That's My World Tuesday #26: Memorial Auditorium

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"No Business Like Show Business"
Raleigh, NC - December 2008 (Click to embiggen)

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Originally built in 1932 for the North Carolina Symphony, Raleigh Memorial Auditorium is now only a part of the larger Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Over the years the original building has been expanded and renovated several times, and I can remember the time when what is now the atrium and lobby was actually the front steps. The portico was enclosed in the late 80's creating the new lobby to the tune of approximately $10M.But that renovation paled in comparison to the additions begun in the mid-to-late 90's (with construction completed in 2001). The new complex -- then named the BTI Center for the Performing Arts -- included the 1700 seat Meymandi Concert Hall, the NC Symphony's new home, A.J. Fletcher Opera Theater with 600 seats (the furthest of which is only 68 feet from the stage), Kennedy Theater, a 170-seat 40x60 "black box" experimental theater and Lichtin Plaza a 2-acre outdoor mall available for tented or open air events.

The original Memorial Auditorium, shown here, is still the centerpiece of the complex, and is home to the North Carolina Theater, Carolina Ballet, and a host venue for Broadway Series South -- a series of repertory companies bringing off-Broadway shows to South Street. Other local theater and musical groups perform in the building as well. In 2005 Progress Energy entered into a 20-year arrangement with the city, purchasing the naming rights for the complex for $7.5M.

Aside from occasional patronage at events, I have my own (vicarious) ties to the complex. My son, now a Music Ed major at UNC-Greensboro, performed in both Memorial Auditorium and Meymandi Hall while in high school.

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