The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center
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The Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center is located downtown on a nine-acre site along the east bank of the Hillsborough River in Tampa, Florida. As the largest performing arts complex south of the Kennedy Center, the 290,000 square-foot Center opened in 1987 and provides an environment for a wide variety of world-class events. It features one of the nation's leading Broadway series and is regarded nationally for producing grand opera, as well as presenting a wide variety of concerts, performances and events. More than 600,000 patrons attended more than 850 performances, classes and other events at The Center in 2006.
The performing arts complex consists of five distinct theaters, a rehearsal hall, retail shops, on-site restaurants and banquet facilities.
With the recent addition of the new Patel Conservatory, The Center has added 45,000-square-feet for its extensive education programs. The Conservatory features 20 studios, including two dance studios with sprung floors, a sound/lighting laboratory, technical theater workshop, rehearsal hall, costume shop, isolation/sound booth, state-of-the-art black box theater and media arts/TV studio.
The building is owned by the City of Tampa, and is run by Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The annual budget is $30 million.
VENUES AND FACILITIES
The five individual theaters at The Center are Carol Morsani Hall (2,600+ seats), Ferguson Hall (1,042 seats), the Jaeb Theater (292 seats), the TECO Energy Foundation Theater (250 seats) and the Shimberg Playhouse (130 seats).
- Carol Morsani Hall - The centerpiece of the complex which seats 2,552. The hall's proscenium is 60 feet high with a playing depth of 55 feet and a total stage width of 120 feet. When combined with an 11-story high backstage area, the enormous Carol Morsani Hall onstage and backstage areas easily accommodate major productions of Broadway musicals, operas, ballets and orchestral concerts. A 42-ton concert wall can be lowered for the orchestra and choral performances. The traditional horseshoe-shaped opera house has continental seating on four levels: orchestra, mezzanine, balcony and gallery. Excellent sight lines combine with impeccable acoustics to create a magnificent venue that rivals the great classical theaters of the world!
- Ferguson Hall - Ideally suited for plays, musical concerts and dance events, the elegant 1,042-seat Louise Lykes Ferguson Hall boasts comfortable orchestra seating and two tiers of curving balconies, creating a unique blend of intimacy and spaciousness. With a 40 foot wide by 30 foot high proscenium, a total playing depth of 50 feet and a total stage width of 80 feet, plus orchestra pit and concert wall, the Ferguson Hall offers flexibility that also suits corporate meetings, lectures and seminars.
- Jaeb Theater - The 292-seat Robert and Lorena Jaeb Theater is named for the Jaebs, whose gift to the Capitol Fund Drive in 1985 helped establish the endowment fund for the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. The Jaeb Theater's stage is 40 feet wide by 20 feet deep. The audience area can be configured to stadium or cabaret seating for plays or cabaret shows, as well as recording sessions, television productions, seminars and business meetings.
- TECO Energy Foundation Theater - The 3,500-square-foot TECO Energy Foundation Theater dominates the west end of the first floor of the Patel Conservatory. The room is two stories of open space with glass walls and windows on two sides. Blackout curtains convert the rehearsal space into a performance space. There is no permanent stage and all furnishings are portable for maximum flexibility.
- Shimberg Playhouse - The 130-seat Hinks and Elaine Shimberg Playhouse, located between The Center Store and the Jaeb Theater, is an intimate venue for local and national artists, such as poets, musicians, dancers, comedians, performance artists and small theater companies. This specially-designed, flexible "black-box" theater allows for varied configurations of traditional or three quarter seating, as required by the production.
EVENTS, RESIDENT COMPANIES AND CONSTITUENTS
The Center’s annual events include the Broadway Ball, Best of Tampa Bay, Eggstravaganza and a facility-wide Open House in the fall. The Center is also the annual host of the Broadway Theater Project and International Thespian Society’s Florida State Thespian Festival.
The Center is the home to these resident companies:
The Center houses a number of constituent organizations, including:
- Crescendo
- The Florida Orchestra
- GMI Music
- Gulf Coast Youth Choirs
- Heralds of Harmony
- Lyric Opera Theatre
- Master Chorale
- Spanish Lyric Theater
- Tampa Bay Gay Men's Chorus
- Tampa Bay Children's Chorus
- Tampa Bay Symphony
- Tampa Bay Youth Orchestras
- Tampa Oratorio Singers
- Toast of Tampa
- University of South Florida, Department of Music
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