(PNAN-WA) – It was in 1924 when the first foundation was laid for the Liberty Theater, which then in a 1948 renovation it became the Olympic Theater, however it eventually got stripped and only a few exterior walls were left, linking the past to the future home of the Washington Center for the Performing Arts in 1985, becoming the largest performing arts facility, serving goers in the quad-county region with an extensive variety of entertainment and cultural activities.
When their doors first opened, the major production was Ben Vereen. He came back on Saturday, September 25 and again took center stage, but this time the megastar joined hands with a cast of many to celebrate WCPA’s silver anniversary, and among with 25 feet of works of art.
Featuring 25 local artists, who are: Tom Anderson, Janice Arnold, Greg Bartol, Ron Barnhart, Cody Blomberg, Shelley Carr, Robyn Chance, Betty Jo Fitzgerald, Christopher Gerber, Jennifer Kuhns, Jean Mandeberg, Jim McDonnell, Nate Naismith, Marianne Partlow, Sally Penley, Zak Penley, Marion Pollmann, Mia Schulte, Judith G. Smith, Kristine Sogn, Jeffree Stewart, Wyat Taylor, Debra Van Tuinen, Carolyn Wagner and Mimi Williams, each contributed 12 x 12 in. piece that is display in the Center gallery as well as available in an online auction to bid at www.b9auctions.com/wcpa through Monday, October 18 at 5:00 pm.
There is always something good to be said about coming home and birthdays, especially when so much time has passed, like more than 2.5 million has entered the front doors, to view one or all of the 6,000 performances, and the parties are just beginning from A Year with Frog and Toad, Seattle Symphony, 21st Century Masters Series, San Francisco Opera, Color Purple and more films of variety, the Olympia Symphony Orchestra, including a more list far as the eye can see and all can be discovered at www.washingtoncenter.org or give Kevin Boyer a call at 360.753.8585 x104, and you might ask him to book Ben in 2035.
