Denver Center for the Performing Arts

Last updated
The exterior of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in 2009 Denver Center for the Performing Arts (4130191875).jpg
The exterior of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in 2009

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts(DCPA) is an organization in Denver, Colorado which provides a showcase for live theatre, a nurturing ground for new plays, a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit, acting classes for the community and rental facilities. It was founded in 1972.

Contents

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is the largest tenant of the Denver Performing Arts Complex (Arts Complex) which is a four-block, 12-acre (49,000 m2) site containing ten performance spaces with over 10,000 seats. It is owned and partially operated by Arts and Venues Denver.

History

Both the DCPA and the Arts Complex were the vision of Donald Seawell. Finding himself at 14th and Curtis streets in downtown Denver one day and looking at the old Auditorium Theatre and the surrounding four blocks, Seawell had an idea for a first-class arts complex. Seawell's original vision was much broader and included other entities (see Previous Entities below) that no longer are part of the Center.

Ground was broken in December 1974. By 1978 Boettcher Concert Hall — the nation's first in-the-round concert hall — was completed, along with an eight-story, 1,700-space parking garage. By 1979 the Auditorium Theatre had been renovated, creating the state-of-the-art Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Inside the auditorium, two cabaret spaces had been added. The Helen G. Bonfils Theatre Complex opened with four theatres now known as The Wolf, The Singleton, The Kilstrom, and The Jones theatres.

The Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre was completed in 1991, the Seawell Grand Ballroom was added in 1998, and The Weeks Conservatory Theatre opened in 2002.

The Ellie Caulkins Opera House was completely renovated in 2005.

Venues

  1. Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre — 2,880 seats
  2. Ellie Caulkins Opera House — 2,225 seats
  3. Seawell Ballroom — 1,095 capacity
  4. Wolf Theatre — 610 seats
  5. Kilstrom Theatre — 380 seats
  6. Singleton Theatre — 200 seats
  7. Garner Galleria Theatre — 210 seats
  8. Jones Theatre — 200 seats
  9. Weeks Conservatory Theatre — 185 seats

Governance

Now led by President & CEO Janice Sinden, The Denver Center for the Performing Arts is currently[ when? ] the largest tenant of the Denver Performing Arts Complex. The Denver Center organizes, oversees, and presents work by the following entities:

Events

World Theatre Festival, 1982

The World Theatre Festival was held at the center in July 1982. [2] The festival (which had been held in Baltimore previously, known as the International Theater Festival [3] ) comprised a program of 114 performances of 18 plays, by theatre companies from 13 countries, across 25 days. [4] It was organized by Al Kraizer, upon request by the city. [5] The trademark for the event was abandoned after a year. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Conservatory Theater</span> Theater company and historic place in San Francisco, California

The American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a nonprofit theater company in San Francisco, California, United States, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. It also has an attached acting school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Straz Center for the Performing Arts</span>

The Straz Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts venue in Tampa, Florida, United States. It opened in 1987 as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, and was renamed in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denver Performing Arts Complex</span> Entertainment complex in Colorado, U.S.

Opera Colorado is an opera company located in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1981, it presents an annual season of three to four fully staged productions. Its primary performance venue is the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.

Denver Auditorium Arena was an indoor arena located at the corner of 13th and Champa Streets in Denver, Colorado. It was constructed as the Denver Municipal Auditorium in 1908 during the administration of Mayor Robert W. Speer. The building was opened on July 7, 1908, and was the site of the 1908 Democratic National Convention.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Globe Theatre</span> San Diego theater

The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which is collectively called the Simon Edison Centre for the Performing Arts:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Convention Center</span> Convention Center

The Colorado Convention Center (CCC) is a multi-purpose convention center located in Downtown Denver, Colorado. At 2,200,000 square feet it is currently the 12th largest convention center in the United States. It opened in June 1990; the first event being the NBA draft for the Denver Nuggets. The convention center was expanded in 2004 to include several meeting rooms, two ballrooms and an indoor amphitheater. Since opening, the center hosts an average of around 400 events per year. Centrally located in the city, it has become one of Denver's many landmarks due to its architecture and is adjacent to the Denver Performing Arts Complex and is just blocks away from the Colorado State Capitol, Auraria Campus and the 16th Street Mall. The CCC is directly served via light rail by RTD's Theatre District–Convention Center station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center</span>

Blumenthal Performing Arts is a non-profit, multi-venue performing arts complex located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It opened in 1992 and is named in honor of the people of the state of North Carolina and the Blumenthal Foundation established by I.D. Blumenthal who founded RSC Brands, the largest private donor to the capital campaign. The idea for the center dates back to the late 1970s. Momentum for the project grew in the 1980s resulting in a $15 million allocation from the state of North Carolina, approval of a $15 million bond by the citizens of Charlotte and an additional $32 million contributed by individuals, corporations and foundations. In 1987 the Belk Brothers donated a valuable piece of land as the site of the new theatre complex. Total construction cost for the Blumenthal Center was over $62 million.

