HISTORY & RESTORATION (con't)

Details of the Hilton Theatre's 43rd Street facade, a restoration of the Lyric's original brick and terra cotta facade.

The [Hilton Theatre] is a loving distillation, a creative scrambling, of elements from two wonderful originals. There is detailing from both original theatres in the new main lobbies, and color schemes also reflect both originals. The Lyric's historic 43rd Street brick and terra-cotta facade, with its lovely tiers of windows and balconies, has been maintained and restored, while the 42nd and 43rd Street links which served as the main entries have been reconstructed.

Most vitally, every one of the 1,813 seats in the auditorium has perfect sightlines, and an intimate relationship to the performance. From the back of the orchestra, you are only 86 feet away from the stage. The [Hilton Theatre] combines the most modern technology and the finest acoustics with a traditional sense of contact between actors and audience.

The blending of old and new traditions extends from the theatre itself to its inaugural production. Ragtime, a new musical set in the same New York Gilded Age that saw the openings of the Lyric and the Apollo Theatres, [was] produced with all the techniques and resources of the 1990's. Stage and auditorium, theatre and show, past and present... together they make a remarkable mosaic.

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