AT&T Performing Arts Center
Encyclopedia
The AT&T Performing Arts Center, preliminarily referred to as the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is a $354 million multi-venue center in the Dallas
Arts District
for performances of opera
, musical theater, classic
and experimental theater, ballet
and other forms of dance
. It opened with a dedication by city leaders on October 12, 2009.
Three major architectural firms Foster and Partners
(based in London), Office for Metropolitan Architecture
(based in Rotterdam
and New York
, and REX
(based in New York) have designed different parts of the Center.
The inaugural 2009-2010 season at the Center had more than 500 performances, including 4 world premieres and featuring actors Billy Crystal
, Frank Langella
and Hilary Swank
, tenors José Carreras
and Ben Heppner
, and jazz greats Ramsey Lewis
and Al Jarreau
, among many others.
The initial campaign began in 2000 with a goal of raising $275 million including forty gifts of $1 million. Only $18 million of the total budget for the project was publicly funded (more than 93% of funding coming from private sources).
In 2002, funding surpassed $100 million. By groundbreaking in 2005 campaign totals exceeded $200 million, including 80 gifts of $1 million or more. In August 2007 The Center raised its 100th gift of $1 million or more, the first campaign for cultural facilities in the history of the United States to do so.
In January 2008, total campaign funding passed the $275 million goal, and the Board of Directors voted to increase the goal to $338 million, adding a second parking garage and other improvements to the Center’s venues.
By August 2008, campaign funding surpassed $326 million—the largest capital campaign for cultural facilities in the history of Dallas and the most successful project of its kind in American history. The board increased the goal to $354 million, and as of May 2009 had raised $335 million.
The two largest gifts came earlier in the campaign: $42 million from Margot and Bill Winspear in 2002 and $20 million from Dee and Charles Wyly and Cheryl and Sam Wyly in 2004. The third largest gift was given in September 2008: a $15 million gift from Sammons Enterprises, Inc. in honor of Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons.
Construction & Dedication
Groundbreaking was November 2005 and dedication was on October 12, 2009 followed by a Grand Opening week with various performances, concerts, and architecture forums. A community open house was held Sunday, October 18, 2009 and featured free outdoor concerts, performance art, family activities and fireworks.
Naming-Rights
On September 15, 2009, AT&T
announced the naming-rights agreement for the performance facility. As part of the deal, The Center will be one of the most technologically advanced performing arts venues in the country, equipped with AT&T Wi-Fi service and complimentary Internet access to patrons. AT&T will also offer unique mobile applications to AT&T wireless subscribers.
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
Arts District
Arts District, Dallas
The Arts District is a performing and visual arts district in downtown Dallas Texas .It is south of State Thomas, southeast of Uptown, north of the City Center District, west of Bryan Place and east of the West End Historic District. It is bounded by St...
for performances of opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, musical theater, classic
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
and experimental theater, ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
and other forms of dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
. It opened with a dedication by city leaders on October 12, 2009.
Three major architectural firms Foster and Partners
Foster and Partners
Foster + Partners is an architectural firm based in London. The practice is led by its founder and Chairman, Norman Foster, and has constructed many high-profile glass-and-steel buildings....
(based in London), Office for Metropolitan Architecture
Office for Metropolitan Architecture
OMA , is a Rotterdam based architecture firm of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas.The firm was founded in 1975 by Rem Koolhaas and Elia Zenghelis with Madelon Vriesendorp and Zoe Zenghelis.-History:...
(based in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and REX
Rex Architecture P.C.
REX Architecture P.C. is the architecture and design firm of American architect Joshua Prince-Ramus based in New York City. Prince-Ramus serves as the firm’s Principal....
(based in New York) have designed different parts of the Center.
Performance Venues
The AT&T Performing Arts Center includes four venues and an urban park:- Margot and Bill Winspear Opera HouseMargot and Bill Winspear Opera HouseThe Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House is an opera house located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas ....
, named for Margot and Bill Winspear, who donated $42 million to the Center, is a 2,200 seat opera house (with capacity up to 2,300) and the new venue for the Dallas OperaDallas OperaThe Dallas Opera is an opera company located in Dallas, Texas . The company was founded in 1957 as the Dallas Civic Opera by Laurence Kelly and Nicolà Rescigno, both of whom had been active with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the first as administrator, the second as artistic director.-The company's...
and Texas Ballet TheaterTexas Ballet TheaterThe Texas Ballet Theater was founded by Margo Dean in 1961 as the Fort Worth Ballet, in Fort Worth, Texas. It became a professional ballet company in 1985. In 1988 the company began adding performances in Dallas. It became the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet in 1994, then was renamed Texas Ballet Theater...
. - Dee and Charles Wyly TheatreDee and Charles Wyly TheatreThe Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre is a theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas . It is one of four venues that comprise the AT&T Performing Arts Center and was dedicated October 12, 2009. The 80,300-square-footbuilding is twelve stories and...
