David H. Koch Theater

The David H. Koch Theater is a theater for ballet, modern and other forms of dance, part of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts located at the intersection of Columbus Avenue and 63rd Street in New York City, United States. Originally named the New York State Theater, the venue has been home to the New York City Ballet since its opening in 1964, the secondary venue for the American Ballet Theatre in the fall, and served as home to the New York City Opera from 1964 to 2011. The theater occupies the south side of the main plaza of Lincoln Center, opposite David Geffen Hall.HistoryThe New York State Theater was built with funds from the State of New York as part of New York State's cultural participation in the 1964–1965 World's Fair. The theater was designed by architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee, opened on April 23, 1964. After the Fair, the State transferred ownership of the theater to the City of New York.The City leases the theater to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., which subleases it to City Center of Music and Drama, Inc. (CCMD). The present corporation of CCMD (separate and apart from New York City Center on 55th Street) continues to manage the theater today.Along with the opera and ballet companies, another early tenant of the theater was the now defunct Music Theater of Lincoln Center whose president was composer Richard Rodgers. In the mid 1960s, the company produced fully staged revivals of classic Broadway musicals. These included The King and I; Carousel (with original star, John Raitt); Annie Get Your Gun (revised in 1966 by Irving Berlin for its original star, Ethel Merman); Show Boat; and South Pacific.