After two years of construction and heated controversy, the historic Provincetown Playhouse has finally reopened its doors. The new addition includes a refurbished stage, added storage space and top-of-the-line lighting and technical equipment.
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According to Steinhardt associate dean Lindsay Wright, the renovations entailed a complete gutting of the theater and left nothing of the original furnishings intact except the wood walls. Yet despite the alterations, Wright said the building still maintains its history.
"It was more important to preserve the legacy rather than the structure," she said. "We did however put in the outside brick façade to match the original brick present during the 40s."
Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, said the public is "generally pretty outraged [since] almost nothing is left of the original playhouse."
"[NYU] did what they wanted in the end, turning the historic site into nothing more than an appendage to the law school," he said.
There will be an open exhibit at the playhouse on Dec. 11 from 12 to 5 p.m. The event will display the history and development of the theater in its Greenwich Village location.
