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Two 'State-Of-The-Art' Theaters Opening in Hell's Kitchen This Month

By Maya Rajamani | November 28, 2016 2:08pm
 Two performance spaces opening next month will host more than two dozen non-profit theater companies during their inaugural seasons.
A.R.T./New York Theatres
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HELL’S KITCHEN — A pair of “state-of-the-art” performance venues opening next month will host more than two dozen nonprofit theater companies during their inaugural seasons.

The theater advocacy group Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York plans to open the spaces at 502 W. 53rd St., near 10th Avenue, in late November, the group said in a release.

The theaters, known as the A.R.T./New York Theatres, will provide “affordable performance space” for New York-based nonprofit theaters that lack the resources they need to have their own venues, executive director Virginia Louloudes said in a statement.

Many of the theaters, which act as the “lifeblood of New York’s theatrical ecosystem,” are “poorly financed and mostly itinerant,” she added.

The city shelled out nearly $17 million for construction of the two spaces as part of the Department of Design and Construction’s Design Excellence Program, with the state kicking in a $400,000 "leadership investment."

Of the two venues, the Jeffrey and Paula Gural Theatre will seat up to 87 people, while the Mezzanine Theatre will seat up to 149 people.

The two performance spaces will host 21 nonprofit theater companies during their inaugural 2017-18 seasons, including Project Y Theatre Company and New Georges, which will kick off performances with a new play called “Alligator” on Nov. 27.