Opening
The Grand Opening celebration of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts took place the weekend of September 16 – 18, 2011. The Friday night celebration, entitled “An Evening of Theatrical Delights,” inaugurated Muriel Kauffman Theatre. Tenor Plácido Domingo gave a special concert, marking his Kansas City debut. He was accompanied by the Kansas City Symphony and Chorus, which was directed by Michael Stern. Other performers earlier in the evening included Canadian Brass, the Kansas City Ballet, Tommy Tune, Patti LuPone, with special appearances by the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance, Robert Gibby Brand, and the Kansas City Symphony. The night culminated in the showing of “Projections,” an audio-visual production by Quixotic and the Baruch/Gayton Entertainment Group. The visual element of the production was projected onto the façade of the Kauffman Center, and featured animation that made it appear as though the building was coming alive. Live dancers were suspended from the building by cables in order to interact with both the animation and the original soundtrack.
The Saturday night celebration, entitled “An Evening of Acoustical Wonder,” inaugurated Helzberg Hall, with the intention of showcasing the acoustics of the hall. Violinist Itzhak Perlman and jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall both performed in concert. The evening also included pieces by the Kansas City Symphony with conductor Michael Stern, the Kansas City Chorus, and Bobby Watson & the American Jazz Museum Orchestra.
On Sunday, September 18th, the Kauffman Center held a free open house for the public, and an estimated 55,000 people came through the doors that day. Scores of performances over a wide variety of genres—all of them local to Kansas City— took place in Muriel Kauffman Theatre and Helzberg Hall, as well as on four outdoor stages.
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Famous quotes containing the word opening:
“The Heavens. Once an object of superstition, awe and fear. Now a vast region for growing knowledge. The distance of Venus, the atmosphere of Mars, the size of Jupiter, and the speed of Mercury. All this and more we know. But their greatest mystery the heavens have kept a secret. What sort of life, if any, inhabits these other planets? Human life, like ours? Or life extremely lower in the scale. Or dangerously higher.”
—Richard Blake, and William Cameron Menzies. Narrator, Invaders from Mars, at the opening of the movie (1953)
“The current of our thoughts made as sudden bends as the river, which was continually opening new prospects to the east or south, but we are aware that rivers flow most rapidly and shallowest at these points.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“She tried to found a salon, and only succeeded in opening a restaurant.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)