The groundbreaking of the Lauren Kennedy and Alan Campbell Theatre was held April 24, and construction is scheduled to begin in early summer. The college is aiming for a summer 2009 completion date.

Campbell and Kennedy, according to a press statement, have "committed their time to support the theatre's educational program through campus visits each year to teach master classes, conduct seminars, and to coach theatre majors." Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy also plans to present some of their summer theatre productions at the new space. Campbell is artistic producer of Hot Summer Nights, the Raleigh-based professional theatre company.

The theatre hopes to raise $1 million to help fund a lighting and sound system, moveable chairs and risers, drapes and set materials and scene-shop tools and equipment.

Alan Campbell, most recently on Broadway in the Tony-winning dance musical Contact, portrayed Joe Gillis in the Los Angeles and Broadway productions of Sunset Boulevard, earning a Tony nomination for his work in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. Campbell has been seen Off-Broadway in Adrift in Macao, Avow and Boogie Woogie, and his screen credits include "Jake and the Fatman," "Three's a Crowd," "Another World," "Matlock" and "Homicide."

Lauren Kennedy — who will be seen in the new musical Vanities, first at the Pasadena Playhouse and then on Broadway in the fall — was most recently seen on the New York stage as the Lady of the Lake in the Tony-winning musical Spamalot. She covered the role of Daisy Hilton in the Broadway production of Side Show and also appeared in the New York companies of Sunset Boulevard and Les Misérables. Kennedy starred in The Rhythm Club and was also a part of the early incarnations of Jason Robert Brown's The Last Five Years, playing the role that would be played Off-Broadway by Sherie Rene Scott, when Kennedy crossed the Atlantic to star in the National Theatre's revival of South Pacific. Kennedy also appeared in The Ten Commandments: The Spectacle Musical, and her solo recordings are titled "The Songs of Jason Robert Brown" and "Here and Now." For more information about the new theatre, contact Carolyn H. Brown, vice president for institutional advancement, at (252) 399-6357 or email [email protected].