In past lives, it had been the Colonial Music Hall where Fred and Adele Astaire danced and Charles Chaplin was introduced to American audiences, the New Colonial where "The Charleston" bowed in a 1923 show called Runnin' Wild, the Harkness Theatre where The Acting Company performed and So Long, 174th Street premiered, and the Harmony Atrium which boasted a rock-climbing wall.

Now, as part of Lincoln Center's 50th anniversary flourish, it is the Rubenstein Atrium where it will be possible to purchase day-of discount tickets to any of the 12 resident organizations that comprise the Lincoln Center complex and where, every Thursday, free classical and pop concerts will be provided, courtesy of Target stores.

Lincoln Center president Reynold Levy announced that the new civic space and urban arts oasis will officially open Dec. 17, followed on Jan. 7 by the kickoff of an unprecedented discount ticket program designed to fill 2,200 seats in the complex.

Bernadette Peters, a resident of the area for some 20 years, stepped up to the podium and figuratively sang the praises of the arts complex where she has liberally sampled the theatre and the opera and the dance that it has provided. "Virtually, Lincoln Center has been inspiring me my whole career," she declared.

— Harry Haun