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'The Bard' Comes To Brooklyn With Groundbreaking Of New Theater

BROOKLYN, NY (WCBS 880) -- "The Bard" comes to Brooklyn with a groundbreaking Friday for a permanent theatrical home for Shakespeare and other classics.

It will be the first classical theater built in New York City in more than 40 years.

Dignitaries broke ground at a city owned parking lot on Ashland Place, half-a-block away from the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reports: Theater Will Be First Permanent Home For  Theatre for a New Audience Troupe

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"It'll be a 299 seat theater that is fully flexible. It will be designed to support the acoustics of un-amplified voice and make the language of Shakespeare and other classical authors as well as contemporary playwrights audible and meaningful," said Theatre for a New Audience managing director Dorothy Ryan.

For the past 32 years, Theatre for a New Audience has rented space, mostly in Manhattan.

WCBS 880's Steve Knight reports: Shakespeare Will Be The Star Of New Brooklyn Theater

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An 8,000 square foot Arts Plaza will also be built as part of the nearly $50 million project.

The theater is scheduled to open in April of 2013.

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