Sunday, April 29, 2007
Image courtesy of Lincoln Center. By EVELYN SHIH
STAFF WRITER
Monday, for the first time ever, cocktails will be served in the auditorium of Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.
No one is likely to mind a little splash and spill. After the post-cocktail "Good Night Alice" gala concert, the hall will be closed for an 18-month renovation. Lincoln Center authorities say that the concert hall, which houses an average of 750 events per year, will have upgraded amenities as well as a transformed interior and exterior.
"It will come out more svelte, more contemporary, more beautiful," said Lincoln Center Festival director Nigel Redden, who designed the "Good Night Alice" program.
The program, hosted by Tom Brokaw, will be broadcast Thursday on PBS for those of us who can't afford to drop $1,500. "It will be a look at the last 40 years of Tully Hall, and what has come of it," said Redden. "Over the years, it has become a jumping-off place for so many top performers."
Among others, soprano Renee Fleming and violinist Joshua Bell have made their New York debuts at Tully, which has also played host to events that have featured such headliners as Yo-Yo Ma, Spike Lee and Rosie O'Donnell. Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society, housed at the hall since its inception, will appear on the gala program, as will Wynton Marsalis, who represents Jazz at the Lincoln Center -- another initiative begun at Tully. In addition, Broadway star Audra McDonald will sing from the American Songbook, and composer Philip Glass will perform to a visual presentation of plans for the future Alice Tully Hall.
Redden, who knew Alice Tully personally, claims a "somewhat selfish" impulse to celebrate Tully as a one-of-a-kind lady in addition to celebrating the hall as an institution. "I'm not sure she would have been totally pleased [with the renovation plans]," he said. "She was very much of her time."
"Miss Tully," as Redden knew her, was passionate about the tiniest details of the music hall that was built in her name. A tall woman, she famously insisted on the distance between the rows of seats. She chose the wood that would be used in construction -- and decorated the ladies room with animal print.
The comfortable spacing in the audience seating will be preserved, said Redden, but "I think the wallpaper will be changed."
Yet perhaps Tully, who passed away in 1993, would forgive the Lincoln Center directors for their modifications to her original design.
"She would be pleased that the hall will be as up to date now as it was when it was first built, with the most modern acoustics and very much a contemporary statement as a music hall," said Redden."It will always be an exciting place for young musicians to play," he added. "I think she would be willing to let go of the wallpaper for that."
E-mail: shih@northjersey.com
Copyright © 2007 North Jersey Media Group Inc.
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