Everything is bigger in Texas, including new Dallas arts venue

The eyes of Texas will be upon the Big D next month during the opening of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, a $354-million complex for music, theater and dance. [Updated at 9:36 a.m. PDT, Sept. 15: The center will be renamed the AT&T Performing Arts Center to acknowledge a sponsorship agreement, officials announced .]

The center, which will open in downtown Dallas on Oct. 12, will provide new state-of-the-art homes for companies such as the Dallas Opera, Dallas Theater Center and Texas Ballet Theater. The new venues will be woven together by a 10-acre pubic park.

A week of opening celebrations will christen the center with concerts, public art installations, outdoor performances, architecture forums and contemporary dance.

During the complex’s first season, more than 500 productions will be staged, with four world premieres planned. Among the well-known performers who will appear are actors Billy Crystal, Frank Langella and Hilary Swank; tenors Jose Carreras and Ben Heppner; and jazz greats Ramsey Lewis and Al Jarreau.

“Our inaugural season will bring together so many remarkable talents from across the arts - and from across the world,” said Mark Nerenhausen, president and chief executive of the center.

The center is comprised of the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, the City Performance Hall, the Annette Strauss Artist Square and Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park.

Contact: Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, (214) 880-0202.

— Rosemary McClure, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: Detail view of the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House, one of the new venues that form the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts; Credit: Tim Hursley]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 at 5:57 am by Rosemary McClure and is filed under Arts & Culture, News, Tips & Advice, Southern States, Texas. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.