Symphony Space, the quirky performing arts venue on the Upper West Side of Manhattan known for its annual Bloomsday celebration of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” is about to undergo a $45 million overhaul.
When the venue reopens in 2028, after a 15-month closure that begins at the end of this year, an updated version of its signature metal marquee will hang above Broadway again. But the interior will be completely renovated, and its many eccentricities addressed, in time for its 50th anniversary.
Both of Symphony Space’s theaters, the Peter Jay Sharp and Leonard Nimoy Thalia, will be refurbished, with better acoustics and permanent seating. The steel doors that mark the entryway will be removed to open up an expanded lobby, and both a classroom and a gallery will add options for programming spaces.
“We can’t go up and we can’t go out,” Kathy Landau, who has been the executive director since 2016, said. “So it’s how do we use every inch of space we have to serve more programs for people across the spectrum from our education programs to our artists in residence programs?”
The founding of Symphony Space was rooted in a daylong dance party nearly 50 years ago. In 1978, Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, the two founders, opened the doors to what was then a decrepit theater and invited in friends and neighbors for a free 12-hour Bach music marathon. One of Symphony Space’s current board members passed a hat for donations and another was inspired to volunteer after the line was too long to make it into the venue.
Music marathons have become a regular event, with daylong “Wall to Wall” tributes to Stevie Wonder, Prince and Quincy Jones. A few years after Miller and Sheffer opened Symphony Space, another cornerstone of content was developed: “Selected Shorts,” in which actors read the works of both well-known and emerging writers. The live event has since evolved into a public radio show, podcast and touring production.
But most of Symphony Space’s programming — which covers all disciplines from music and film to literature and comedy — is a one-night only, had-to-be-there event, with an average ticket price of $35.
Meg Wolitzer, the author (“The Interestings,” “The Female Persuasion”) and host of the “Selected Shorts” podcast, remembered attending a screening of Ingmar Bergman’s “Scenes From a Marriage” at the Thalia movie theater, well before she became embedded in Symphony Space’s programming. In the years since, she has become both a participant onstage and patron in the audience — as emcee of an 80th birthday party for Judy Blume and as a companion to her grandson for a Paper Bag Players show.
“It exposes its audiences to so many kinds of art,” she said. “There’s something about it happening right in front of you and knowing people around you. Then you can talk, people talk about it as they leave the theater and go out into the street.”
Both theaters are small, creating intimacy, she said.
“Anything can happen,” she said. “There’s that feeling onstage, and that’s been so exciting.”
But in an antiquated building defined by steel grates and concrete walls, Wolitzer’s sentiment can also be more literal.
Last year, the season of “Selected Shorts” opened with Blume as the host. She took the stage to roaring applause and quieted down the crowd to get started, Landau said. The flush from the toilets in the back of the theater filled the silence.
Powerfully loud plumbing is one of many idiosyncrasies that Landau and her staff have learned to work around. The floor of the Peter Jay Sharp Theater slopes upward because of pipes beneath the floor from its former life as an ice-skating rink. Balcony seats are affixed to steps, replacing the bleachers from that rink and the boxing ring that followed. Some seats are situated behind concrete pillars, and others are accessible only by stairs.
In the summer, large tubes are snaked through the windows and hallways to provide some air conditioning (as the current system frequently breaks down). Landau has stood in knee-deep water during a flood and under an umbrella indoors after a leak. Downstairs, in the original Thalia movie theater, duct tape lines the floor and folding chairs are put to good use.
“Literally, every system in this building is at the end of its useful life,” Landau said.
Still, the venue’s limitations have not slowed down the organization, which held 150 of its own events last year. At a recent Tony Trischka concert, Steve Martin and Béla Fleck, joined him onstage with their banjos. Next month, Percival Everett will discuss his novel “James,” for the Thalia book club and in May, Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin will be in conversation together.
But in recent years, Landau said Symphony Space has had to spend $1.5 million on temporary fixes to the boiler, pipes and electrical issues, among other issues.
“The building is our greatest financial liability and programmatic limit at the same time,” Landau said.
The last time Symphony Space was renovated was in 2002, when “shabby charm” turned sleek, according to The New York Times. Back then, nearly $24 million went to two new theaters (with a larger movie screen), offices, a cafe and more showers and toilets for performers where there had been only one.
Conversations about the coming overhaul began in 2019, before they were put on pause because of the coronavirus pandemic. Symphony Space transitioned its programming online, then slowly welcomed back live audiences in 2021 after a 20-month closure.
In 2023, the board decided to revisit the plans and launch an effort to finance both a renovation and a “program innovation fund.” Symphony Space has raised nearly $37 million of the total $45 million budget. Landau said a $5 million gift from an anonymous donor kick-started the campaign, with a commitment of $15.5 million more from the city and $6.7 million from the state. The rest has come from donations and foundation support.
For the remaining funds, Symphony Space is hoping to line up some other seven-figure gifts. “I always joke, there are lots of naming opportunities,” Landau said.
While the doors are closed on the Upper West Side, Symphony Space plans to take its programming to all five boroughs with pop-up performances and partnerships with other organizations. As a result, the hope is that the reopening will attract an expanded audience, Landau said.
“We love the idea of taking our show on the road. It’s New York, this wonderful sort of amalgamation of neighborhoods, and we are multidisciplinary, we are multigenerational, we are multicultural,” Landau said.
In the meantime, though, a jackhammer will tear up the worn concrete stairs and workers will remove the metal grates that cover the box office. Soon, patrons on the street will be able to see into the venue through large windows and the lobby will open beyond its current space, which is boxed in by steel doors.
The first time patrons were invited into Symphony Space, the concept was simple: Throw open the doors. When it reopens, Landau plans to do the same each month. The first Friday will offer a lineup of free programming and the second Saturday will adapt that for family audiences.
Michaela Towfighi is a Times arts and culture reporter and a member of the 2025-26 Times Fellowship class, a program for early career journalists.
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