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With each passing day, Victory Gardens Theater's longtime dream of creating An American Center for New Plays at the historic Biograph Theater becomes closer and closer to reality.
Pepper Construction is hard at work, and the Biograph, located 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago, is looking more like the new theater that architect Daniel Coffey has helped Victory Gardens envision. Gone is the labyrinth of walls that existed for the Biograph's late-twentieth century life as a small cinema. Gone too are the false ceiling and powder blue acoustical tiles that made the historic building feel tight and boxy. With the space opened and the original brick and finish details exposed, one can begin to see how two live theaters - a 299-seat mainstage and, later, a small studio theater - will inhabit this storied building.
A large hole has been dug to house the trap system, which will allow for moments of theater "magic" impossible within the small confines of the existing Victory Gardens mainstage. The broad expanse that will comprise both stage and wing space is inspiring the VGT artistic team, led by Dennis Zacek, and members of the theater's Playwrights Ensemble, actors, directors, designers, patrons, virtually anybody who has peeked inside the Biograph lately.
"Essentially, we are creating an all-new theater within the shell of the old Biograph," said Coffey, principal of the award-winning firm also responsible for the restorations of the Chicago, Palace and Oriental theaters. " It will be a theater of our time, not the past."
Victory Gardens, Chicago's number one presenter of new work, will open its new, 299-seat mainstage in September 2006, in time for the launch of Chicago's fall theater season. Victory Gardens Theater at the Biograph promises to be an important new addition to Chicago's live theater scene, and a thriving new cultural attraction in the heart of Chicago's busy Lincoln Park neighborhood.
Current phases of construction include forming and pouring concrete footings, walls and trap space, framing of interior walls and doors, drywalling and interior brick restoration. Over the summer, the roof over the theater will be replaced, a stage will be fashioned inside the main floor auditorium, and the theater's façade and famous marquee will be restored. By September, 299 comfortable new seats will be installed, new carpeting will be in place, and an inviting interior design will welcome patrons to Chicago's newest venue for live theater.
The stage itself is a semi-thrust with a modified proscenium, 32' wide, 19' high, with a maximum depth of 32'. A resilient stage floor will ensure comfort for the actors, and allow for more movement. The increased size of the VGT stage also makes it more compatible for co-productions and transfers.
Backstage are two full dressing rooms, a green room, a mechanical rigging system for lights, and 16' of wing space on each side. In addition to wing space, which allows set pieces to be "slipped" onstage and off again, 8' traps have been dug out beneath the stage to allow set pieces to rise up from below, and disappear again.
According to Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek, "All of this progress has kept two principles in mind: expanding the theater's ability to meet the desires of our playwrights, and enhancing the theater's ability to welcome and honor our patrons both old and new."
To maintain the intimacy synonymous with productions at Victory Gardens, seats will be configured in 12 rows all on one level, with no seat further than 45' from the stage. Individual seats will be wider than customary, and spaced to give comfortable legroom between rows. In keeping with Victory Gardens' commitment to persons with disabilities, eight locations for patrons using wheelchairs have been placed in the very center of the auditorium.
Reflecting Victory Gardens' reputation for customer service, the Biograph's new lobby will eschew impersonal box office windows and glass barricades for a more open box office design, similar to a concierge desk in a hotel. The lobby, painted in warm, inviting earth tones, will boast a full concession bar serving a wide range of beverages, including beer, wine and spirits. Exposed brick walls will give the space a comfortable, urbane ambiance. The lobby will have spacious new restrooms for men and women, plus an additional family restroom for patrons who need assistance.
A wide Grand Staircase will take patrons to the second floor, where the rehearsal hall/special events room will be a hub of activity, with rehearsals all day and opportunities to entertain subscribers and donors, complete with a small catering kitchen. A new elevator also will carry people to and from floors. The technical booth and tech staff office will be housed on the second floor, as will two unisex restrooms. After the mainstage opens, a black box theater will be built on the second floor, providing a flexible space for rental productions, readings and other less formal performance experiences.
The world premiere of Denmark, a historical drama by Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble member Charles Smith about freed slave and insurrectionist Denmark Vesey, will be the inaugural production at Victory Gardens at the Biograph, September 29-November 12, 2006. According to director Dennis Zacek, "Denmark requires the technical capacity to portray multiple locations, and scenic elements that inspire audiences to travel seamlessly. We are thrilled that, finally, Charles will be able to work at his home theater and granted the autonomy to tell a complex and thought-provoking story." The Sara Lee Foundation is the Exclusive Sponsor of the World Premiere of Charles Smith's Denmark, Victory Gardens Theater's Inaugural Production at the Biograph Theater.
Denmark will be followed at the Biograph by four more world premieres in 2005/06: The Snow Queen, based on the book by Hans Christian Andersen, by folk legend Michael Smith with director Frank Galati and puppeteer Blair Thomas (December 1-January 7); Jeffrey Sweet's Court Marshall at Fort Devens, a drama about young black female soldiers in World War II (February 2 -March 11); Douglas Post's new contemporary drama Cynical Weathers (April 6-May 13); and Claudia Allen's I Sailed with Magellan, based on the popular novel by Stuart Dybek (June 8-July 15). The Chicago Community Trust is the Exclusive Sponsor of Victory Gardens' Inaugural Season at the Biograph.
After the Biograph opens, Victory Gardens' current facility at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue will be renamed the Victory Gardens Greenhouse, and will be maintained for rental productions, rehearsals, administrative offices and the production of plays, including a co-production with Gilyard Productions LLC Athol Fugard's My Children, My Africa, May 3-June 10, 2007. This expansion into a two-venue creative campus will also free up space for the Victory Gardens Training Center, a training ground for some of the city's most talented artists, taught by local professionals, currently serving more than 300 beginners and working professionals. Discounted parking for Victory Gardens patrons at both venues will continue to be available at nearby Children's Memorial Hospital.
At present, Victory Gardens' Expanding Horizons capital campaign has surpassed $10 million, more than the original goal, but still has $1.35 million left to be raised. For information on contributing, contact Victory Gardens Director of Institutional Advancement Michael Cleavenger, (773) 549-5788 ext. 104, or mcleavenger@victorygardens.org. For general information, including subscription options for Victory Gardens' inaugural season at the Biograph, call the box office, (773) 871-3000, or visit http://www.victorygardens.org
Other key members of the Biograph design and construction team include The Alter Group, project manager; Schuler and Shook, theater consultants; and Brian Cline/Artec, acoustical consultants.
Originally built in 1914, the historic Biograph Theater is perhaps best known as the site where FBI agents killed gangster John Dillinger in 1934. Made of red pressed brick and adorned with terra cotta details, the theater was designed to give legitimacy to the fledgling film industry, and is one of only two remaining examples of early movie theater design in Chicago. In 1999, the Biograph Theater was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places and was named a City Landmark by the City of Chicago's Commission of Historic Places.