Texas Hall is a proscenium

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

on the campus of The

University of Texas at Arlington The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA or UT Arlington) is a public research university in Arlington, Texas. The university was founded in 1895 and was in the Texas A&M University System for several decades until joining the University of Te ...

Arlington, Texas Arlington is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Tarrant County. It forms part of the Mid-Cities region of the Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington metropolitan statistical area, and is a principal city of the metropolis and region. ...

. It opened in 1965, and has a seating capacity of 2,625. Texas Hall hosts numerous events per year, including concerts, lectures, meetings, theater, and dance. The debut event at Texas Hall was a performance by legendary American jazz trumpeter and singer

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...

on October 18, 1965. Historic performers who have appeared at Texas Hall include

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...

Aerosmith Aerosmith is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Boston in 1970. The group consists of Steven Tyler (lead vocals), Joe Perry (musician), Joe Perry (guitar), Tom Hamilton (musician), Tom Hamilton (bass), Joey Kramer (drums) and Brad Whi ...

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

, Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Pat Boone, Bowling for Soup, Blue Öyster Cult, Harry Chapin,

Neil Diamond Neil Leslie Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has had ten No. 1 singles on the Hot 100 and Adul ...

, Everclear, Focus, Harlem Globetrotters, Houston Ballet, Earvin “Magic” Johnson, James Earl Jones,

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, King Crimson,

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

, Ludacris,

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can ...

, Steve Miller Band, MTV Battle of the Bands, Nektar,

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and '' Stardust'' (197 ...

, Leonard Nimoy, Edward James Olmos, Cal Ripken Jr.,

Bob Seger Robert Clark Seger ( ; born May 6, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. As a locally successful Detroit-area artist, he performed and recorded as Bob Seger and the Last Heard and The Bob Seger System throughout the 1960s, break ...

Jerry Seinfeld Jerome Allen Seinfeld ( ; born April 29, 1954) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He is best known for playing a Jerry Seinfeld (character), semi-fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom ''Seinfeld'', which he ...

, Shiva's Headband, Emmitt Smith, The Supremes, Veggie Tales, Forest Whitaker,

Johnny Winter John Dawson Winter III (February 23, 1944 – July 16, 2014) was an American singer and guitarist. Winter was known for his high-energy blues rock albums and live performances in the late 1960s and 1970s. He also produced three Grammy Award-win ...

and

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

Features

Texas Hall has ground level and balcony seating. Seating on the ground level is 1,273, and the balcony seats 1,352. Prior to the athletic teams vacating Texas Hall, there was bleacher seating opposite the theater seating that could sit 600. The stage is over . Dressing rooms are under the stage. A sound station with view of the stage is at the back of the ground level seating.

Athletic venue

Texas Hall debuted intercollegiate basketball on December 1, 1965, when the Arlington State College Rebels men hosted the

East Texas State Lions East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

. Arlington State lost the opener 67–61. UTA's men's team record at Texas Hall was 351–222, a winning percentage of .613. As an athletic facility, Texas Hall was the home of UT Arlington Mavericks men's

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, women's basketball,

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. It was one of the most unusual basketball/volleyball venues in America. In 1997 Texas Hall was noted by ''Sports Illustrated'' as one of college basketball's best places to watch a game due to the up-close view the audience had of the court. In 2012, athletic operations moved to the new $78 million

College Park Center College Park Center (CPC) is an indoor, multi-purpose arena on The University of Texas at Arlington campus in Arlington, Texas, United States. It seats up to 7,000 spectators. Its primary tenant is the Mavericks athletic department including ...

on the east side of campus leaving Texas Hall to function exclusively as a campus performing arts and lecture venue. The final men's basketball game in Texas Hall was a 63–54 UT Arlington victory against Stephen F. Austin on January 21, 2012. The final intercollegiate game was a UTA women's basketball loss on January 28, 2012, against

Texas State Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

References

External links

Official Texas Hall website
{{Authority control Defunct college basketball venues in the United States UT Arlington Mavericks basketball venues Sports venues in Arlington, Texas Basketball venues in Texas 1965 establishments in Texas Concert halls in Texas Music venues in Texas Sports venues completed in 1965