AT&T Performing Arts Center
The AT&T Performing Arts Center in Dallas, Texas, 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, Office for Metropolitan Architecture, and REX each designed portions of the center.
Performance venues
The AT&T Performing Arts Center includes four venues and an urban park:- Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, named for Margot and Bill Winspear, who donated $42 million to the center, is a 2,200 seat opera house and the new venue for the Dallas Opera and Texas Ballet Theater.
- Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, named for Dee and Charles Wyly, who donated $20 million to the center, is a twelve-story building containing of space. The theatre holds about 600 people, depending upon the stage configuration and is the new home for the Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico.
- The redesigned Annette Strauss Square is an outdoor performance space with lawn seating for 2,500.
- The Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park, named for Sammons Enterprises, Inc., who donated $15 million to the center, is a urban park unifying the venues. Designed by Michel Desvigne of Paris with JJR, Sammons Park was the most significant public park in downtown Dallas until the 2012 debut of Klyde Warren Park.
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. SHN consults with the center on its Broadway series.In its inaugural 2009–2010 season at the center hosted more than 500 performances, including four world premieres, with performers Billy Crystal, Frank Langella, Hilary Swank, tenors José Carreras and Ben Heppner, jazz greats Ramsey Lewis, Al Jarreau and many others.
History
Fundraising
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.In January 2008, campaign funding reached $275 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.