Veteran Broadway producer Roger S. Berlind has made a $3.5 million gift to Princeton University and neighboring McCarter Theatre. The money goes partly toward construction of a new 350-seat theatre named after Berlind and built as an expansion to the existing McCarter Theatre building. The theatre will be used by both the McCarter, which will increase its number of performances and productions, and Princeton's theatre and dance program.

Architect Hugh Hardy, founder of Hardy Holzman Pfeiffer Associate and in recent years the nation's leading theatrical architect, will design the theatre. Hardy has made news on Broadway will his restorations of 42nd Street's New Victory and New Amsterdam Theatres.

Berlind is no stranger to Princeton. A graduate of the Class of 1952, he has since been a university trustee and, in 1986, established the Roger S. Berlind '52 Professorship in the Humanities. Novelist Joyce Carol Oates currently holds the post. During his collegiate years, Berlind presaged his future in the theatre by composing tunes for the famous Triangle Club. (The McCarter Theatre was originally built in 1930 for use by the Triangle Club.)

Since 1975, Berlind has produced such shows as Death and the Maiden , The Real Thing , Guys and Dolls , Nine , A View from the Bridge , and Amadeus . The last three won Tony Awards.

-- By Robert Simonson