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Head of School Sheila Culbert speaks at the ground-breaking ceremony in November. Photo: Cassandra Hamer
Construction Begins on Expanded Home for Theater and Dance The building will be named for lead donors John D. Nichols ’49 and his wife, Alexandra, and will include a renovated Norris Ely Orchard Theater. The school has broken ground for a new center for theater and dance at Loomis Chaffee that will feature a renovated Norris Ely Orchard Theater, a black-box theater, and a large dance studio as well as much-needed backstage and production spaces, all encompassed in one building. The John D. and Alexandra C. Nichols Center for Theater and Dance, to be named for the project’s lead donors, John D. Nichols ’49 and his wife, Alexandra, is slated for completion by January 2022. The couple’s gift of $7.5 million provides more than half of the funding for the project, which will significantly upgrade and expand performance facilities for theater and dance productions while retaining the integrity of the NEO’s familiar and muchloved façade. “The performing arts have always been a huge part of our program on campus. It’s so exciting to have a new home … with state-of-
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Loomis Chaffee Magazine Winter 2021
the-art equipment that will allow students to take their talents to the next level and for all the community to embrace the performing arts even more,” Susan Chrzanowski, head of the Performing Arts Department, said during a small, outdoor, socially-distanced event convened in November to acknowledge the groundbreaking. Robert A.M. Stern Architects of New York was retained by the school to design the new center. According to the plans, the project will expand the NEO’s seating capacity to 200 and enlarge its stage and will add a 1,200-squarefoot black-box theater, a 1,400-square-foot dance studio, a scene shop and tool room, multiple dressing rooms, a state-of-the-art control booth, and a spacious lobby. The overall project will cost an estimated $14 million, and the school is engaged in additional fundraising to reach that total. “We thank John and Alexandra Nichols, especially, for their leadership and remarkable generosity,” Sheila said at the November gathering. Also in attendance were Associate Head for External Relations Nathan Follansbee; the Nicholses’ granddaughter, freshman Mandarin Wallace; and several other students and faculty members who are involved in the performing arts. Although John and Alexandra could not
attend the ceremony, the students expressed their gratitude in a short video that was shared with the couple. A devoted alumnus, John served as a member of the Board of Trustees from 1985 to 1997 and as a volunteer for the school’s Annual Fund. He is the retired vice chairman and chief executive officer of the Marmon Holdings Inc., now part of Berkshire Hathaway, and the
Theater and dance students help to break ground for the new building. Photo: Cassandra Hamer
