EFTA00299075.pdf

THEATRE FOR A NEW AUDIENCE 154 CHRISTOPHER STREET WITS 3O NEW YORK NY 1OO14 1: October 8, 2012 Mr. Jeffrey Epstein 9 East 71st Street New York, NY 06840 Dear Mr. Epstein, I am writing at the suggestion of Julie Taymor. I understand Julie spoke with you at the recent WWW Conference about Theatre for a New Audience's Capital Campaign to build the first theatre for classic drama since the 1965 Vivian Beaumont in downtown Brooklyn. Julie explained that you kindly invited us to send you information about this project. Please find this enclosed. Let me give you some background. Julie is on our Board and is the Honorary Co-Chair of the Campaign. Founded in 1979, Theatre for a New Audience's cornerstone is Shakespeare and we produce Shakespeare alongside other classical and contemporary authors. We're the first American theatre to be invited to bring a production of Shakespeare to the Royal Shakespeare Company. We've won multiple awards; supported the development of some of our finest artists such as Julie who first staged THE TEMPEST and TITUS ANDRONICUS with us. We created and run the largest program in the New York City Public Schools to introduce Shakespeare and classic drama. Our name refers to how theatre has evolved. The old audience was primarily one homogenous group. The new audience is comprised of all ages, cultural and economic back grounds. Since our founding 33 years ago, we've never had a permanent home. We've always been itinerant and dependent on rented spaces which are fast becoming unavailable. In 2000, the City invited us to build adjacent to MM in the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District -- the first major cultural district in New York City since Lincoln Center. Our neighbors will be BAM and Mark Morris Dance Center. 650,000 people annually attend BAM alone. Every subway line and the LIRR are within a 5-10 minute walk. The New Barclay's Sports and Entertainment Center is a few blocks away. Our theatre is designed by the eminent architect Hugh Hardy who also designed the interiors of Radio City Music Hall and the New Amsterdam. Our design is inspired by the Cottesloe at London's Royal National Theatre. It will be unlike any other New York theatre. It is uniquely flexible and works for both classic and contemporary plays. The relationship between the stage and the audience can be arranged In almost any configuration. The stage is trapped; the building is suspended on acoustic pads to ensure it will be one of the quietest theatres in the City. It has seating capacities of 299, 99 and 50. Our capital budget is $68.5 million. Despite the economic turmoil of the past decade, we raised $52.7 million and broke ground June, 2011. There is nearly $16 million left to raise for essentials such as theatrical equipment. Our building is not yet named and is available for a gift in the range of $10 to $16 million. It would be a wonderful opportunity for the right individual. Our facility In this new cultural district is a thrilling moment in the development of New York theatre and WWW.IfANA.ORG EFTA00299075 Brooklyn, which GQ just declared the "coolest city on the planet." Julie is directing the inaugural production which opens November 3, 2013. I very much appreciate your time in reviewing the enclosed materials and hope to be able to talk. I also wanted to share that a profile on Theatre for a New Audience made for NYC Arts was broadcast July 5 on PBS, and Julie is in this. A DVD is enclosed with the materials. I will take the liberty of calling to see If we can arrange a time to speak, or please feel free to call me at Thank you and best, ( JeffreyForowitz Founding Artistic Director EFTA00299076