Went to the new AT&T Performance Center Open House Today

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

www.attpac.org
The new Opera House has great acoustics but really those highest tier seats are true nosebleads and the angles for viewing the stage are ridiculious. I was on the ground floor, the third and fifth and the difference between 3 and 5 is GREAT and going up to the highest seats on 5 (did no climb up there but saw them from the lower ones) makes one think why they shoved them up there instead of adding maybe another row or two on the other 3 levels below them.

The stage building- aka the CUBE- (kind of reminded me of a BORG cube from Star Trek)- didn't have much to show on the tour (said didn't have time to go to the upper floor open deck areas) but did explain on how all of the seating could be drawn up to the ceiling to give a larger open floor plan. (I think it tries to be 5 buildings at once and will just be a thing that stage directors and theatre managers will be playing with on the set up to stroke their own egos). Yeah it will enable some interesting set ups for performances but they just went way over the top and I think they could have had a better venue overall if they didn't spend so much on all of the playtings. Heard that a configuration from the most open to the most closed in takes about 8 hours but changes can be fast because the guy who gave my tour said that one style can be seen and after coming back from an hour or so lunch the set up can be changed enough to startle you the first few tuimes that it happens.

Outside both buildigs are visually stunning and can't wait to catch the cube with a great sunset behind it but the landscaping in my book gets a D at most- looks like a high school landscaping class attempted to design the layout.

Also the construction site has a lot of sloppy work on the support structure- ie sidewalks already cracked- I mean cracks running for several feet (one was maybe 10 ft long), chipped edges, gunk on one of the stainless steal handrails (felt like dried spackling), the light/power connection boxes by several trees sticking up about a ft just close enough to walking areas to be tripping hazards (why are they not recessed?) and several other things that you wouldn't expect to be so sloppy on a $300+ million project.

Did not get a chance to go into the Booker T Theatre.

Also what was with the entry slope to the Borgs entrance?

Still a lot of outside work to be done with the place.

[CaptainTom]

I haven't seen it yet, but after talking to an insider I'm not surprised at your impression.
What did you think of the lime green seats ? What will happen in the rain on that slope to the box offices ?
There apparently is no off stage room. Lots of other technical problems but I wasn't paying a lot of attention to the conversation at the time.

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

The seat color didn't bother me.
Yeah them not having an off stage room on that floor, I think there is one above the system, will stress out some actors.
That slope thing is just plain stupid in my book, the landscaping sucks and unless they have some of those drains on high vacuum pumps I can see 6+ inches of water that the patrons will have to slog through during a downpour which is not cool in my book.

Heck I would have gone UP and not down for the entrance knowing what our weather can be like.