Dancers from the American Repertory Ballet recently took the stage for the first time at the future Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater, part of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center project in downtown New Brunswick. — Courtesy: New Brunswick Performing Arts Center
By Joshua Burd
Future tenants of the New Brunswick Performing Arts Center are already making themselves at home, even as construction continues at the high-profile development project.
Dancers from the American Repertory Ballet recently took the stage for the first time at the future Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater, one of two recently named performance spaces at the facility. The organization will be among several tenants at the venue, which is part of a mixed-use, $172 million project spearheaded by the New Brunswick Development Corp.
Slated to open this fall, the 23-story building is expected to transform New Brunswick’s downtown arts district with 450,000 square feet that will include performance venues, office space and more than 200 luxury apartments. The Livingston Avenue complex will also be home to the George Street Playhouse, Crossroads Theatre Company and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University-New Brunswick.
NBPAC also celebrated a recent milestone when the developer announced $7.75 million in naming gifts — the largest in the history of the George Street Playhouse — for what will be the new Elizabeth Ross Johnson Theater and the Arthur Laurents Theater.
NBPAC project unveils newly named theaters, largest-ever gifts for playhouse