Filed under: At the Center
The Adrienne Arsht Center hosted 66 top executives from arts organizations throughout the United States invited to participate in the prestigious National Arts Strategies Strategic Marketing Seminar on May 14 and 15. Professors from Harvard Business School led two days of active, participatory discussions that challenged arts leaders from 17 different arts organizations – from art museums and zoos to theaters and performing arts presenters – to take a fresh look at both their organizations and the field of culture.
66 top executives from arts organizations throughout the US at the National Arts Strategies Strategic Marketing Seminar
The Adrienne Arsht Center’s own team participated as did executives from our partners at Miami City Ballet, Florida Grand Opera, Cleveland Orchestra and Miami Light Project. Hailing from Arizona, Georgia, Illinois, Maryland, Cleveland, Washington D.C. and even just across the County line in Broward, the visiting organizations also had the opportunity to enjoy a docent-led tour of the Center and views of downtown during lunch time every day as part of the experience!
Filed under: Lincoln Center
Last week the New York Philharmonic played Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man” for Lincoln Center’s 50th anniversary, the piece Leonard Bernstein conducted at the center’s 1959 groundbreaking. As Lincoln Center begins its 50th-anniversay celebrations and the Adrienne Arsht Center looks ahead towards its 5th, the Center staff is taking a poignant moment to pause—to celebrate Lincoln Center’s tremendous achievements while simultaneously considering the mission and future of the Adrienne Arsht Center. With groundbreakings separated by more than four decades, the similarities of the two institutions are quite striking. Both were ambitious construction projects led by a consortium of civic leaders; and both present the greatest artists and finest productions from around the world. Like the Adrienne Arsht Center, Lincoln Center has critically acclaimed resident companies, three of which—the New York Philharmonic, American Ballet Theatre, and the Jazz Orchestra of Lincoln Center led by Wynton Marsalis—have given us some of the finest evenings of music and dance to grace our own Adrienne Arsht Center stages. Perhaps most importantly, both centers are passionate about creating access to the arts for all segments of their communities and making performances and arts education programs as available to as wide an audience as possible.
Lincoln Center has had local, regional, national and worldwide impact as millions of people have been beneficiaries of what was thought to be a high risk experiment in 1959. In many ways, it has served as a model for the Kennedy Center, Los Angeles Music Center, the Adrienne Arsht Center, and virtually every other performing arts complex built in this country in the last five decades. As a catalyst for urban renewal it played a significant role in reviving New York’s Upper West Side neighborhood much like the Adrienne Arsht Center serves as a catalyst for driving new commercial, residential and retail business to Miami-Dade County’s Omni neighborhood. More than one billion dollars has been invested in the surrounding area since construction of the Adrienne Arsht Center began.
Like Lincoln Center, the Adrienne Arsht Center’s long dream is still unfolding. Last month the Adrienne Arsht Center celebrated its one-millionth patron and according to projections, nearly 500,000 patrons will attend events at the Center next season. Both Lincoln Center and the Adrienne Arsht Center have proven that performing arts centers can serve as an anchor for neighborhood revitalization and that the arts community and its artists are a vital part of the every community’s economy. This is true nationwide and here in Miami-Dade County where more than 23,000 people are employed by arts organizations.
Continued public and private sector support is needed to help Miami continue its emergence as one of the world’s most dynamic arts destinations. The Miami-Dade County Mayor and Commissioners understand this first hand; they have been very supportive by making a substantial financial investment in the Adrienne Arsht Center and have, in turn, realized a healthy return on that investment in the form of job creation, urban revitalization, and most importantly, an extraordinary degree of community building.
Filed under: Broadway Across America
Returning to their South Florida turf, direct from Broadway, Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy, soared into the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Adrienne Arsht Center last week, featuring four South Floridians. With Uranmandakh Amarsanaa, Vladimir Dovgan, and Buyankhishig Ganbaatar on the dressing room name placards you might think you had walked into the United Nations. Walking backstage, however, one could repeatedly hear dancers and acrobats delightfully proclaim how nice it was to be “home”.
That’s because Neil Goldberg, the company’s creator and director, is a long-time South Florida resident. He recruits performers from around the world to train for his productions at Dream Studios in Pompano Beach. Performers from the Mongolian School of Contortion, the Acrobatic Training Center of Beijing; the Sports Acrobatic Association of Poland; the Moscow Circus and more come together under one roof to receive direction from a resident team of coaches, choreographers, gymnasts, aerialists, and writers.
Started over 15 years ago in a small 1,500 square foot space in Hollywood, Florida, Cirque Productions Inc. has grown into a 20,000 square foot warehouse in Pompano housing rehearsal studios and administrative offices. Some of South Florida’s finest seamstresses and wardrobe designers toil away in this colorful space, sculpting and hand-painting masks and headdresses. And the local connection isn’t just back stage.
Among the Olympic-level gymnasts, Jared Burnett, the production’s electric violinist was born and raised in Florida. “It is so nice to see this area again, to drive my car, to be able to sit on the beach I love so much, and to just take a few minutes to relax and see family and friends, ” said Jared.
