architecture copyright lighting sound america · transfer from london’s almeida theatre, starring...

44 • May 2017 • Lighting&Sound America

ARCHITECTURE Copyright Lighting&Sound America May 2017 http://www.lightingandsoundamerica.com/LSA.html

www.lightingandsoundamerica.com • May 2017 • 45

he Broadway community received a gleaming new/old gift this springwith the reopening of the Hudson Theatre. Since its 1903 debut, withEthel Barrymore starring in a comedy titled Cousin Kate, the Hudson,located on West 44th Street, between Seventh and Sixth Avenues, has

played host to premieres by Somerset Maugham, Howard Lindsay and RusselCrouse, and Lillian Hellman, starring, among others, Judith Anderson, VanHeflin, Maureen Stapleton, Laurence Olivier, Jason Robards Jr., Jane Fonda,and Geraldine Page. The theatre has had many lives since in the followingdecades; its return provides Broadway with a much-needed additional housefor intimate drama and musicals. As a bonus, its new owner, the London-basedAmbassador Theatre Group, appears determined to keep the Hudson busy. Thetheatre reopened in March, with a limited-engagement revival of the musicalSunday in the Park with George, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and AnnaleighAshford. It will be followed by a stage adaptation of George Orwell’s 1984, atransfer from London’s Almeida Theatre, starring Tom Sturridge, Olivia Wilde,and Reed Birney.

Originally designed by William H. McElfatrick, a noted turn-of-the-last-centu-ry theatre architect, the Hudson was built by Henry B. Harris, a successful pro-ducer, who also was responsible for the Fulton Theatre, later known as theHelen Hayes, on 46th Street. Harris kept the Hudson Theatre filled for nineyears, until, in 1912, on a return trip from England, he went down with the P

hoto: Greg M

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Inside Broadway’s newest vintage theatre

By: David Barbour

The Hudson

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Titanic. His wife, René, survived that seagoing disaster;taking over the family business, she continued to presentnew productions at the Hudson until 1927. (At the time,she was one of a very few female Broadway producers.)During the Depression, she lost control of the theatre; by1934, CBS had purchased it, operating it as a radio studio.In the 1940s, it was bought by Lindsay and Crouse, whokept it well-supplied with notable productions, includingthe blockbuster farce Arsenic and Old Lace and their ownsmash hit, the political comedy State of the Union. Theyear 1949 was a valedictory of sorts: The Hudson hostedDetective Story, by Sidney Kingsley, one of the era’s signa-

ture hits.In 1950, however, the theatre was purchased by NBC

and renovated into a television studio, where it housed thevariety shows Broadway Open House and The Kate SmithHour before serving as the home of The Tonight Showunder the successive reigns of hosts Steve Allen and JackPaar. Among its claims to fame during this period, theHudson was the site of Elvis Presley’s first television per-formance.

The Hudson was returned to theatrical use in 1960,and, for a time, attracted prestige bookings, including thehit family drama Toys in the Attic, by Lillian Hellman; Ross,a Terence Rattigan drama about T. E. Lawrence, starring

John Mills; and the Actors Studio revival of EugeneO’Neill’s Strange Interlude. As the 1960s wore on, howev-er, bookings became few and far between, leading to its1968 closing after the four-performance run of a comedytitled Mike Upstairs; it was then purchased by the Avonchain of adult film houses. (Avon also purchased the HenryMiller Theatre—now the Stephen Sondheim—located oneblock away; neither event added luster to a Times SquareDistrict that was slipping into a state of decay,) In 1980, itwas converted to the Savoy nightclub for a brief run. Thetheatre’s interior and exterior were given landmark statusin 1987; around this time, the developer Harry Macklowe,

who was building the Millennium Hotel next door, incorpo-rated the Hudson in his plans, using it as the hotel’s con-ference center.

And there the Hudson remained until 2015, whenAmbassador Theatre Group purchased it. ATG hired thefirm Martinez+Johnson Architecture as well as the theatreand acoustical consultant firm Charcoalblue to work on therestoration of the Hudson, with EverGreene ArchitecturalArts brought onboard to help restore the interior. All threefirms worked with ATG’s COO Erich Jungwirth and GeorgeCouyas, ATG’s head of interior design. (Also involved wereYorke Construction, Goldman Copeland Engineering, andMcLaren Engineering.) This team has restored the theatre


ARCHITECTURE

iWeiss installed the double-purchase counterweight line set sys-tem.

The seating stanchions feature the iconic hexagon that can beseen throughout the renovated theatre.

Photos: Greg M

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to its former glory while upgrading its technical facilitiesand adding new amenities that make it one of the mostluxurious of Broadway houses.

