The Egg is a

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

venue in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

. Named for its shape, the building was designed by

Harrison & Abramovitz Harrison & Abramovitz (also known as Harrison, Fouilhoux & Abramovitz; Harrison, Abramovitz, & Abbe; and Harrison, Abramovitz, & Harris) was an American architectural firm based in New York and active from 1941 through 1976. The firm was a partner ...

as part of the

Empire State Plaza The Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza (known commonly as the Empire State Plaza, and also as the South Mall or Albany Mall) is a complex of several state government buildings in downtown Albany, New York, Albany, New York. The ...

project, and built between 1966 and 1978. It is located in the northeast corner of the Plaza. It has become an icon of New York's

Capital District A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any politic ...

due to its unusual shape and central location. The Egg is owned by the state of New York and managed by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center Corporation a not-for-profit that was created in 1979 to manage the performing arts facility in the Empire State Plaza. Egg Under Construction

Organization

The Nelson A. Rockefeller Empire State Plaza Performing Arts Center Corporation is governed by an 11-member board of directors. The board is chosen by the

New York State Governor The governor of New York is the head of government of the U.S. state of New York. The governor is the head of the executive branch of New York's state government and the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The governor has ...

, the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

, the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

, the Albany County Executive, and also has a member from the New York State Office of General Services. Construction of the facility was managed by the New York State Office of General Services (OGS). Upon completion, OGS assumed management of the facility operations as well, contracting with Porter Van Zandt, a Broadway director and former executive of

The Acting Company The Acting Company is a professional theater company that tours the United States annually, staging and performing one or two plays in as many as fifty cities, often with runs of only one or two nights. Drama critic Mel Gussow has called it "the m ...

to advise the agency. A public benefit corporation was created by an act of the legislature in 1979. The move was initially opposed by then-mayor

Erastus Corning II Erastus Corning 2nd (October 7, 1909 – May 28, 1983) was an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as the 72nd mayor of Albany, New York from 1942 to 1983, when Albany County was controlled by one of the last classic ...

, who feared he would have less control over it, though appointed representatives ensured that he remained involved. The first executive of the corporation was Mark Tilley. After two tumultuous years, he was replaced by Patricia Snyder, founder and executive of the Empire State Youth Theatre Institute. Tasked with revamping programs and operations, she worked closely with noted composer

Joe Raposo Joseph Guilherme Raposo, OIH (February 8, 1937 – February 5, 1989) was an American composer and songwriter. He is best known for his work on the children's television series ''Sesame Street'', for which he wrote the theme song, and several no ...

, who as Vice Chair of the board of directors, headed the programming task force. Under Synder's leadership, the facility was governed by a union of three organizations—the Egg's own purpose-built corporation, Snyder's youth theatre program, and the SUNY administration, a structure that was called "an administrative nightmare" by the Albany ''Times Union''. Snyder oversaw a flourishing of youth theatre productions, to the detriment of a broader slate of programming. Her management style was criticized as opaque and combative. A 1987 report recommended dissolving the three-way structure to diversify the facility's programming, creating conflict between Snyder and several board members. The report criticized the organizational structure and Snyder's practices. The factions feuded for a year. In 1988, a proposal brokered by local arts patron Lewis Swyer allowed the youth theatre program to continue at the Egg, while also expanding presentations. The three-way corporate entity formally split, with Snyder stepping down as executive of the Egg but remaining in charge of her theatre programs. The youth theatre company remained in residence at the facility, albeit with a reduced amount of usage amidst its own financial challenges, but new executive director Terry Lorden was hired to oversee the broader portfolio of activities. The three organizations fought over the division of assets. In 2017, the corporation had operating expenses of $1.96 million and a staffing level of 43 people.

Structure

The structure was built over the course of 12 years, and was the final facility completed as part of the Empire State Plaza. Originally slated to take two years to build, the numerous arcs and complicated design features required uniquely delicate surveying and careful implementation, causing the project to take longer. It debuted to the public on Memorial Day in May 1978. Construction supervisor John Byron noted that the spherical shape was designed to bring people closer together, in contrast to traditional proscenium theaters that are generally square in orientation. The Egg is slightly inclined, and has a small

pedestal A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

on which it appears to sit. In fact, the building is held by a stem that goes down six stories into the Plaza. Attached to this stem is a

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

girdle that surrounds The Egg, enabling it to retain its shape and transmitting its weight to the pedestal. The building's organic shape reflects

Nelson Rockefeller Nelson Aldrich "Rocky" Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979) was the 41st vice president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977 under President Gerald Ford. He was also the 49th governor of New York, serving from 1959 to 197 ...

's original goal of architectural design that uses the fine artistic elements of sculpture. The Egg houses two

theaters Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

, the 450-seat Lewis A. Swyer Theatre and the 982-seat

Kitty Carlisle Hart Kitty Carlisle Hart (born Catherine Conn; September 3, 1910 – April 17, 2007) was an American stage and screen actress, opera singer, television personality and spokesperson for the arts. She was the leading lady in the Marx Brothers movie '' ...

