The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is located in Downtown Las Vegas's 61-acre Symphony Park and is a five-acre, world-class performing arts center consisting of three theaters in two buildings; groundbreaking for the $470 million project was May 26, 2009.The Art Deco design style was chosen to echo the design elements of another architectural tour de force in Nevada, the Hoover Dam, just 30 miles to the southeast. The center features a 17-story carillon tower containing 47 bells and is the first performing arts center in the nation to be Gold LEED certified. It opened on March 10, 2012.
Prior to The Smith Center opening, Las Vegas was one of the largest
cities in the country without a performing arts center. Some highly
customized production shows and venues have long existed at various
resorts on the Las Vegas Strip
but none were geared towards the variety of performances that a stand
alone center would provide, such as that required for touring Broadway
productions or major symphony orchestras. A smaller performing arts
venue at the University of Nevada Las Vegas was inadequate for these purposes.
While plans for a new center were initially conceived around 1994, it
was a donation in 2005, the second largest donation to performing arts
in United States history, by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation of $150
million, together with a car rental fee to repay bonds of $105 million
initiated by Clark County and the State of Nevada, that move the public-private
project towards construction. As the largest benefactors, the building
was therefore named after Fred and Mary Smith, the chairman of the
foundation and his wife. The City of Las Vegas began separate plans around 2000 to build a downtown urban district called Symphony Park, which was selected as the site for the Center.
In 2010 it was announced that the Lied Discovery Children's Museum
would move to the Smith Center, replacing an originally proposed
600-seat theater that was scrapped from the plans in 2008. The reasoning
was that the city already had numerous similarly sized venues in the
various hotel resorts. A partnership with the Kennedy Center
and some classrooms onsite serves to provide educational opportunities
for local youth. With the Center's opening in 2012, in addition to
performances, the planners expect the center to foster arts awareness
and help to revitalize the downtown area.
Design and Artwork
The Smith Center Board wanted a timeless and elegant design,
selecting architect David M. Schwarz to design the center, using
inspiration from the Hoover Dam's Art Deco
style as a major and lasting historical influence in the Las Vegas
area. The building is a pastiche of Bertam Goodhue's 1922 design for the
Nebraska State Capitol at Lincoln and John & Donald Parkinson's 1929 Bullocks Wilshire
in Los Angeles. White Indiana limestone for the facade (as at Lincoln),
as well as numerous detail elements based on the Hoover Dam and 1920's
motifs feature throughout the facility, including a winged sculpture in
the Center lobby modeled after the dam's famous Winged Figures of the
Republic statues. A prominent flower theme was also added in select
places since Mary Smith's favorite flower is the Blue Iris. In addition, artwork by local artists from the Las Vegas Art Museum have been loaned to the center to be displayed.
A large concert hall and two smaller theaters were designed as the
main venues. At the corner is a 17-story tower featuring 47 bells and
providing a new focal point for the downtown skyline, as well as the
Center. Audio design firm Akustiks worked with Schwarz to ensure optimum
sound quality in all the venues, installing high tech sound enhancing
features like retractable drapery and auto closing doors to reflect or
absorb sounds based on the performance type. The main hall is also
double soundproofed against outside noises. An outdoor park plaza was
also built, serving as an additional outdoor concert venue if needed. It
features an artwork by Tim Bavington, representing Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”
Entertainment venues
The three main venues at the Smith Center are the Reynolds Hall, Cabaret Jazz Theater, and the Troesh Studio Theater, the first of which is located in its namesake building and the latter two in the Boman Pavilion.
- 2,050-seat Reynolds Hall is designed to keep the seats close to the stage, seating is on 5 levels
- 258-seat Cabaret Jazz cabaret style theater for more intimate performances Clint Holmes performs on the weekend of each month in the cabaret which has two levels of seating.
- 250-seat Troesh Studio Theater rehearsal theater
- The 2-acre (0.81 ha) Donald W. Reynolds Symphony Park lawn for outdoor performances
Other Features
- 47 bell carillon; is a 17 story tall tower containing cast brass bells that ring over 4 octaves. The carillon was originally planned as a 36 bell instrument with a 3 octave range.
- Elaine Wynn Studio for Arts Education
- Grand Lobby
- Founder's Room and Mezzanine Lounge
Productions
Resident Companies
- Las Vegas Philharmonic
- Nevada Ballet Theatre
2012 Broadway Las Vegas Series
- The Color Purple: April 3–8, 2012
- Mary Poppins: May 22–27, 2012
- Million Dollar Quartet: June 12–17, 2012
- Memphis: A New Musical: July 18–22, 2012
2012-2013 Broadway Las Vegas Season
- Wicked the Musical: August 29-October 7, 2012- The Addams Family: November 20–25, 2012 - Anything Goes: February
5–10, 2013 - West Side Story: February 25-March 3, 2013 - Shrek the
Musical: March 19–24, 2013 - Disney's Beauty and the Beast: April 16–21,
2013 - Billy Elliot the Musical: May 14–19, 2013 - Catch Me If You Can:
June 18–23, 2013 - Green Day's American Idiot: June 11–16, 2013
2013-2014 Broadway Las Vegas Season
- Les Miserables: August 7–11, 2013 - The Wizard of Oz: September
10–15, 2013 - War Horse: October 2–6, 2013 - Sister Act: October 15–20,
2013 - Evita: November 26-December 1, 2013 - Mamma Mia!: January 7–12,
2014 - Flashdance- The Musical: January 28- February 2, 2014 - The
Gershwins' Porgy & Bess: April 15–20, 2014 - Once: May 20–25, 2014 -
The Book Of Mormon: June 10-July 6, 2014
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