Nearly two decades after a master plan for redeveloping the former site of the World Trade Center was drafted, a cultural facility long promised as part of that plan is set to open in September. The Perelman Performing Arts Center, directed by a blue-chip team of entrepreneurs, philanthropists, organizers and curators, announced details of its inaugural season on Wednesday morning.
The facility, located on the corner of Fulton and Greenwich streets, is named for one of its leading benefactors, banker and investor Ronald O. Perelman. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a leading force behind the Hudson Yards arts and culture facility The Shed, is the chairman of the board for the new center. The branding of the facility is now emphasizing PAC NYC — Performing Arts Center New York City — as its name.
Executive Director Khady Kamara, who previously headed New York City’s Second Stage Theater, and Artistic Director Bill Rauch, formerly leader of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, will head the facility’s artistic leadership.
The facility comprises three main performance spaces: the John E. Zuccotti Theater, which seats 450; the Mike Nichols Theater, with a capacity of 250; and the Doris Duke Foundation Theater, which accommodates up to 99. A flexible design also allows the venues to be combined, for a total capacity extending to 950 seats.
The Perelman Performing Arts Center cuts a striking profile, nestled among downtown towers.
Iwan Baan for Perelman Performing Arts Center
“We have invited some of the most compelling talents in theater, opera, music and dance to work with us and with each other, to create and present new works that bring PAC NYC to life, here in the world capital of performing arts,” Rauch said of the new center’s programming initiatives in a media statement. “Our program, which celebrates and brings together an array of artistic disciplines, will anchor a robust and diverse inaugural season that will inspire, entertain and engage all…
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