Restoring the interiorThe Hudson presents a relatively modest face to the world,its Beaux-Arts-style exterior done in brick and limestone,with an attractive steel-and-glass marquee that replicatesthe look of the original. (By a hair, the Hudson is now theoldest operating theatre on Broadway, having opened amonth before the Lyceum, located a block away on 45thStreet.) The building’s upper two floors, which once con-tained the Harris’ office and living quarters, are, at least for

now, sealed off. Attractive new signage provides a fine dis-play for the theatre’s current attraction.

Once inside the theatre, however, a sense of opulenceprevails. Stewart Jones, New York City principal withMartinez+Johnson Architecture, notes that, unusually, thebuilding’s footprint expands the width of the block, fromWest 44th to West 45th St. This allowed for the creation ofa two-part lobby that is larger than that of any otherBroadway theatre by several degrees; both spaces areuncommonly beautiful.

Couyas, whose brief is to continually upgrade andupdate ATG’s 40-plus venues (many, if not all. of which arein the West End), describes how he worked with the archi-

The auditorium has side aisles at the back and a continental layout down front, a strategy to get extra seats on the orchestra floor.The seats, supplied by the UK-based firm, Kirwin & Simpson, are among the most comfortable in New York.

tectural and consultant team, says, “We started by lookingat the landmark preservation document, which talks aboutthe original color scheme. When we first looked at theHudson [when still configured as a convention center],there were red carpets, red drapes, and red seats. Theoriginal 1903 design scheme featured a very dark greenwith bronze and golds; the original seats were dark greenvelvet with gold tassels. We used this as a starting pointfor the design.”

Clemeth Abercrombie, of Charcoalblue, adds, “As soonas I got in there, I saw that it was a really nice house; thebones of the place were good.”

Jones says that the two lobby areas constitute the the-

atre’s “neck,” a 100'-long corridor, leading to the auditori-um. The exterior lobby features the box office, a neo-clas-sical structure in dark green marble decorated with bronzeheads of Hermes. Jones says that this original structurehas largely been left alone, except for the removal of adoor, and the opening up of an adjoining entrance thatnow provides access to an elevator that may be used bydisabled patrons. The ceiling in this lobby originally had atiny light bulb in each of its hundreds of coffers; thesewere replaced, during the Millennium Hotel era, by a chan-delier.

The hand-woven Axminster carpet in the lobby, whichextends into the auditorium, features a hexagonal pattern


ARCHITECTURE

The Tiffany Bar is so named for the stunning glass domes designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany.

Photos: Greg M

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that is seen repeatedly throughout the theatre. Couyassays, “We wanted a little motif that could become part ofthe design and also the theatre’s branding. There’s a beau-tiful hexagonal honeycomb pattern that is part of the the-atre’s proscenium arch. Although the theatre comes froman earlier period than art deco, there’s a kind of geometricnature to it; we picked up on it for the carpet, seatingstanchions, mirrors, and also for the theatre’s logo.” (It isprominently featured on the theatre’s website, thehudson-broadway.com.)

Next comes the Tiffany Lobby Bar, so named becauseof the stunning glass ceiling domes designed by LouisComfort Tiffany. The room features the green-and-bronzepalette mentioned earlier. “When we started,” Jones says,“the lobby’s decor was entirely overpainted in light gray. Itwas restored to its current gilded look by Jeff Greene.”The domes, which had been hidden for years by new con-struction, were revealed during an earlier renovation in2005; this time around, the glass was removed, piece bypiece, and cleaned by hand.

The bar, however, is new, and was designed to fit inthe style of the room and to win approval from NYCLandmarks Preservation Commission. “When the theatreopened, it was quite famous for its use of diffused light,”Couyas says. “We designed a 2017 take on that.” He’sreferring to the use of Marblo, a polymer-based hybridmaterial that looks like marble, but, when backlit, creates asoftly diffused look. Jones points out another amenity: along rail on the wall opposite the bar where pre-orderedintermission drinks can be picked up by patrons.

Both Abercrombie and Jones note that, originally, theTiffany Lobby Bar opened to the auditorium; this was notconsidered acceptable, from an acoustical standpoint. “Webuilt a wall to create an acoustic separation,” Abercrombie

says, adding, “The outside doors of the theatre were madeof wood, so we replaced them with doors that make anacoustically tight seal.” Charcoalblue also advised onnoise control for MEP systems to keep the theatre quiet.

