Client. The Brooklyn Academy of MusicArchitect. Mitchell / GiurgolaLocation. Brooklyn, NYHunter Roberts provided construction management services for Phase 1 of renovations to the 880-seat Harvey Theater for The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM).
The historic Harvey Theater is one of two major performance venues for BAM. The theater was originally designed by John McElfatrick as the Majestic Theater and opened on August 29, 1904. The purpose of the most recent renovation was to replace the existing seats, reconfigure and reshape the existing seating layout and stage platforms in order to improve sight lines, increase audience comfort, eliminate awkward seat locations, create a new HD Cinema, and eliminate existing safety concerns. Hunter Roberts was able to maintain the original appearance of the theater before, during, and after the renovation.
![Academy Academy](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125503843/372544176.jpg)
The Brooklyn Academy of Music has been a leading arts venue for over a century, yet only under Harvey Lichtenstein’s visionary direction (he held the top seat at BAM from 1967 through 1999) did the organization emerge as a locus for inspired avant-garde collaborations. (The 2003 Merce Cunningham Dance Company/Radiohead partnership was a prime example.) BAM’s seven-story Beaux-Arts building houses a cavernous, 2,109-seat theater, which has been the site of legendary performances from Enrico Caruso, Isadora Duncan, John Cage, Vanessa Redgrave, Mark Morris, and Bill T. The house’s 46-foot proscenium has accommodated elaborate sets, like Robert Rauschenberg’s fabric sculptures and Pina Bausch’s mountain of colorful Chinese flowers.
The remainder of the building houses BAM’s multifaceted operations, including (a restaurant–music venue), BAM Rose Cinemas (a multiplex for both first run and art-house films), a Brownstone Books outpost, and a small, first-floor gallery. Despite (or perhaps because of) some walkouts during its interdisciplinary Next Wave Festival, BAM’s commitment to work that pushes the envelope has bred loyalty in both artists and audiences alike. — Lori Cole (nyMag).
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in 1908.