Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center

One of several restored Rike’s department store animated Christmas window displays, on exhibit at the Fifth Third Bank “Wintergarden Wonderland” in the Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center (former site of Rike's main store), Dayton, Ohio, taken December 8, 2013.

The Benjamin and Marian Schuster Performing Arts Center is located in Dayton, Ohio and was built in 2003 to serve as Dayton's key performance arts center. It is owned and operated by The Victoria Theatre Association and occupies the former site of Rike's department store. The Center opened as another venue to house the Association's larger Broadway productions as well as large acts. The Dayton Philharmonic, the Dayton Opera, and the Dayton Ballet also rent the building for their performances. The Schuster Center and the Metropolitan Arts Center, which is a renovated former department store building next to the Victoria Theatre, stage a variety of performances of any size and form the heart of the performing arts district in downtown Dayton.

The Schuster Center serves as more than an arts center, with such additional features as:

• Restaurants
• 15 Story Office Tower
• Condominiums
• Winter Garden
• A Penthouse

Architect Cesar Pelli created a world-class 2,300-seat theatre that has fiber optic lights in the dome ceiling that depict the Dayton sky as it appeared on the eve before the Wright brothers’ first flight, December 16, 1903. The Winter Garden houses exotic palm trees and a cafe with a large glass-enclosed wall that overlooks downtown Dayton.

Since its opening, the Schuster Center has hosted a number of top plays, including Wicked, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Beauty and the Beast.

External links

• www.schustercenter.org
• www.victoriatheatre.com
• www.ticketcenterstage.com