfill” and recycled.
Also important to the designers and builders was the air quality within Henry Miller’s Theatre. Any substances or materials that were used throughout construction had to be in compliance with volatile organic chemical (VOC) and formaldehyde restrictions. The theater’s heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems are state of the art, and utilize powerful filters that prevent outside dust and particles from entering the space.
“You can just feel the quality of the air here,” says Barowitz, walking through the cool, odorless theater. Unlike most new buildings, which smell of VOCs and urea-formaldehyde resins in the walls and floors, Henry Miller’s Theatre lacks these toxins, providing audience members and actors with a healthier environment.
Henry Miller’s Theatre also benefits from the power system used by the Bank of America Tower, which has its own plant onsite. According to Cook, the power plant is “three times more efficient” than the city’s power grid. In addition, 44 ice storage tanks, located in the cellar, allow the theater to make ice at night when power is more plentiful and less expensive. During the day, the stored ice is used to cool the tower and theater.
On opening night, however, the audience will be happily unaware of such technicalities. A lighthearted musical set in the 1950s, Bye Bye Birdie is set to begin on October 15, and is being presented by the Roundabout Theatre Company.
Douglas Durst, president of the Durst Organization, has been a board member of the Roundabout Theater Company since 1991, and looks forward to partnering with the nonprofit organization.
“I am impressed with the commitment of the institution to bring great theater to New York audiences,” Durst said in a prepared statement. “Roundabout has transformed into a major cultural institution of New York City, and I expect [they] will bring the same theatrical programming and vitality to the Henry Miller’s Theatre.”
Outside, to the right of Henry Miller’s Theatre, a covered pedestrian passage called Anita’s Way links West 42nd Street and 43rd Street, providing a perfect juncture for people hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite performers. A mosaic portrait of Henry Miller positioned over the passageway looks down upon bystanders, as a reminder of the past and a testament to the building’s evolution and transformations.
“Certainly, all of us on the team hope that Henry Miller’s Theatre will serve as a model,” says Tishman. “We’ve pushed the envelope to the greatest extent possible, but we hope others will expand upon what we’ve done here and that we’ll all keep learning from each other.”
