The front of the newly expanded and renovated Wharton Center for Peforming Arts.

The $18.5 million expansion and renovation of Wharton Center for Performing Arts included a new glass facade.

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EAST LANSING, Mich. - Wharton Center for Performing Arts will launch its 2009-10 season with a recently completed $18.5 million expansion and renovation, yielding improved amenities for performers and new space for community art education.

Last May, Wharton Center, which opened in 1982, began building a 24,000-square-foot addition and renovating 9,000 square feet of existing space. 

Wharton Center will host an open house from noon to 4 p.m. Oct. 11, with free parking in the adjacent ramp. Former MSU President Clifton R. Wharton Jr. and his wife, Dolores, will cut the ribbon.  Wharton served as MSU's 14th president from 1970 to 1978. This month marks MSU's 40th anniversary of the historical selection of Wharton, the first black president of the university.

As a statewide cultural resource, community engagement is key to Wharton Center, said Kent Love, director of communications for Wharton Center. So the facility now offers second-floor multipurpose spaces to be used for donor lounges prior to the performances and for community art education programs.

"The spaces will be wired for long-distance learning so we can have a master class with 30 people in one of the lounges and then broadcast that across the state to 30,000 kids. We're really excited about the statewide reach that will afford us," he said.

Examples of such programs offered through the MSU Federal Credit Union Institute for Arts and Creativity will be on display during the open house, including Wharton Center Artist-In-Residence Happendance and short performances by performer Doug Berky, who is part of next season's Act One School Series.

With more than 100 productions per season, performers will appreciate the improved amenities, Love said. Wharton Center added additional dressing rooms, a crew room and crew restrooms.

"When we load in a show like ‘Lion King' or ‘Wicked' or ‘Phantom of the Opera,' we have nearly 100 cast and crew members. Up until recently, we've had one backstage bathroom for them to share," he said. "We also have a new freight elevator and additional ancillary space to accommodate these large touring productions that previously barely fit into our facility." 

To better accommodate the public, Wharton Center expanded its first-floor lobby. In addition, the gift shop will now carry merchandise related to the shows and to the cultures presented on stage.

"Thanks to a dedicated team of professionals, we've stayed on schedule and on budget," said Wharton Center's General Manager Diane Baribeau.  "Everyone will be very pleased."

To listen to a podcast of Wharton and Mike Brand, executive director of Wharton Center, discussing the past, present and future of Wharton Center , visit http://spartanpodcast.com/?p=555.

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