This week I had the privilege of touring The Smith Center for the Performing Arts also known as The Smith Arts Center. It was a one hour tour free to the public.
The Smith Center opened on March 10, 2012 at a cost of $470 million. The largest contribution, $150 million, was received from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. The building was named after the chairman of the foundation and his wife, Fred and Mary Smith.
Architect David M. Schwarz did a stellar job when asked to use a design similar to the Hoover Dam’s art deco style to build The Smith Center. The art deco style building has a tower at the corner with 47 bells. Everything in this building was very well thought out, including perfect acoustics, beautiful walls, chandeliers and stairways. The Italian marble when you enter the Grand Lobby is simply stunning.
The three main venues at The Smith Center are the Reynolds Hall (2,059 seats), the Cabaret Jazz Theater (258 seats) and the Boman Pavilion (250 seats).
Finally, Las Vegas has a high end arts center to host local and international artists. It is said that in Vegas we do things above and beyond and certainly The Smith Center is a perfect example. This is an elegant, classy and state of the art theater. I find it fascinating that now tourists will be able to integrate the arts into their numerous activities while visiting Las Vegas. What a spectacular evening would it be to have a nice dinner overlooking the Strip followed by a great performance at The Smith Center.
I’m looking forward to seeing the Joffrey Ballet coming up in January. I love ballet, so that will be a special treat for me and a special way to start my year.
I encourage any visitors coming to Las Vegas to visit The Smith Center for the Performing Arts. Now, to us locals, we used to complain that we did not have a performing arts center. Well, now we do. Let’s support it in any way we can – by volunteering, by attending their great performances and even with donations, those who are in a position to do so. Let’s keep it clean and beautiful, it’s ours to enjoy and something else we have to be proud of.
The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is located on 391 Symphony Park Ave., downtown Las Vegas.
THE SMITH CENTER VIRTUAL VIDEO
http://youtu.be/Vh6EnOXxP0I
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