The New Victory Theatre Story
Since 1995 the New Victory Theatre has been New York City’s first and only nonprofit performing arts venue for children and families. After over 15 years of use the lobbies needed a refresh that was lighter and more kid friendly.
In 2010 Studio T+L was approached to relight the ticket lobby of the New Victory Theater on 42nd Street. The New Victory’s parent organization, New 42nd Street, wanted a lighting design that was more exciting and that better connected the theatre to the energy of 42nd Street and Times Square. After discussing several options, we designed a curvilinear ceiling with a starfield of RGB LED nodes that were partially inspired by the logo of New 42nd Street, which at the time was their name spelled out with colored dots in a manner reminiscent of a Broadway theatre’s marquee. The nodes in the ceiling, which was installed in 2011, gave the ticket lobby a multi-colored twinkling ceiling whose colors could be coordinated with the colors of the show’s marketing materials, if desired.
Our involvement with the New Victory continued in 2012, when Studio T+L was asked to join H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture (now simply H3) to redesign of the existing lobbies and add a new basement level lobby space.
From the outset the renovation was focused on the patrons. The New Victory cares about the families that attend their performances and consistently emphasized that these spaces were being built for them. Colors were to be bright and fun, spaces were to be as open as possible, and it was imperative that we create areas for teaching artists to interact with children in exploring the themes of each production. Visually, the interior design and lighting fixture selection continued to be inspired by the New 42nd Street logo. Dots, circles, disks, and globes became the project’s visual vocabulary across design disciplines.
The project proceeded in fits and starts along with changes in available funding. In 2016 we finally completed the design and were ready to begin construction. Along the way some ideas, such as luminous ceilings and interactive projections, were abandoned to be replaced by more cost-conscious choices. In the end, simplifying the embedded technology made the work of the teaching artists easier and more successful. In December of 2017 a ribbon cutting ceremony marked the unveiling of the new lobby spaces and the next phase of the life of the New Victory Theater.