, named for Dee and Charles Wyly, who donated $20 million to the Center, is a twelve story building containing 80300 sq ft (7,460.1 m²) of space. The theatre holds about 600 people, depending upon the stage configuration and is the new home for the Dallas Theater CenterDallas Theater CenterThe Dallas Theater Center is a major regional theater in Dallas, Texas . It produces classic, contemporary and new plays. The theater was based in the Kalita Humphreys Theater, a building designed by famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, from 1959 to 2009...
, Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico. - City Performance HallCity Performance HallThe Dallas City Performance Hall will be a performing arts venue located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas . Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP in collaboration with the Architect of Record, , and constructed by the , the City Performance Hall will be built in two phases...
will provide performance spaces for many smaller performing arts organizations, and it will include a "black box" theater and a chamber music hall designed with flexible seating of about 750, plus another two, 200 seat theatres. - The redesigned Annette Strauss SquareAnnette Strauss SquareAnnette Strauss Square is an outdoor performance facility in the AT&T Performing Arts Center, located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas . It is the city's premier outdoor performing arts venue and a defining feature of the Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park...
is an outdoor performance space with lawn seating for 2,500. - The Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons ParkElaine D. and Charles A. Sammons ParkThe Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park will be a public park in the new AT&T Performing Arts Center, located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, Texas...
, named for Sammons Enterprises, Inc., who donated $15 million to the Center, is an 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) urban park unifying the venues. Designed by Michel Desvign of Paris with JJR, Sammons Park is the most significant public park in downtown Dallas.
Programming and Resident Companies
The AT&T Performing Arts Center provides homes for five resident companies: The Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center, Texas Ballet Theater, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, and Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico. In addition, the Center will also produce original programming and partner with local and national organizations to present a wide range of cultural performances, including music, dance, Broadway shows, concerts and lectures.The inaugural 2009-2010 season at the Center had more than 500 performances, including 4 world premieres and featuring actors Billy Crystal
Billy Crystal
William Edward "Billy" Crystal is an American actor, writer, producer, comedian and film director. He gained prominence in the 1970s for playing Jodie Dallas on the ABC sitcom Soap and became a Hollywood film star during the late 1980s and 1990s, appearing in the critical and box office successes...
, Frank Langella
Frank Langella
-Early life:Langella, an Italian American, was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of Angelina and Frank A. Langella Sr., a business executive who was the president of the Bayonne Barrel and Drum Company. Langella attended Washington Elementary School and Bayonne High School in Bayonne...
and Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank
Hilary Ann Swank is an American actress. Swank's film career began with a small part in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then a major part in The Next Karate Kid , as Julie Pierce, the first female protégé of sensei Mr. Miyagi...
, tenors José Carreras
José Carreras
Josep Maria Carreras i Coll , better known as José Carreras , is a Spanish Catalan tenor particularly known for his performances in the operas of Verdi and Puccini...
and Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner
Ben Heppner, CC is a Canadian tenor, specializing in opera and other classical works for voice.Heppner was born in Murrayville, British Columbia, and lived in Dawson Creek...
, and jazz greats Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Lewis
Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received seven gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career.-Biography:...
and Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
, among many others.
History
FundraisingThe initial campaign began in 2000 with a goal of raising $275 million including forty gifts of $1 million. Only $18 million of the total budget for the project was publicly funded (more than 93% of funding coming from private sources).
In 2002, funding surpassed $100 million. By groundbreaking in 2005 campaign totals exceeded $200 million, including 80 gifts of $1 million or more. In August 2007 The Center raised its 100th gift of $1 million or more, the first campaign for cultural facilities in the history of the United States to do so.
In January 2008, total campaign funding passed the $275 million goal, and the Board of Directors voted to increase the goal to $338 million, adding a second parking garage and other improvements to the Center’s venues.
By August 2008, campaign funding surpassed $326 million—the largest capital campaign for cultural facilities in the history of Dallas and the most successful project of its kind in American history. The board increased the goal to $354 million, and as of May 2009 had raised $335 million.
The two largest gifts came earlier in the campaign: $42 million from Margot and Bill Winspear in 2002 and $20 million from Dee and Charles Wyly and Cheryl and Sam Wyly in 2004. The third largest gift was given in September 2008: a $15 million gift from Sammons Enterprises, Inc. in honor of Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons.
Construction & Dedication
Groundbreaking was November 2005 and dedication was on October 12, 2009 followed by a Grand Opening week with various performances, concerts, and architecture forums. A community open house was held Sunday, October 18, 2009 and featured free outdoor concerts, performance art, family activities and fireworks.
Naming-Rights
On September 15, 2009, AT&T
AT&T
AT&T Inc. is an American multinational telecommunications corporation headquartered in Whitacre Tower, Dallas, Texas, United States. It is the largest provider of mobile telephony and fixed telephony in the United States, and is also a provider of broadband and subscription television services...
announced the naming-rights agreement for the performance facility. As part of the deal, The Center will be one of the most technologically advanced performing arts venues in the country, equipped with AT&T Wi-Fi service and complimentary Internet access to patrons. AT&T will also offer unique mobile applications to AT&T wireless subscribers.