The auditorium is done in a kind of cream white, withthe original Tiffany blue and gold glass tile built into thefascias of the mezzanine and balcony as well part of asthe auditorium’s walls. Rather than return to the originalgreen-and-bronze color scheme, Couyas says, “There wasa conversation where we decided not to fully redecoratethe auditorium.” However, he adds, “We did a great deal ofrestoration, allowing us to complete the story that hadbeen exposed by the Millennium [during the 2005 renova-tion]. We went over areas where the paint was chipped or

damaged, cleaning it up and exposing it more, bringing itback to its former glory. It is so rare to have that Tiffanyglass used as décor in an auditorium.” This effort was ledby Greene and his staff at EverGreene Architectural Arts.

The auditorium’s side boxes are framed by Ioniccolumns. Jones notes that the original boxes wereremoved in the 1950s, and it was decided not to replace-ment, given their unattractive sightlines. The upper boxareas are now used for lighting positions, and the lowerareas are used as service points for ATG’s in-seat foodand beverage offering.

Part of auditorium’s coffered ceiling features anotheriteration of the hexagonal pattern, with 300 miniature

This detail of the auditorium shows its elaborate molding and dif-fused lighting.


“We wanted a little motif thatcould become part of the designand also the theatre’s branding.There’s a beautiful hexagonal honeycomb pattern that is part ofthe theatre’s proscenium arch.Although the theatre comes froman earlier period than art deco,there’s a kind of geometric natureto it; we picked up on it for the carpet, seating stanchions, mirrors, and also for the theatre’slogo.” —Couyas

chandeliers that were very much in need of restorationFrom below, this feature looks like a constellation of lights;seen close up, the bulbs are surrounded by tiny pieces ofhanging glass that refract the light around the room.“Some of the chandeliers were broken and neededrelamping and rewiring,” says Couyas. “They create a haloat the top of the auditorium.”

Also, Abercrombie says, “The orchestra floor had beenreplaced with three flat tiers. We restored the original rakeand took a good look at the sight lines.” The seating layoutis unique for Broadway; the back of the orchestra floorcontains side aisles, but the front of the room is arrangedin a continental layout. “We were looking for a way to getmore seats in there,” Abercrombie says. “The original fea-sibility study had seating at 700, which is what it had as aconvention center; we got it to 970.”

Surprisingly, given the increased numbers, the Hudsonarguably has the most comfortable theatre seats in NewYork, with an enviable amount of leg room. Couyas saysthat ATG regularly works with UK-based seating manufac-turer Kirwin & Simpson: “We wanted the widest chairspossible without sacrificing seating capacity.” Jones,adding, “There’s nothing like them in the US,” says thatthe use of a wood frame for each seat back providesstrong support. Couyas concurs, adding, “They use amaterial called ProBax, a foam-based material that is alsoused in making luxury cars. It gives you a more upright sit-ting position; the seats are not as loungy, but, by sittingupright, you have more leg room.” He adds that the fabricfor the seats, which are done in light antique gold, wascreated by the UK firm Sunbury Design, and manufacturedin Belgium. At the end of each row are custom stanchionsfeaturing the iconic hexagon.

Bringing systems up to dateThe team took a hard look at the theatre’s rigging andtechnical capabilities, which needed updating to accom-modate today’s productions. Abercrombie says, “The the-atre had a steel grid and remnants of a hemp fly systemplus a handful of double-purchase counterweight line sets.The task was how to make it into a viable Broadway stagehouse.”

He adds, “We concluded that a double-purchase coun-terweight line set system was the right one. There are 34new line sets running upstage/downstage over the stagefloor area.” The rigging and drapery specialist iWeiss,using its proprietary Align rigging hardware, installed theline sets. To make room for the system, a stacked series ofdressing rooms at stage right was removed. “We also blewout some walls and put in rack rooms and an electricalroom,” Abercrombie says, adding that a new set of dress-ing rooms was installed in the basement. iWeiss alsoinstalled a new fire curtain with its own fire stop and firerelease station plus a custom grand curtain and valance,

along with house draperies.Abercrombie says that new box boom ladders were

installed in the upper level box areas, along with a frontlighting pipe on the balcony level. “We also created newstrong points for motor fames in the attic, to create twonew front-of-house positions,” he says. “The existing trussposition at the proscenium was turned into a speaker posi-tion.”

The theatre’s lighting system underwent a considerablerevamp as well. “Originally, the intention was to maintain


ARCHITECTURE

The auditorium features Tiffany glass tile as part of its décor.

Each piece of glass in the domes was removed and cleaned byhand.


all house lighting as it was,” says Abercrombie. “As weproceeded through design phases, the AmbassadorTheatre Group became interested in more energy efficien-cy and less maintenance on the lighting fixtures and sock-ets themselves.” This led to a complete retrofit of thehouse lighting with historical replica LEDs, the addition ofLED work lights, and a new incandescent running lightsystem.

