This summer, Jacob’s Pillow will open the renovated Ted Shawn Theatre for Festival 2022, the 90th anniversary of the longest running and largest dance festival in the United States. Today for the first time, we’re excited to publicly share some photos of the construction process.
The historic Ted Shawn Theatre stands as the centerpiece of the Jacob’s Pillow campus. On July 9th, 1942, the Shawn opened as the first performance space in America designed exclusively for dance. Today’s visitors have experienced the Shawn much in the same way as those first audiences did—with enormous hand-hewn beams, knotty pine siding, and bare wood floors setting the simple, spacious tone.
But over the years, theatrical technology has transformed. Access and safety standards have advanced. And audiences expect more comfort than a theater built 78 years ago can provide.
We began planning for the Shawn’s renovation in 2018. We broke ground on this $9 million project in January 2021, and are working with Boston-based Flansburgh Architects and Berkshire-based Allegrone Construction on the project. This summer, you’ll see the results of many months of hard work, as the Shawn opens for a new era.
RENOVATIONS WILL INCLUDE*:
- A new ventilation system and eco-friendly ice-chilled air cooling
- A new orchestra pit for live music, which can be replaced with seating when not in use
- Enhanced accessibility for artists backstage and new accessible audience seating
- Increased stage depth by 10 feet
- A new electrical system with three-phase power that can support incandescent fixtures as well as eco-friendly LED theatrical lighting
- Expanded clearance height from 17 feet to 25 feet, allowing for more complex productions, rigging, and fly systems
- A new indoor artist crossover (replacing current outdoor crossover)
- A new lower level, which will include new flexible dressing rooms, wardrobe spaces, an elevator, accessible ramp system, and a maintenance room to host the new air conditioning and ventilation system
*Renovations will be to the stage house; the seating area in the Ted Shawn Theatre will remain much the same.
Below: Ted Shawn Theatre construction photos by Vinny Vigilante. This gallery shows our progress chronologically; please scroll to the bottom for the most recent photos.
And here are a few renderings of the completed Ted Shawn Theatre that you can expect this summer. The new stage house will not exceed the height of the cupola, maintaining the feel of this historic building and the Pillow Campus as a whole, while becoming a theater for today and tomorrow.
See What We Are Planning
Give to the Shawn
We ask you to make a contribution to help us realize this extraordinary evolution of our beloved theatre. Make a gift today to ensure that audiences of the future will continue to enjoy extraordinary performances that take them to their feet.