Music Performance: Recent Years > Miller Theater
Allan Kozinn
“For Columbia Theater, A Festive First Night"
Article on Opening Night, Kathryn Bache Miller Theatre, The New York Times, September 17, 1988
Columbia University Archives, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
Kathryn Bache Miller Theatre
Opening Night Program, September 15, 1988
Columbia University Archives, Rare Book and Manuscript Library
The Kathryn Bache Miller Theatre, successor to the 64-year-old McMillin Academic Theater, was completed in 1988. Located in the southwest corner of Dodge Hall, the McMillin Theater was in a state of disrepair, but it had for many years been the primary site for Columbia’s musical and theatrical productions, as well as other presentations. Newly renovated, entirely refurbished, and inaugurated as the Kathryn Bache Miller Theatre, the 700-seat hall, that includes an orchestra pit, has injected new life into music performance at Columbia and in the larger cultural scene in New York. The architectural firm of Mayers & Schiff Associates won an award from the New York State Association of Architects/American Institute of Architects for their design of Miller Theatre.
The Opening Night program, September 15, 1988, included performances by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Nikolais Dance Theater, and the Boys’ Choir of Harlem. Schuyler G. Chapin, who as Dean of the School of the Arts from 1976 to 1987 had initiated the Miller Theatre renovation project, served as master of ceremonies for the opening gala. In his welcoming remarks on this occasion, Columbia President Michael Sovern stated, “At last we have a setting worthy of the talent that thrives here.”