AT&T Performing Arts Center Grand Opening Events

World Premieres and World-Renowned Artists Mark Inaugural Season at At & T Center for the Performing Arts
Grand Opening Celebration: October 12 – 18, 2009

 The members of Corporate Concierge, Inc. are excited about the  new AT&T Performing Arts Center, which begins October 12, 2009, will include more than 500 different productions of theatre, opera, contemporary dance, ballet, music, and other events. It is most significant new performing arts complex to be built since New York City’s Lincoln Center.  The new AT & T Center for the Performing Arts will be  the cultural center for  Dallas, North Texas and beyond. Events at the Center will include performances by its five resident companies, acclaimed touring productions, and the Center’s own original programming. The inaugural season kicks off with four world premieres and will feature such accomplished actors as Billy Crystal, Frank Langella and Hilary Swank, tenors José Carreras and Ben Heppner, and jazz greats Ramsey Lewis and Al Jarreau.

The  AT&T Performing Arts Center’s new state-of-the-art venues provide homes for five resident companies: The Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Texas Ballet Theater, and Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico. The Center will also partner with local and national organizations to present a wide range of cultural performances, including music, dance, Broadway shows, concerts and lectures. TITAS, which has brought the world’s finest dance, music and performing artists to Dallas for more than 25 years, will be the Center’s resident fine arts presenter. 

Grand Opening Celebrations

The AT&T Performing Arts Center kicks off its 2009-2010 season with a series of performances to inaugurate its new venues, October 12 – 18. Grand Opening celebrations will include outdoor concerts, architectural forums, and tours, all free and open to the public. A special community open house will take place on Sunday, October 18^thwith free performances from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m in the Wyly Theatre and Winspear Opera House, and in the Center’s Sammons Park.  In addition, the Center’s evening fundraising events will feature performances by renowned opera singers Denyce Graves and Thomas Hampson, the world premiere of new contemporary dance from Morphoses, choreographed by Christopher Wheelden, and a salute to Broadway featuring Tony Award-winning artists Patti LuPone and Kristin Chenoweth.

 Schedule of Grand Opening Events 

Oct. 12, 8 a.m.          Public Dedication Ceremony          
Oct. 15, 4 p.m.          Free architectural forum with Rem Koolhaas                           
Oct. 15 – 17               “Act III” Fundraising Events

Act  III premieres extraordinary venues with a series of once-in-a-lifetime performances. Created exclusively for the grand opening of the center. Order your tickets.

• In the Wyly Theatre, the Center will showcase a series of vignettes with multiple Tony Award-winning artists directed by James Lapine, winner of three Drama Desk Awards and the Pulitzer Prize. In the Winspear Opera House, it will present an evening with opera singers Denyce Graves and Thomas Hampson as well as a world-premiere dance by Christopher Wheeldon/Morphoses. The series concludes with a salute to Broadway in the Winspear Opera House, directed by John Doyle featuring Tony Award-winning artists Patti LuPone, Kristin Chenoweth, George Hearn, and Kiril Kulish.
• Free architectural forum with Norman Foster                           Oct. 16, 10 a.m.
• Free architectural forum with Joshua Prince-Ramus                 October 16, 2 p.m.
• Free outdoor jazz concert featuring David Sanborn                    Oct. 16, 4 p.m.
• Spotlight Sunday                                                                        Oct. 18, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Free and open to the public, the day will include free tours and “spotlight” performances in each venue featuring flutist Nestor Torres as well as Ellis Hall and Eden Espinosa, outdoor concerts, outdoor performance art by Mass Ensemble and Anti-Gravity, Dallas Symphony Orchestra performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony conducted by Jaap Van Zweden (at the Meyerson Symphony Center) and various family-oriented activities, including fireworks.   

Facts About the AT&T Performing Arts Center

• The Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, designed in a modern horseshoe configuration, will seat 2,200 (with capacity up to 2,300), designed by Foster + Partners.
• The Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre will serve as a gateway to the Dallas Arts District from the downtown Dallas business center and will seat 600, designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus (partner in charge) and Rem Koolhaas.
• The completely new Annette Strauss Artist Square will be the Center’s outdoor entertainment venue, which can accommodate audiences of up to 5,000, designed by Foster + Partners.
• The City Performance Hall will provide main stage production space for many of Dallas’ smaller performing arts organizations, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.
• The Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park will unify the venues and will create a dynamic cultural destination in downtown Dallas.
• Two underground parking structures will accommodate more than 850 vehicles.

More information on the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts is available at www.dallasperformingarts.org.