With so many different types of lighting (incandescentand LED fixtures backstage, dimmable LEDs, line-voltage

controlled lighting, and low-voltage lights in the lobby andauditorium), the theatre needed an adaptable, yet compre-hensive, control system, not to mention the strict stan-dards an emergency lighting system required for publicspaces. “There were a vast array of different systems thatneeded to function, and we wanted one system that couldcontrol and program all of them,” says Joel Brukner, proj-ect manager for Yorke Construction Company, the generalcontractor.

To address these requirements, two ETC DRd12 dim-mer racks were installed to provide power for house andbackstage lights, with control coming from two membersof ETC’s Unison family of architectural controls, aParadigm architectural control module, and Echo powermodules and control stations.

ETC’s Echo products were chosen to provide powerand control to the house lights without adding a lot ofinfrastructure. “ETC’s Echo controllers gave us a good wayto add multiple cost-effective non-dim circuits withouthaving to install a full relay panel,” says Scott Reagan,project manager of the install for supplier BarbizonLighting. In addition to the variety of Echo wall stationofferings, ETC’s Echo Access app allows one to changelights from anywhere in the building, plus the ability to lockout control stations during shows.

“Adding Echo Access let us give the head electricianwireless access to the work lights / running lights that liveon the Echo rack from anywhere in the Hudson,” Reagansays. “It also gave him a way to easily reprogram the but-ton as he sees fit over time. Plus, he was fairly excitedabout the lockout feature while the show is running.” Interms of emergency lighting, the Hudson is the first theatreto use ETC’s new six-channel DMX emergency bypasscontroller, the DEBC-6. This multi-output version simplifieswiring, yet adheres to the UL-924 code for emergencylighting systems.

In addition, Staging Concepts supplied a pit filler sys-tem consisting of cut-to-fit, carpet-ready SC90 platformswith black powder coated frames and 2" acoustic insula-tion on the underside. The pit filler system is supported bysteel ledger angles on the audience side, along with shortsupport legs and SC90 legs with cross bracing on thestage side. Masque sound provided cabling infrastructureand patch panels for speaker I/Os and 70V page programdistribution (for the Rane Halogen paging system) through-out the theatre, along with lighting patch panels on thebalcony rail.

Other amenitiesOn the mezzanine (or dress circle) level is another spa-cious and attractive bar area. Jones says that theentranceway to the bar originally housed a series ofmechanical rooms. The removal, to the roof, of the build-ing’s chiller allowed this area to be opened up, creating

The Axminster carpet introduces the hexagon motif as oneenters from the street.

The box office window is framed by two heads of Hermes.

These im

ages: Todd Heisler/The New York Times/Redux


room for several amenities. Behind the bar area is theAmbassador Lounge; for a relatively small fee, patrons canupgrade their experience, dropping off their coats andbags and reserving a table for intermission drinks andsnacks. The room was designed by Couyas in the theatre’soriginal green-and-bronze palette. Also, where possible,new bathroom facilities have been added, in order toshorten those long lines that are a feature of everyBroadway intermission. (Couyas notes that, in any ofATG’s renovation products, he seeks to implement addi-tional women’s rest rooms, which, as any theatergoerknows, are desperately needed.)

Jones notes that the project, moved fairly quickly andwithout setbacks. “It took a year to design and a year tobuild,” he says, by way nothing that events moved fairlyquickly and decisively. Couyas adds, “You rarely get toredesign or restore Broadway theatres. It was a massivehonor to work on this for two years. The feedback from the

Broadway community has been very positive; they’ve wel-comed us with open arms.”

One especially welcome aspect of the interior design isthe use of posters and photos from past productions—aposter from Jean Anouilh’s Becket; a photo of Irene Worth,Jason Robards, and Maureen Stapleton in Toys in theAttic, a poster from Jenny Kissed Me, an early Jean Kerrcomedy; and photos of Molly Picon and GodfreyCambridge in little curio titled How to Be a Jewish Mother.Wall displays in the basement rest room area tell the storyof the Harrises and their fateful trip on the Titanic; otherdisplays downstairs recall the theatre’s time as a televisionstudio.

As we go to press, Sunday in the Park with George isabout to close, but the Hudson will not be dark for long.Only a few weeks later, 1984 begins previews. It seemsthat Broadway’s “newest” house is also aiming to be itsbusiest.

At top left, dangling from the ceiling, are the hoists used for the “Chromolume” effect in Sunday in the Park with George, the renovatedtheatre’s first tenant.

Photo: Greg M

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architecture copyright lighting sound america · transfer from london’s almeida theatre, starring...

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