Theatre.

Programming

In April 1978, the Empire State Youth Theatre Institute became the first resident company. Two years later, The Egg launched its first slate of full cultural programming, with a 10-month season of theatre, dance and other performing arts presentations. In March 1980,

Capital Repertory Theatre Capital Repertory Theatre (also called Capital Rep or simply theREP) is a 309-seat professional regional theatre in Albany, New York. Capital Rep is the only theatre in the Capital District that is a member of the League of Resident Theatres (L ...

debuted at The Egg, with a production of George M. Cohan's ''The Tavern'', starring Court Miller, Sofia Landon Geier,

Patricia Charbonneau Patricia Charbonneau (born April 19, 1959) is an American actress, perhaps best known for playing the part of Cay Rivvers in '' Desert Hearts'' (1985), her first film role, for which she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best F ...

and

Steve Hytner Steve Hytner (; born September 28, 1959) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his role as Kenny Bania on the NBC series ''Seinfeld''. Biography Hytner was born in Brooklyn, New York City, and grew up on Long Island. In 1979, he ...

. Since 1990, the Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company, a

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

performing arts group, has been a resident company. The Egg is also the summer home of the Ajkun Ballet Theatre, a New York City based professional company, since 2000. The venue draws many performing acts to Albany, including music, dance, and traditional stage presentations.

In popular culture

*The Egg is the subject of a song by

They Might Be Giants They Might Be Giants, often abbreviated as TMBG, is an American alternative rock and Children's music, children's band formed in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell. During TMBG's early years, Flansburgh and Linnell frequently performed as ...

, entitled "Albany", which was written for their 2004 ''

Venue Songs ''Venue Songs'' is a 2004 album by the group They Might Be Giants. A live album, it is composed entirely of new songs. At each stop of their 2004 tour, They Might Be Giants wrote, arranged and performed a new song dedicated to that venue. Each so ...

'' compilation album. *In 2013,

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon plays banjo, piano, and guitar. He is a filmmaker ('' Rising Low'', '' Outs ...

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

released a live album titled ''The Egg''. The album was recorded live on December 11, 2011 at The Egg. *The Egg is the setting for indie rock singer-songwriter Mitski's 2021 music video for the single " Working for the Knife". *Notable artists who have performed at The Egg include:

Roger McGuinn James Roger McGuinn (; born James Joseph McGuinn III; July 13, 1942) is an American musician, best known for being the frontman and leader of the Byrds. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991 as a member of the band. As a so ...

Gordon Lightfoot Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023) was a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved worldwide success and helped define the singer-songwriter era of the 1970s. Widely considered one of Canada's greatest songwriters, ...

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan ( ), is an American singer. Known as the " Queen of Funk", her career has spanned more than five decades beginning in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist of ...

Dave Chappelle David Khari Webber Chappelle ( ; born August 24, 1973) is an American stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series ''Chappelle's Show'' (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle ...

Eric Burdon Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer and songwriter. He was previously the lead vocalist of the rhythm and blues, R&B and Rock music, rock band The Animals and the funk band War (band), War. He is regarded as one of the Br ...

Bebel Gilberto Isabel Buarque de Hollanda Gilberto de Oliveira (born May 12, 1966), known as Bebel Gilberto, is an American-born Brazilian people, Brazilian popular singer often associated with bossa nova. She is the daughter of João Gilberto and singer Miú ...

WAR War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...

Boz Scaggs William Royce "Boz" Scaggs (born June 8, 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was a bandmate of Steve Miller (musician), Steve Miller in the Ardells in the early 1960s and a member of the Steve Miller Band from 1967 to 196 ...

King Crimson King Crimson were an English progressive rock band formed in London in 1968 by Robert Fripp, Michael Giles, Greg Lake, Ian McDonald (musician), Ian McDonald and Peter Sinfield. Guitarist Fripp remained the only constant member throughout the ...

Margaret Cho Margaret Moran Cho (born December 5, 1968) is an American stand-up comedian, actress and musician. In her Stand-up comedy, stand-up routines she critiques social and political problems, especially about race and sexuality. She starred in the Ame ...

Buddy Guy George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaug ...

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

Marty Stuart John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country music, country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before be ...

, Brian Regan, the Mark Morris Dance Company,

Guster Guster is an American alternative rock band formed in Somerville, Massachusetts. Founding members Adam Gardner, Ryan Miller, and Brian Rosenworcel began practice sessions while attending Tufts University and formed the band in 1991. The mem ...

, and

New Riders of the Purple Sage New Riders of the Purple Sage is an American country rock band. The group emerged from the psychedelic rock scene in San Francisco in 1969 and its original lineup included several members of the Grateful Dead. The band is sometimes referred to ...

References

External links