South Floridian, Kevin Yungman, an aspiring 16-year-old actor, also performed with the cast of the Broadway show. A student at Cypress Bay High School, Kevin was selected from other hopefuls in South Florida who auditioned for a chance to perform a feature role in the production for the Arsht Center run.
Naomi Sampson was also excited to be home to celebrate Mother’s Day with her family in Davie. Having joined Cirque Dreams six years ago, she has become an expert on travelling, but last week she was able to hug her mom for the first time in six months! Hannah Sampson, Naomi’s sister, and Miami Herald contributor said, “I will be there, watching my sister fly in our own backyard.”
The hit Broadway spectacular, Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy, which just ended its run at the Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House, was the fourth offering of the current Broadway in Miami season, presented by RRA Broadway Across America and the Adrienne Arsht Center. It wowed audiences—especially the hundreds of children in the theater who were kept on the edge of their seats by the stunning athleticism of the performers, the explosion of colors and movement, the soaring aerialist, the acrobats and jugglers. And while Chicago, the final show opening May 26, is decidedly a more adult affair, the 08/09 Broadway lineup has been a hit parade of some of the greatest musicals ever created for family audiences: The Wizard of Oz, Annie, Cats—a dream of a season for families who love to experience and share the excitement of live theater and the magic of the performing arts. Nearly 59,000 people came to the theater to see these four shows, and there were lots and lots of kids at every performance!
Girl Scouts at Cirque
These musicals, with their enchanting stories, timeless characters, and memorable scores, have been introducing children to live theater for generations—not just in this country, but around the world. And once again, they have worked their magic—here in Miami—at the Adrienne Arsht Center. For many of the kids who sat in the audience booing the Wicked Witch, trying out some cat moves, hoping against hope that Annie and Sandy would find a home, and dreaming of soaring through the air on a flying trapeze, this was their first-ever Broadway show! We are certain that for many of them it was an unforgettable experience that will turn them into lifelong theatergoers.
We know that for many of you, this is exactly how you got hooked on the performing arts. When you were a kid you were taken to a musical, or to a stage adaptation of your favorite story, or to see The Nutcracker, or to hear a concert. Instantly you thought, “Well this is the best thing ever!” And then you couldn’t get enough! It’s addictive—and it’s easy to see why.
The performing arts enrich our lives. They make us feel. They’re beautiful, exciting, scary, fun, challenging, thought-provoking, moving, and hugely entertaining. They teach us things about ourselves—and about others— that we can’t learn anywhere else—or at least not while having such a good time! They bring communities together. At a theater or concert hall, black box studio or outdoor stage, people who have never had a language in common suddenly do—through melody, through movement, through rhythm, even through stories so universal that it really doesn’t matter what language they’re spoken in. In Miami, perhaps the most diverse city in the country, where people from around the world come to live and play, what could be more precious?
It’s a no-brainer that introducing children to the performing arts has to be one of the primary goals of this or any other great performing arts center. Turning them into life-long performing arts lovers—through live performances of family shows, classes, workshops, and a host of other interactive at-the-theater and in-the-classroom activities—is certainly at the top of the Adrienne Arsht Center agenda.
Filed under: Adrienne Arsht
Miami philanthropist and businesswoman Adrienne Arsht was all smiles Thursday, May 14 as she rode a Metromover car to the station newly-renamed after the Adrienne Arsht Center. Joined by Commissioner Audrey Edmondson, Chairman of the Adrienne Arsht Center Trust Ricky Arriola, and Senior Executive of Miami-Dade Transit Clinton Forbes, Ms. Arsht toured through the downtown Miami sites in route to the official unveiling and dedication ceremony of the station’s new name. “I want to take a look at the map,” Arsht said as she made her way across the shaking car and around her fellow passengers like a true downtown local but in graceful “Adrienne Arsht fashion.”
After arriving to the Adrienne Arsht Center Station platform, which was previously the Omni Station, Ms. Arsht was met with warm welcomes from county officials, members of the Adrienne Arsht Center board and staff, local media, and the public. The group gathered for remarks by Mr. Arriola, Mr. Forbes, and Commissioner Edmondson regarding the station renaming and Ms. Arsht’s generous $30 million gift to the Center in 2008.
(L-R) Commissioner Edmondson, Adrienne Arsht, Ricky Arriola
Operated by Miami-Dade Transit, Metromover is a complimentary, public train system that accommodates passengers commuting within the downtown Miami vicinity. As a part of the ongoing revitalization of downtown Miami’s urban core, the Adrienne Arsht Center is powered by a variety of theatrical, musical and educational programs occurring almost every day of the week, increasing the need for the Metromover. Located close to the intersection of Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 15th Street, Adrienne Arsht Center Station is one of the Metromover system’s highest-traffic stops. Just one block from the Adrienne Arsht Center itself, the Metromover and Adrienne Arsht Center Station provide locals arguably the most convenient way to get to the theatre on time!
The lady of the hour delivered a gracious, yet witty, speech thanking the county and the public for the honor. The official unveiling of the Adrienne Arsht Center Station sign took place on the ground level immediately after the speeches, and the ceremony then transformed into a mid-day festival with live music, performers and refreshments.
Point of View 