Ferguson Center for the Performing Arts
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The Ferguson Center for the Arts is a new theater and concert hall on the campus of Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia, USA. It fully opened in September of 2005. So far it has had many famous names perform there from B.B. King to Bruce Hornsby to Andrea Bocelli to Cathy Rigby as Peter Pan.
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[edit] The name
The site of the Ferguson Center is the former Ferguson High School. The name "Ferguson" is well-known in the Newport News area. Homer L. Ferguson was a President of the nearby Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, and the high school was named after him. Additionally, Newport News is home to the corporate headquarters of Ferguson Enterprises, a leading plumbing-supply company. That company has sponsored the construction of the center, and has been granted naming rights as a result. Naming the building the Ferguson Center turns out to be a "perfect fit" for the center and the community, as the site of the building would have likely been referred to as "Ferguson" by locals anyway, given the long time frame by which it was known as such during its time as a high school.
[edit] Role at CNU
The Ferguson Center has long been considered the centerpiece of CNU President Paul Trible's expansion efforts. When Trible assumed the presidency in 1996, he put forward a lofty plan to build the university from its perceived status as an "overgrown community college" to something with a bit more influence in the region. Since the beginning of the expansion effort, the Ferguson Center has been the main construction project on campus. Trible's original goal was to have the Center ready for a gala on New Year's Eve, 1999. Funding did not progress quickly enough to meet this ambitious goal, however.
As plans for the theater progressed, there had been criticism within the university community that money being spent on the project could have been better spent in a more academic way. It was originally planned that the building would be unavailable for the college's music and theater departments, or for student organizations to book events. It would, essentially, simply be a concert hall that happened to sit on a college campus. It appears that the policy has since been relaxed, and the school's Music and Theater Departments have access to the building.
Trible has managed to impress several in the community with the big names brought in for the project. The architectural firm of Pei Cobb Freed and Partners, led by famous modern architect I. M. Pei, was selected to design the building. This has led many at the school and in the community to acknowledge the viability of the Center, rather than dismiss it off-hand as a fantasy of Trible's. In addition, Trible hired William R. Biddle to serve as Executive Director of the facility. Biddle has over twenty years of success managing and booking events for performing arts centers.
[edit] Construction and first events
The building has been put together in two construction phases. The first phase, completed in the summer of 2004, included a 440-seat Music and Theater Hall, along with a 200-seat Studio Theater. The second phase, with an anticipated completion in the summer of 2005, will contain the Concert Hall, a 1,700 seat theater acoustically designed for stage performance. It is believed that this hall will be what most local residents refer to when they mention "The Ferguson Center" in conversation.
American singer Tony Bennett was chosen to be the first to perform in the building. He did so on September 1, 2004, in one of the theaters completed in the first phase of construction. He is said to have remarked, "They don't make theaters like this anymore!" Actor and singer Michael Crawford opened the Concert Hall on September 12, 2005, backed by the New York Pops. The 2005-2006 Season is a remarkably diverse season featuring acts ranging from Vince Gill to CeCe Winans to Andrea Bocelli.
CNU's Theater Department have put on the following productions in the Center.
Music and Theater Hall:
-Romeo & Juliet (2004)
-The Music Man (2005)
-The Importance of Being Earnest (2005)
-South Pacific (2006)
Studio Theater:
-Dancing At Lughnasa (2004)
-Proof (2005)
-The Blue Room (2006)
[edit] External link
- Ferguson Center at cnu.edu
