The Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center is part of

Mercyhurst University Mercyhurst University is a private Catholic university in Erie, Pennsylvania, United States. History On September 20, 1926, Mercyhurst College opened its doors just a few blocks away from the city's southern boundary. It was founded by the S ...

Quick Facts

*The Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center is located at

Erie, Pennsylvania Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pen ...

. *It holds 792 along with the box seats which hold 24, totaling 816 seats. *The Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center was the first theater in the U.S. to use

geothermal Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to: * Geothermal energy, useful energy generated and stored in the Earth * Geothermal activity, the range of natural phenomena at or near the surface, associated with release of the Earth's internal he ...

energy to heat and cool its facility. *The chandeliers that hang over the

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

boxes are exactly the same chandeliers that hang in the Metropolitan Opera House in NYC. They were made in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

from pure

Crystal A crystal or crystalline solid is a solid material whose constituents (such as atoms, molecules, or ions) are arranged in a highly ordered microscopic structure, forming a crystal lattice that extends in all directions. In addition, macros ...

History

The Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center opened in February 1996. The first concert featured pianist

André Watts André Watts (June 20, 1946 – July 12, 2023) was an American classical pianist. Over the six decades of his career, Watts performed as soloist with every major American orchestra and most of the world's finest orchestras, including the New Y ...

. During a blizzard, Watts took the stage to perform in front of nearly 800 people on a piano that was shipped to them from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

. In the middle of his performance, Watts stood up and the audience stared in confusion as the piano continued to play. Turns out the piano keys were frozen and an untuned piano from backstage was wheeled out for him to play. After that performance Watts swore that he would never again agree to play a grand opening because of his self-proclaimed "curse." Apparently Watts opened two other facilities that year and a fire alarm and sprinklers interrupted his performances. When the Mary D’Angelo Performing Arts Center opened in 1996, the center had two full-time and two part-time staff members. In its infancy, the center brought in nearly 4,000 people a year and offered between six and seven programs, which consisted of the finest in Classical music featuring artists such as

Kathleen Battle Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an American operatic soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances ...

and the

Juilliard String Quartet The Juilliard String Quartet (JSQ) is a classical music string quartet founded in 1946 at the Juilliard School in New York by William Schuman and Robert Mann. Since its inception, it has been the quartet-in-residence at the Juilliard School. ...

. Fourteen years later, the center has a staff of six full-time employees and offers over a hundred events each year featuring jazz, dance, classical, contemporary and world music. Serving as the only active movie house in the city of

Erie Erie is a city on the south shore of Lake Erie and the county seat of Erie County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in Pennsylvania and the most populous in Northwestern Pennsylvania with a population of 94,831 ...

, the center is also home to the Guelcher Film Series, The Metropolitan Opera: HD Live series and the Live from NY's 92nd Street Y broadcast lecture series. Mercyhurst's D'Angelo Arts Complex in Zurn Hall exceeds . The arts complex also includes the black-box Taylor Little Theatre, the Walker Recital Hall, and the recently expanded Cummings Art Gallery. Adjacent to the Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center are the department of dance with two dance studios called danceSpace, and the D'Angelo department of music.

Facilities

* Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center ** seats 792, along with 24 box seats * Walker Recital Hall ** seats 250 ** Walker Recital Hall opened on October 27, 2002 with a two-hour recital featuring pianist, Lorin Hollander for guests which included Dr. Barrett and Catherine Walker and their family. * Taylor Little Theatre ** seats 251 ** Named in honor of Sister M. Eustace Taylor, in 1994, for her lifelong devotion to Mercyhurst College and for her love of the humanities as a true renaissance woman * Cummings Art Gallery ** 150 person standing capacity ** Named after Sister Angelica Cummings, founder of the Mercyhurst Art department and opened in January 1984

Staff

The Mary D'Angelo Performing Arts Center has seven full-time employees PAC *Director: Michael Fuhrman *Assistant Director: Bruce Parkhurst *Box Office Manager: Annette Gardner *Assistant Marketing Manager: Michelle Ellia *Production Manager: Greg Clepper *Production Technician: Randy Stankey Cummings Art Gallery *Gallery Director: Robert Hagle

2008-2009 season

*Guelcher Film Series *Live from NY's 92nd Street Y broadcast series *MetropolitanOpera: HD Live series *The Jazz Mandolin Project * Bad Boys Of Dance *Igudesman & Joo * Robin Mckelle * Leahy: A Celtic Christmas * CityMusic Cleveland * Quartet New Generation * Ballet Hispanico * The Dirty Dozen Brass Band & Trombone Shorty

Notable performances

The center has hosted several Grammy Award-winning artists such as Maria Schneider,

Paquito D’Rivera Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras (born 4 June 1948), known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established him ...

and

Eric Bibb Eric Charles Bibb (born August 16, 1951) is a Grammy-nominated American-born blues singer and songwriter. Early life and education Bibb was born in New York on August 16, 1951. His father, Leon, was a musical theatre singer, who made a name f ...

. World-renowned dance troupes such as the

Paul Taylor Dance Company Paul Taylor Dance Company is a modern dance company, formed by dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor (1930—2018). The modern dance company is based in New York, New York and was founded in 1954. Taylor originally performed in the companies of M ...

and

Pilobolus ''Pilobolus'' is a genus of fungi that commonly grows on herbivore dung. Life cycle The life cycle of ''Pilobolus'' begins with a black sporangium that has been discharged onto a plant substrate such as grass. A herbivorous animal such as a h ...

have graced the stage of the D’Angelo Center, along with world music artists such as

Pink Martini Pink Martini is an American band founded in 1994 by pianist Thomas Lauderdale in Portland, Oregon. Group members call it a little orchestra that crosses several styles, such as Classical music, classical, Latin music, Latin, traditional pop, and ...

and

Jesse Cook Jesse Arnaud Cook (born November 28, 1964) is a Canadian guitarist. He is a Juno Award winner, ''Acoustic Guitar'' Player's Choice Award silver winner in the Flamenco Category, and a three-time winner of the Canadian Smooth Jazz award for Guita ...

. The most successful show and quite possibly the most well known in the center's history is the Japanese drummers, known as

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

. Yamato has visited Erie four times over the last seven years and has performed five sold-out performances to over 5,000 people. Other notable performances include those that comprise the center's educational outreach program. Through the program, the D’Angelo Center has had the opportunity to expose the young people in the area to the arts. Since the start of the program the center has been able to provide over 6,300 students with the opportunity to see performances such as the African Drummers, Ba Cissoko, Latin dance troupe Ballet Hispanico and Yamato.

References

* http://www.mercyhurst.edu
The PAC is back -- and celebrating 15 years of arts and entertainmentMercyhurst reorganizing arts center, looking for new directorPAC Celebrates 15th Anniversary

External links

PAC
at Mercyhurst University venues
official website
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mary D'angelo Performing Arts Center Performing arts centers in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Erie, Pennsylvania Theatres in Pennsylvania Art museums and galleries in Pennsylvania Educational institutions established in 1996 1996 establishments in Pennsylvania Mercyhurst University Tourist attractions in Erie, Pennsylvania