Hayes Theater
Cultural
Second Stage Theater purchased the landmarked Hayes Theater on Broadway, with a goal of dedicating it to contemporary works of theater by living American playwrights with an emphasis on women and minority writers. Rockwell Group renovated the 100-year-old theater—the smallest on Broadway—to create a modern, approachable design vocabulary that references the Hayes’s heritage as well as Second Stage’s contemporary aesthetic.
Digital design and painstaking craftsmanship are combined to create an abstract image.
When the theater first opened, the walls were adorned with reproductions of tapestries designed by the Rococo artist François Boucher. A scene from one of Boucher’s tapestries depicting Dionysus/Bacchus—the Greek/Roman god of theater—was enlarged and applied to the side walls in a pixelated pattern that makes it appear abstract up close
“An auditorium is a mediation of two forces: the real world outside of the theater and the 'real' world created on stage.”
With its unusual Neo-Georgian design, the Hayes is a striking presence. Our renovation includes an overhaul of the HVAC and fire alarm systems, as well as energy saving measures, all with a goal of earning LEED Gold certification.
