On September 12th, 2013, The Theatre School celebrated the formal opening and dedication of its current artistic home at 2350 N. Racine Ave.
When John Culbert became dean of the school in 2001, he touted the promise of a new, custom facility—something the ever-traveling Theatre School had never had before. In 2011, Culbert commissioned a brand-new, accessible facility on Racine and Fullerton, near the west edge of Lincoln Park. The renowned architecture firm Pelli Clarke Pelli and Associates designed a five-level steel structure with a glass and limestone exterior and a green roof. The plan included not only theatre spaces, but large scenery fabrication shops visible from the street, rehearsal and movement rooms, lecture halls, sound studios, offices, and more. Along with winning several architectural awards, the building has received LEED certification for its environmentally sustainable design.
Shortly after the plan’s unveiling, DePaul hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking led by Culbert, where ambitions for the new structure were shared with students and faculty. The building was conceived with a dual function: to be both a performance and public space, as well as a conservatory for all theatrical disciplines.
Since its opening and dedication in 2013, The Theatre School has spent twelve action-packed years housed in its signature, outstanding structure on the Lincoln Park campus. The building includes two state-of-the-art performance spaces: the Dr. John R. and Joyce L. Watts Theatre, a thrust stage seating 250 audience members, and the Sondra A. & Denis Healy Theatre, a black-box space seating up to 100. With state-of-the-art performance spaces, studios, shops, and equipment, our artistic home gives students the opportunity to learn in a setting that prepares them for every aspect of a career in the entertainment industry.
This facility has widened artistic horizons, added vitality to the community, and will continue to welcome generations of new students, faculty, artists, performers, and audiences for years to come.
The Centennial Stories are written by TTS student and Marketing Office Assistant, Eva Strazek, with special thanks to Joan Starkey, Kate Shuert, Liv Queen Majestic, and Dean Corrin.