The Benjamin & Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center (Schuster Center) is located in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...

and was built in 2003 to serve as Dayton's principal venue for

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 involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

. It is owned and operated by Dayton Live and occupies the former site of Rike's department store on a block comprising North Main Street, West Second Street and North Ludlow Street. It is named for local philanthropists Dr. Benjamin Schuster and his wife, Marian, who donated the lead gift ($8 million) for the project. The Schuster Center houses the 2300-seat Winsupply Theatre (formerly the "Mead Theatre" from 2003 through 2024), the ticket office for all Dayton Live venues, a

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

café, a glass enclosed lobby called the Kettering Wintergarden, and the multi-purpose Mathile Theatre hosting performances, events, and rehearsals. Attached to the Schuster Center is Performance Place Tower, a 15-story residential and office condominium. The Schuster Center opened as an additional venue to house Dayton Live's larger touring Broadway productions and presentations. The Dayton Philharmonic, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Ballet rent the building for their performances. The Schuster Center and the Metropolitan Arts Center, occupying the former Metropolitan Company department store building next to the Victoria Theatre, stage a variety of performances and form the basis of the performing arts district in

downtown Dayton Downtown Dayton is the central business district of Dayton, Ohio, United States. Major reinvestment in the downtown area began heavily in the mid-1990s, and continues today with $2 billion in residential, commercial, health, and transportation de ...

History

The Schuster Center was designed by

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

César Pelli César Pelli (October 12, 1926 – July 19, 2019) was an Argentine architect who designed some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. Three of his most notable buildings are the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the Wo ...

. Built on the former site of the Rike-Kumler department store, construction commenced in April 2000 and was completed in February 2003 for a total cost of $121 million. Dr. Benjamin Schuster and his wife Marian donated $8 million to the project. The opening weekend of February 28, 2003, brought together Dayton-born artists as well as national celebrities for the opening, billed as the "Gala Evening of Stars." Attendees and performers included

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

, and Allison Janney.

Architectural Details

The Schuster Center's main performance space is the 2,300 seat Winsupply Theatre. A

fiber optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

"starfield" on the ceiling of the Winsupply Theatre re-creates the night sky on the day of the

Wright Brothers The Wright brothers, Orville Wright (August 19, 1871 – January 30, 1948) and Wilbur Wright (April 16, 1867 – May 30, 1912), were American aviation List of aviation pioneers, pioneers generally credited with inventing, building, and flyin ...

' first airplane flight in 1903. In addition to the Winsupply Theatre, the Mathilde Theatre can be used for rehearsals, meetings, and smaller productions. The Kettering Wintergarden is a block-long glass atrium with live and preserved palm trees. The AES Foundation Stage is often used for gala events, weddings and receptions, and preperformance. The Schuster Center has hosted

musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

including ''Hamilton'', ''The Lion King'', ''Les Misérables'', '' Wicked'', ''

Jersey Boys ''Jersey Boys'' is a jukebox musical with a book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. It is presented in a documentary-style format that dramatizes the formation, success and breakup of the 1960s rock 'n' roll group The Four Seasons. The mus ...

'', ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' is a sung-through musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice ...

'' and ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

''.

References

External links

Schuster Center official website

The Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra

The Dayton Ballet

Victoria Theatre

The Dayton Performing Arts Alliance
Concert halls in Ohio Buildings and structures in Dayton, Ohio Theatres in Ohio Performing arts centers in Ohio Tourist attractions in Dayton, Ohio César Pelli buildings 2003 establishments in Ohio Skyscraper office buildings in Dayton, Ohio Residential skyscrapers in Ohio {{Ohio-struct-stub