Gift sets Lied’s Johnny Carson Theater for renovation

Those visiting the Johnny Carson Theater at the Lied Center for Performing Arts will notice several improvements when its renovation is completed.

Those who attend the more than 100 events held each year in the Johnny Carson Theater at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Lied Center for Performing Arts will notice several improvements to the 23-year-old venue when its renovation is completed next year.

The $571,500 renovation project, including a completely redesigned entrance and lobby and new theater floor, is being made possible with a gift from the John W. Carson Foundation. The university announced the gift made to the University of Nebraska Foundation’s Campaign for Nebraska during a celebration event held at the Carson Theater on April 26.

At the gift announcement, Chancellor Harvey Perlman said UNL is once again honored to receive support from the foundation of the late Johnny Carson, who proudly grew up in Nebraska and graduated from the university.

“As an integral arm of our performing arts program, the Johnny Carson Theater is an important venue that provides our students and Nebraska residents with opportunities to experience many aspects of the performing arts,” Perlman said. “We are incredibly appreciative of this gift, which promises to greatly improve the experience guests will have at the theater while proudly honoring Johnny Carson’s legacy.”

Bill Stephan, executive director of the Lied Center for Performing Arts, said the renovation will provide a new entrance to the theater, nearly double the size of the current lobby area and provide a new high-grade floor to serve the theater for the next 20 years.

“The renovation will provide a dramatic new entrance and appropriate lobby area for the Carson Theater, helping to create an environment that will help patrons begin to experience the ultimate theatrical journey,” Stephan said. “The renovation will also feature a new tribute area to celebrate Johnny Carson’s legacy and entertainment contributions.”

In announcing the gift to the university, members of the John W. Carson Foundation issued a statement saying they are “pleased to continue the legacy of Johnny Carson’s support for the University of Nebraska by making this grant for the renovation of the Johnny Carson Theater.”

The Johnny Carson Theater is a black box theater that seats up to 250 people and is able to be configured for a variety of different performances. The diverse space is host to more than 100 events annually, ranging from professional theater presentations and dance concerts to youth programs and special events. Located on the west side of the Lied Center, the theater was named after Johnny Carson in recognition of a gift he provided toward construction of the Lied Center for Performing Arts in 1990.

Once a project architect is selected, final designs are approved and a construction contractor is hired, the university estimates construction could begin next summer and be completed by the end of 2014.

This latest gift from the John W. Carson Foundation joins other major support from Carson and his foundation, which has bolstered the university’s theater, film and broadcasting education.

In 1978, he established the Johnny Carson Scholarship, a permanently endowed fund to provide awards to Nebraska high school graduates. He made a gift in 1988 to support the construction of the Lied Center for Performing Arts, and the black box theater adjoining the main stage was named the Johnny Carson Theater in his honor.

In 2004, Johnny Carson gave $5.3 million to support theater and film programs at the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and to renovate and expand the university’s Temple Building, home to the theater program and where Carson studied. After Carson’s death on Jan. 23, 2005, the university received a $5 million gift from his estate to create an endowment to permanently support programs in theater, film and broadcasting. In his memory and recognition, the university’s theatre arts department was renamed the Johnny Carson School of Theatre and Film.

The John W. Carson Foundation gave $1 million in 2011 to create the Johnny Carson Opportunity Scholarship Fund, a permanently endowed scholarship fund that provides annual scholarship assistance to students from Nebraska who study within the Carson School of Theatre and Film.

Carson was born in Corning, Iowa, on Oct. 23, 1925, and grew up in Norfolk, Neb. He served in World War II in the Navy as an ensign before enrolling at the University of Nebraska in 1947. He received a bachelor’s degree in radio and speech with a minor in physics in 1949.

He hosted “The Tonight Show” for 30 years, from 1962 to 1992. He earned six Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award and was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received Kennedy Center Honors in 1993.

The University of Nebraska Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization raising private gifts to support the University of Nebraska for more than 75 years. In 2012, donors provided the university with $165 million for scholarships, medical and other research, academic programs, faculty and buildings. All foundation funds are donor designated. The foundation’s comprehensive fundraising campaign, the Campaign for Nebraska, has raised more than $1.2 billion for the university and concludes in 2014.

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