Roger Berlind '52 knows what a good theater looks like. A Triangle Club and Theatre-Intime alumnus, he has spent much of his time after Princeton producing Broadway giants such as "Kiss Me Kate" and "Guys and Dolls." Yesterday, he returned to the University to give students their own piece of Broadway.
The 12 Tony Award-winning producer of musicals and plays is the chief benefactor of the Roger S. Berlind Theatre. The venue, when completed, will serve as the first dedicated performance center for the University's Program in Theater and Dance.
Berlind's $3.5 million gift jump-started the planned expansion of the McCarter Theatre. Collaborating for the first time, McCarter and the University have raised almost all of the $14.1 million needed to complete the project.
Another University graduate — nationally renowned architect Hugh Hardy '54 — designed the new theater, which will extend from the south end of the existing building.
McCarter's managing director, Jeff Woodward, described Hardy as the "leading architect for performing art centers nationally." Hardy and his firm were the architects behind the Dance Theater of Harlem and the renovation of both the Joyce Theater and Radio City Music Hall.
The project's centerpiece will be a 350-seat theater, which more than doubles the current seating capacity for the productions of the University's theater and dance program.
The intimate setting of the venue, built with the audience in mind, will allow the program to "serve a greater audience, expand programming," and allow students to rub "elbows with professionals," said Darryl Waskow, managing director of theater and dance at the University.
Theater and dance is an inter-departmental University program separate from independent drama groups on campus. Offices, classrooms and a small theater are housed at 185 Nassau Street.
The idea for the new venue sprang from the theater and dance program's need for a "building specifically designed for production," said Michael Cadden, who is the program's director and originally proposed the idea for the theater.
Woodward explained the benefits of the McCarter's partnership with the University.
"To combine forces has been an asset for both sides," he said, adding that he hopes the expansion will lead to "more student involvement" with McCarter. The second, shared stage will allow the theater greater flexibility in its programming.
The brick-and-glass building, slated for completion in 2003, will also house two much-needed rehearsal rooms, one for McCarter and the other for the theater and dance program. The rehearsal spaces will provide theater and dance students with a working classroom and will ease the tight scheduling of rehearsal time. A seminar room and dressing rooms are also included in the plans.
President Tilghman and McCarter's artistic director Emily Mann spoke along with Cadden and Woodward today at the groundbreaking ceremony.
This is not Berlind's first contribution to the University. His many gifts to the campus include the endowment of the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professorship in the Humanities, currently held by author Joyce Carol Oates. His latest contribution will bring the theater and dance program into the spotlight it has long desired.
Berlind said, "I'm more proud of this theater than any theatrical production I have done."
Cadden spoke enthusiastically about the new home for theater and dance at the University. "I'm delighted," he said. "It's been a long time coming."
Read More
Mahya Fazel-Zarandi ’25 awarded Gates Cambridge Scholarship
Devon RudolphMahya Fazel-Zarandi ’25 was awarded an international Gates Cambridge scholarship. She will pursue a Masters in Philosophy in Medical Science at Cambridge focusing on a project using AI to detect ovarian cancer early.
Mahya Fazel-Zarandi ’25 was awarded an international Gates Cambridge scholarship. She will pursue a Masters in Philosophy in Medical Science at Cambridge focusing on a project using AI to detect ovarian cancer early.
Reunions, Commencement see isolated demonstrations as U. tightens protest warnings
Calvin Kenjiro Grover and Luke GrippoAt this year’s Reunions and Commencement, the University sought to get ahead of any potential demonstrations by exhaustively emphasizing its policies around protests and interruptions, including that those who disrupted an event could face arrest. However, there were only a few Pro-Palestine protest actions, all of them sparsely attended.
At this year’s Reunions and Commencement, the University sought to get ahead of any potential demonstrations by exhaustively emphasizing its policies around protests and interruptions, including that those who disrupted an event could face arrest. However, there were only a few Pro-Palestine protest actions, all of them sparsely attended.
Princeton awards 1,293 degrees to the Class of 2025 as speakers reference political headwinds
Maya MukherjeeReunions and graduation speakers referenced the tense political climate around higher education, adding urgent undertones — and sometimes overtones — to otherwise standard ceremonial speech fare.
Reunions and graduation speakers referenced the tense political climate around higher education, adding urgent undertones — and sometimes overtones — to otherwise standard ceremonial speech fare.