Miller Auditorium
Encyclopedia
James W. Miller Auditorium is a performance venue at Western Michigan University
in Kalamazoo, Michigan
, USA. It opened on January 12, 1968, with a ceremony that included WMU's third president, James W. Miller, for whom the auditorium was later renamed.
With a seating capacity
of 3,497, Miller Auditorium is the fourth-largest auditorium in Michigan
, after the Fox Theatre
, Masonic Temple
and Hill Auditorium
.
Miller Auditorium has three separate seating sections, the Orchestra level, the Grand Tier level and the Balcony level. Each seating level is divided into two seating areas: left and right. Miller Auditorium employs students from the University, some as part of Work Study. The performances are also staffed in large part by volunteers from the community known as the Usher Corps.
Miller Auditorium is host to several kinds of performances. A Western Michigan University student organization known as the Campus Activities Board (CAB) brings in several performances each year, usually offering a discounted price for students. The CAB events run the gamut from Miller Movies (newer movies, generally costing $1 with student ID) to comedians and other speakers. The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
routinely plays shows throughout the year at Miller. Several Broadway
shows come through Miller's doors every year, the likes of which have included: The Phantom of the Opera
, Chicago
, Stomp
and Beauty and the Beast
. Miller has also hosted Bob Dylan
, Bruce Springsteen
, Jeff Corwin
, Dave Chappelle
, Colin Mochrie
and Brad Sherwood
.
Every year, Miller Auditorium is also host to the three Western Michigan University commencement ceremonies, in addition to hosting ceremonies for the local community college and various secondary schools in the area. The auditorium is available for rent by groups community.
Western Michigan University
Western Michigan University is a public university located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States. The university was established in 1903 by Dwight B. Waldo, and as of the Fall 2010 semester, its enrollment is 25,045....
in Kalamazoo, Michigan
Kalamazoo, Michigan
The area on which the modern city stands was once home to Native Americans of the Hopewell culture, who migrated into the area sometime before the first millennium. Evidence of their early residency remains in the form of a small mound in downtown's Bronson Park. The Hopewell civilization began to...
, USA. It opened on January 12, 1968, with a ceremony that included WMU's third president, James W. Miller, for whom the auditorium was later renamed.
With a seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of 3,497, Miller Auditorium is the fourth-largest auditorium in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, after the Fox Theatre
Fox Theatre (Detroit)
The Fox Theatre is an ornate performing arts center located at 2211 Woodward Avenue in downtown Detroit, Michigan, near Grand Circus Park. It was originally completed in 1928 as the first movie palace in the world to have sound systems for films. It was listed on the National Register of Historic...
, Masonic Temple
Detroit Masonic Temple
The Detroit Masonic Temple is the world's largest Masonic Temple. Located in the Cass Corridor of Detroit, Michigan, at 500 Temple Street, the building serves as a home to various masonic organizations including the York Rite Sovereign College of North America. The Masonic Temple Theatre is a venue...
and Hill Auditorium
Hill Auditorium
Hill Auditorium is the largest performance venue on the University of Michigan campus, in Ann Arbor, USA. The auditorium was named in honor of Arthur Hill , who served as a regent of the university from 1901 to 1909. He bequeathed $200,000 to the university for the construction of a venue for...
.
Miller Auditorium has three separate seating sections, the Orchestra level, the Grand Tier level and the Balcony level. Each seating level is divided into two seating areas: left and right. Miller Auditorium employs students from the University, some as part of Work Study. The performances are also staffed in large part by volunteers from the community known as the Usher Corps.
Miller Auditorium is host to several kinds of performances. A Western Michigan University student organization known as the Campus Activities Board (CAB) brings in several performances each year, usually offering a discounted price for students. The CAB events run the gamut from Miller Movies (newer movies, generally costing $1 with student ID) to comedians and other speakers. The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra
The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1921 and is now the third largest professional orchestra in Michigan. During the 2005–2006 concert season, the orchestra played for more than 100,000 people in more than 30 concerts...
routinely plays shows throughout the year at Miller. Several Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows come through Miller's doors every year, the likes of which have included: The Phantom of the Opera
The Phantom of the Opera (1986 musical)
The Phantom of the Opera is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the French novel Le Fantôme de l'Opéra by Gaston Leroux.The music was composed by Lloyd Webber, and most lyrics were written by Charles Hart, with additional lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. Alan Jay Lerner was an early collaborator,...
, Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
, Stomp
Stomp (dance troupe)
Stomp is a percussion group that uses the body and ordinary objects to create a physical theatre performance.-History and performances:...
and Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast (musical)
Beauty and the Beast is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and a book by Linda Woolverton, based on the 1991 Disney film of the same name. Seven new songs were written for the stage musical...
. Miller has also hosted Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
, Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
, Jeff Corwin
Jeff Corwin
Jeffrey Scott Corwin is an American animal and nature conservationist, best known as host and executive producer of Animal Planet cable channel television programs, The Jeff Corwin Experience and Corwin's Quest.-Early years:...
, Dave Chappelle
Dave Chappelle
David Khari Webber "Dave" Chappelle is an American comedian, screenwriter, television/film producer, actor, and artist. Chappelle began his film career in the film Robin Hood: Men in Tights in 1993 and continued to star in minor roles in the films The Nutty Professor, Con Air, and Blue Streak. His...
, Colin Mochrie
Colin Mochrie
Colin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish Canadian actor and improvisational comedian, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.-Early life:...
and Brad Sherwood
Brad Sherwood
Bradley "Brad" Sherwood is an American actor and comedian. He has worked in entertainment as an actor, comedian, singer, writer, and producer.- Early life and career:...
.
Every year, Miller Auditorium is also host to the three Western Michigan University commencement ceremonies, in addition to hosting ceremonies for the local community college and various secondary schools in the area. The auditorium is available for rent by groups community.