Open Air Theatre & Theatre Garden

tall streams of water shoot into the air out of a fountain during a daytime fountain show
District
House & Theater District
Style
Formal, Historic, Playful
Best Seasons to Visit
Spring, Summer, Autumn
Scale
0.85 Acres

Framed by a canopy of towering trees and clipped arborvitae, this Italian-style outdoor garden theater has come alive with countless performances of every kind since its debut in 1914. When the stage is unoccupied, the show goes on with delightful fountain performances throughout the day. Beneath the stars, the stunning illuminated fountains nestled within the stage create an experience of wonder and awe.

About this Garden

The Open Air Theatre

With a setting that’s impressive in its own right, this grand space is a feat of carefully considered design with thoughtful details. Theater wings tucked into the arborvitae, fountains embedded in the stage, and underground dressing rooms add an element of sophisticated visual drama to this charming performance venue. Top billing also goes to the 750 illuminated jets colorized with 600 lights, which run daily while in season.

The Open Air Theatre has hosted well over 1,500 performances since it opened more than 100 years ago. From musical acts to military bands, guests have enjoyed every imaginable type of production. The venue’s 1,500 seats allow for the comfortable enjoyment of the likes of Martha Graham, Rufus Wainwright, and Wynton Marsalis with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, to name a few. 

Please note: The water features of this garden can be enjoyed from mid-April until early January. 

 

The Theatre Garden

Whether you’re enjoying an intermission or waiting for the show to begin, have a seat and enjoy this striking formal garden. Once known as the Terrace Gardens, today’s Theatre Garden features an eye-catching composition of drought-tolerant plants. Located behind the Open Air Theatre, this area emphasizes sculptural shapes, textural contrasts, and rich foliage. In the early 1970s, a redesign by famed landscape architect Thomas Church aimed to provide an attractive, illuminated evening garden for the patrons of the Open Air Theatre, as well as a stunning entrance to Flower Garden Walk. 

While the structure of this garden still echoes the work of Church, the design reflects a more contemporary approach to planting, featuring hardy, desert-inspired plants in a range of blues and purples, with prominent silver foliage that gives this space an otherworldly feel in the evening. 
 

Stroll Through The Seasons

Fountains shoot into the air from a stage during a daytime fountain show
View of a crowd enjoying a live concert from upstage behind the performers.
A field of green grass and purple flowers fill the area in front of a tall stone building in the background
Pink tulips and other white flowers in the foreground with a brick walkway on the right
Through a curtain of small water streams, a small child reaches their hand into the water
A brick walkway curves through garden beds full of green trees and large orange planters
A crowd sits in front of a stage in the summer time. A symphony orchestra is on the stage.
Small green and orange succulent plants overflow out a small orange pot sitting on a sandy ground
White bell-shaped plants hang from a metal trellis arching over a pathway leading to a pink rose arbor in the distance
A large orange tree stands next to a stone wall that reads Open Air Theatre
A white lit up fountain show on a stage with green hedges lining the side and a large lit up blue tree in the distance

A Bit of History

A line of women dressed in white strike a dance post with one foot in the air and holding hands down the line
Garden Party Performance, 1915.

In 1913, founder Pierre S. du Pont (1870-1954) and his future wife, Alice Belin (1872-1944), traveled to Italy and France and visited a number of villas, including Villa Gori in Siena, Italy. Inspired by what they’d seen, Pierre initiated the design and construction of the Open Air Theatre soon after their return home. At the couple’s annual garden party in 1914, they debuted their new venue to 300 guests, who were treated to dinner and a dance performance that complemented the dynamic, glowing fountains and the sounds of Beethoven. After half a dozen dance performances, harlequins and dancers emerged, frolicking amongst the guests as they threw confetti and garden roses, before disappearing quietly amid the shadows of the surrounding trees. Newspapers reported that the evening was an unequivocal success, comparing it to a scene at Versailles. 

Just two weeks later, Pierre was already planning updates: Water jets and electric lights were added to the stage, along with “secret joke fountains,” inspired by the giochi d’acqua Pierre enjoyed at Villa Gori. Much to the surprise (and delight) of the guests, water would spring to life when they least expected it. Over the years, Pierre continued to evolve the theater, adding underground dressing rooms, colored lights to illuminate the fountains, and a water curtain to hide performers during costume changes. Since its renovation in 1926-27, the Open Air Theatre has undergone relatively little change. 
 

From Our Blog

A Flourish of Fountains

A Flourish of Fountains

By Lynn Schuessler, on June 9, 2017