WHAT:
Groundbreaking for the Gateway Performance Complex and Future Home of the Gretchen Valade Jazz Center at Wayne State University.
WHEN:
7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 20
WHERE:
Hilberry Theatre, 4743 Cass, Detroit, MI 48201
WHO:
- Wayne State University President M. Roy Wilson
- Wayne State University Board of Governors member Sandra Hughes O'Brien
- College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts Dean Matthew Seeger
- Department of Music Chair Norah Duncan IV
- Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance Chair John Wolf
- Gretchen Valade, noted philanthropist and chair of the Detroit Jazz Festival Foundation
- College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts Board of Visitors, donors, alumni, faculty, staff, students and community members
WHY:
To mark the formal groundbreaking of the construction for the Gateway Performance Art Complex and future home of the Gretchen Valade Jazz Center, which will serve Wayne State students and the Detroit community.
OPPORTUNITIES:
There will be brief remarks and a shovel ceremony. Media will have the opportunity to interview CFPCA Dean Matthew Seeger. Television media will be allowed to film members of WSU and CFPCA as they mark this significant moment for the fine and performing arts community.
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Tom Reynolds, WSU associate director of public relations, 313-577-8093
Da’Stanza Murphy, CFPCA information officer, 313-577-5448
Gateway Performance Complex website: cfpca.wayne.edu/gateway
BACKGROUND:
The Gateway Performance Complex, including the Gretchen Valade Jazz Center, will enhance the growing and vibrant area just south of campus by creating a new and innovative destination for theatre, music, dance and arts-related events. The performance complex will further solidify Wayne State’s reputation as an artistic leader, ensure the future success and strength of the arts on campus, and contribute to Detroit’s rich cultural community. The new complex will include:
- Three new, state-of-the-art theatres including: the Gretchen Valade Jazz Center, a proscenium and studio theatre
- New educational production space for students to hone their skills in performance, design and management
- A modern café will be a highly visible and energetic space where guests mingle before performances, during intermissions and after events
- A patron lounge will allow invited guests to relax and socialize before the show
The Gateway Performance Complex Groundbreaking is a duel event directly followed by the 2018 President’s Preview of the Tony Award-winning musical, Avenue Q.
The evening’s schedule: 6:30 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. groundbreaking and 8 p.m. performance.