MCC Theater to Move to New Off-Broadway Theater Complex

MCC Theater plans to move to a new 25,000-square-foot off-Broadway theater complex at West 52nd Street and Tenth Avenue in time to for its 2013-2014 season, according to The New York Times. The company, which was founded in 1986, has been in residence at the Lucille Lortel Theater for the past several seasons; before that, it operated from a theater in Chelsea.

MCC’s new space will include a 249-seat main stage and a 99-seat, flexibly configured black-box theater. The $25 million complex will be financed by $19.5 million in bonds from NYC’s Department of Cultural Affairs. The company has already raised $2 million from its board members and plans to raise the remaining $3.5 million via a fund-raising campaign.

Artistic directors Bernard Telsey, Robert LuPone and William Cantler told the Times that the move will allow MCC to extend popular shows (such as the 2010 hit The Pride, which starred Hugh Dancy and Ben Whishaw) and develop new works by prominent playwrights such as MCC favorite Neil LaBute. The current season includes Alice Ripley, Jay Armstrong Johnson and Gideon Glick in Wild Animals You Should Know and a forthcoming revival of the infamous 1988 musical Carrie.