<i>Quilters</i> (musical)

Quilters is a musical with a book by Molly Newman and Barbara Damashek, and lyrics and music by Barbara Damashek. It is about the lives of American pioneer women based on the book The Quilters: Women and Domestic Art by Patricia Cooper and Norma Bradley Allen. The show was originally developed and produced by the Denver Center Theater Company, Brockman Seawell, executive producer. It had a brief run on Broadway in 1984.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald Seawell</span> American publisher

Donald Ray Seawell was an American cultural and civic leader, born in Jonesboro, North Carolina. He was the founder of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus</span> Gay mens chorus in Atlanta, Georgia, US

The Atlanta Gay Men's Chorus (AGMC) is a nonprofit performing arts organization based in Atlanta, Georgia (US). The AGMC, along with the Atlanta Women's Chorus, are managed under their parent organization, Voices of Note.

Karen Mason is an American musical theatre actress and singer. She has appeared on stage in Broadway theatre, notably as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, and is a multiple award-winning cabaret performer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Theatre Conservatory</span>

The National Theatre Conservatory was a three-year graduate acting school that in its last three decades was part of the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Founded in 1935 in New York as the only congressionally chartered MFA program in U.S. history.

Eleanor Caulkins is a patron of the arts known as the First Lady of Opera in Denver, Colorado. Caulkins is the namesake of the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, the second largest performing arts center in the world. In 2011, Opera America awarded her their National Opera Trustee Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Helen Bonfils</span> American heiress, actress, theatrical producer, newspaper executive and philanthropist

Helen Gilmer Bonfils was an American heiress, actress, theatrical producer, newspaper executive, and philanthropist. She acted in local theatre in Denver, Colorado, and on Broadway, and also co-produced plays in Denver, New York City, and London. She succeeded her father, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, as manager of The Denver Post in 1933, and eventually became president of the company. Lacking heirs, she invested her fortune into providing for the city of Denver and the state of Colorado, supporting the Belle Bonfils Blood Bank, the Bonfils Memorial Theatre, the University of Denver, the Denver Zoo, the Dumb Friends League, churches, and synagogues. Her estate endowed the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. She was posthumously inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame in 1985 and the Colorado Performing Arts Hall of Fame in 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonfils Memorial Theatre</span> United States historic place

Bonfils Memorial Theatre, also known as Lowenstein Theatre, was a community theatre in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Denver, Colorado, which operated from 1953 to 1986. Built by Denver philanthropist Helen Bonfils in memory of her parents, Frederick Gilmer Bonfils and Belle Barton Bonfils, it staged plays, operas, concerts, films, lectures, and television shows, presenting more than 400 productions. In 1985 it was renamed the Lowenstein Theatre in honor of its longtime producer, Henry Lowenstein. The theatre closed in 1986 and sat vacant for two decades. It was purchased in 2005 by Charles Woolley of the St. Charles Town Company, which renovated and reopened the building in 2006 as a Tattered Cover bookstore. The theatre building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

  1. ↑ Weber, Bruce. "Israel Hicks, Director of August Wilson’s Cycle, Dies at 66", The New York Times , July 7, 2010. Accessed July 8, 2010.
  2. ↑ "The Script Was in Serbo-Croatian". Washington Post . 31 August 1982. Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  3. ↑ "International Theater Festival". The Washington Post . May 31, 1981. Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  4. ↑ Schmidt, William E. (27 July 1982). "Baltimore's World Theater (sic) Festival blooms anew in Denver". The New York Times . Retrieved 11 December 2021.
  5. ↑ Schmidt, William E. (July 27, 1982). "Baltimore's World Theater Festival blooms anew in Denver". The New York Times . Retrieved December 11, 2021.
  6. ↑ "The World Theatre Festival Trademark of The Denver Center For The Performingarts, Inc. - Serial Number 73400547". Alter. 22 October 1982. Retrieved 14 December 2021.

39°44′41″N104°59′55″W / 39.744623°N 104.998476°W / 39.744623; -104.998476

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.