Less than two years after it closed for extensive renovations, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall reopened to the public on Sunday. (The performing arts organization officially marked the occasion with a gala on Monday night.) Sporting a dramatic three-story glass facade and cantilevered canopy from Diller, Scofidio & Renfro, the Upper West Side site now offers a redesigned auditorium, expanded lobby areas, a glass-enclosed lounge on the mezzanine, and a café and bar open to the public.
Beyond an outdoor grandstand and a public plaza that extends onto Broadway, the hall's entry point—the 6,161-square-foot Grand Foyer—features polished limestone floors contrasted by bloodwood paneling. Here Restaurant Associates manages At65, a 55-seat casual café serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner to concert patrons as well as the public.
The centerpiece of the hall is the Starr Theater, which now has a striking new look. Although very little could be done to change the structure of this 1,087-seat space, the design team created a curvy, almost sculptural surface on the walls using resin panels covered with a wood veneer. Other details, which include new theater seats, acoustic banners, and stage ceilings, were installed to eliminate extraneous noise and diffuse the sound more efficiently. The renovation also added automated stage extensions, lighting configurations, and stage doors.
The Hauser Patron Salon on the mezzanine level is a 4,200-square-foot lounge with a south-facing terrace overlooking the main lobby and which has its own bar and restrooms. For sit-down dinners, the lounge seats 140.
Currently, Alice Tully Hall's theater and lobbies are available for private and public events; the performing arts organization has not determined the availability of the Hauser Patron Salon. Restaurant Associates is the exclusive caterer for all areas of the venue.
