Chicago Shakespeare Theater Planning Innovative New Stage
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Navy Pier has announced plans for a major expansion, taking over the outdoor concert venue known as the Skyline Stage.
The Yard would be a dynamic theater made up of nine flexible mobile seating towers. Each tower would have three levels of seating, and depending on the configuration, the theater would seat 150 to 850 people.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater executive director Chriss Henderson did his best to describe the seating towers, which he said would be unlike anything ever seen in the theater world.
"The tower is really, if you picture a CTA bus stood on its end, and three levels of seating in each bus. They will move around this room; move closer when we want to have a small intimate space, or move out away from each other when we want the space to be larger. And, really, it will be left to the artist's imagination," he said.
The $35 million construction project would be the third theater at Navy Pier for Chicago Shakespeare, and is part of Navy Pier's centennial vision, celebrating the tourist destination's 100th anniversary.
Construction was scheduled to begin in the spring; and, if all goes as planned, the first Shakespeare play at The Yard would be staged in the 2017-18 season.
The project would be funded by a $15 million investment from Navy Pier, and $20 million in capital funding to be raised through the theater's "Our City, Our Shakespeare Campaign."