The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, in downtown
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
,
Minnesota, hosts a variety of
performing arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Perform ...
, such as touring Broadway musicals, orchestra, opera, and cultural performers, and produces local musicals. It is home to several local arts organizations, including the
Minnesota Opera
Minnesota Opera is a performance organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was founded as the Center Opera Company in 1963 by the Walker Art Center, and is known for premiering such diverse works as ''Where the Wild Things Are'' by Oliver ...
, The
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and The
Schubert Club. The president and CEO, Christopher Harrington, has served since November 2021, and Producing Artistic Director Rod Kaats has been with the Ordway since February 2018.
History
In 1980, Saint Paul resident Sally Ordway Irvine (a
3M heiress and arts patron) dreamed of a European-style concert hall offering "everything from opera to the Russian circus." She contributed $7.5 million—a sum matched by other members of the Ordway family—toward the cost of the facility. Fifteen
Twin Cities corporations and foundations were the principal funders of the $46 million complex, the most expensive privately funded arts facility ever built in the state. Saint Paul native
Benjamin Thompson, whose other projects included the
Faneuil Hall renovation in
Boston and
South Street Seaport in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
, was selected to design a building that would project "a visible contemporary image" but would also fit harmoniously on a site facing
Rice Park, a block-square park framed by historic buildings. As designed by Thompson, Ordway Center (originally named Ordway Music Theatre) contained a 1,900-seat Music Theater; an intimate McKnight Theatre (306 seats); two large rehearsal rooms; and the Marzitelli Foyer, a spacious two-story lobby with a glass curtain-wall through which theatergoers enjoy a sweeping panorama of Rice Park, its surrounding buildings, and, in the distance, the
Mississippi River. The McKnight Theatre was demolished in 2013 to make room for the new 1,093-seat Concert Hall, which opened on February 28, 2015.
The Ordway Center opened to the public on January 1, 1985, as Ordway Music Theatre. The name was changed in 2000 to reflect the vast array of performing arts that take place under its roof.
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts serves 400,000 people annually with nearly 500 performances in musical theater, children’s theater, world music and dance, orchestra, opera, and recitals.
About the building
Ordway Center contains the 1,910-seat Music Theater,
the 1,100-seat Concert Hall, two large rehearsal halls, and lobbies on each floor, including the second-floor Marzitelli Foyer, a spacious, two-story lobby encircled by a glass facade.
Interior
Exterior
References
External links
Ordway Center for the Performing Arts
{{Authority control
Arts organizations based in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Minneapolis–Saint Paul
Music venues in Minnesota
Theatres in Minnesota
Buildings and structures in Saint Paul, Minnesota
Culture of Saint Paul, Minnesota
Performing arts centers in Minnesota
Theatres completed in 1985
1985 establishments in Minnesota