On Jan. 31, 2012, the Signature Theatre Company will open its new permanent 70,000 square-foot home at 480 W. 42nd St. between Dyer and Tenth Avenues.

The company's founding artistic director, James Houghton, led a tour of the new space on Thursday, with the theater's architect, Frank Gehry, and members of the media. Playwright John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation, The House of Blue Leaves) spoke before the tour, along with Gehry and Signature Company's executive director Erika Mallin.

The new $66 million space will have three theaters, a studio theater, rehearsal studio and a central plaza containing a public café and bookstore.

Architect Frank Gehry and the Signature Theatre Company's founding artistic director James Houghton. (Photo by Elliott Forrest)Playwright John Guare (Six Degrees of Separation, The House of Blue Leaves) and Signature Theatre Company's founding artistic director James Houghton.