Nothing gets a town so stirred up as the opening of a new arts facility, and on Nov. 1, the arts society of the mile-high city rose gallantly to the occasion.
Snow flew intermittently and the temperature dipped low into the teens, with a bitterly cold wind chill factor. But inside the warm and festive Temple Hoyne Buell Theater, men in tuxedos and women in elegant little black dresses celebrated completion of the final link in the Colorado Performing Arts Center, which now totals nine theaters with audience capacity of 9,212 - more seats than even New York's Lincoln Center.Emcee Tony Randall exuded his most genial charm at the opening gala, a program heavy on middle Americana and Colorado patriotism; indeed a little too much so. One vaguely wished for more substance on a program light on classics and heavy on cowboy references and slick pops. The whole thing was teletaped, and the last half telecast live on the Arts & Entertainment Network.
Remarks by Mayor Wellington E. Webb were followed by Denver's Eulipions singing from "The Gospel at Colonus," and Karen Hunt and Louis Otey in arias from Colorado's own opera, "The Ballad of Baby Doe;" the Colorado Children's Chorale in a cute Tom Sawyer Scrapbook, and an all-male excerpt by Colorado Ballet.
Among Colorado artists appearing was Broadway singer Rebecca Eichenberger, singer/songwriter Dan Fogelberg, cowboy poet Baxter Black, actor Tony Church and violinist Eugene Fodor. Newton Wayland led the Colorado Symphony Orchestra in somewhat nondescript music composed for the occasion by John Williams and William Hill. (The Colorado Symphony has risen from the ashes of the defunct Denver Symphony, shored up in part by a portion of a one-tenth of 1 percent appropriation from the state's sales tax, earmarked for the arts.)
From "The Star Spangled Banner" to the concluding "America the Beautiful" (the poem written by Katherine Lee Bates as she viewed the Plains from a hill above Denver) the party initiated a handsome theater with many visual and aural pluses.
Built within the shell of the old Denver Arena, where basketball and wrestling once flourished, it seats 2,830, with good sightlines to the large stage, 126 feet wide by 52 feet deep. Walls and proscenium are lined with slabs of Colorado sandstone in rosy and beige shades, and seats are bright blue. Boxes are set out from the walls, supported by thin columns, and underlined in lavender neon lights, as are the mezzanine and balcony. The neon is at first a little jarring but soon assumes a lively, chic effect.
Acoustics designed by Kirkegaard & Associates seem to be uniformly clear and clean in the stone-lined hall, designed by Van Dijk, Johnson & Partners of Cleveland.
The lobby, which aims at spacious openness, goes too far. With balconies chopped up into passageways rather than promenades, its open metal railings and catwalks are even a little precarious in feeling. Acrophobiacs will want their seats on the main floor. Some undistinguished tile murals complete the decor. Beyer Blinder Belle of New York, architects for Salt Lake City's Cathedral of the Madeleine restoration, designed the lobby and facade.
Completion of the Denver Performing Arts Complex is supported by a $27.5 million bond issued by the city and $6 million from private funds, including $3 million from the foundation left by Temple Hoyne Buell, Denver architect and philanthropist.
Judging from this year's programming, the hall is intended mostly for traveling attractions brought in by Robert Garner Center Attractions. Opera Colorado and Colorado Symphony will continue in the arena style Boettcher Hall, and the ballet in the Auditorium Theater. Garner launches his Buell season with "The Phantom of the Opera" Nov. 26-Feb. 1, projected to draw a total audience close to 150,000 - by far the largest ever for one show in Denver.
Hence the decision to go commercial with the Buell is financially sound, but a little off-putting artistically. However, in this way Denver will avoid the scheduling impasses that have prevented the Capitol Theater from full-scale presentation of touring shows.
New promenade space connects the Buell to Boettcher Concert Hall. Completed in 1978, it seats 2,634 in the round. The historic old Auditorium Theatre on 14th Street opened in 1908 with great fanfare. Renovated this year with its main entrance now opening on the galleria, it accommodates 2,170.
The Helen Bonfils Theatre Complex includes four performances spaces totaling 1,452 seats. There the Denver Center Theatre Company presents 12 plays a year.
Overhead, much of the space between the buildings is covered by a glass galleria, with plans to glass over the whole open space between 14th Street and Speer Boulevard, protecting passageways between the theaters and 8-story parking garage.
Salt Lakers are accustomed to training their sights on West Coast cities when considering an out of town arts junket. However, Webb envisions his city as "The Athens of the West," and it indeed has many attractions, for arts and entertainment patrons and tourists. Summer brings the Central City Opera season and Boulder Music Festival.
Those interested in receiving a listing of 1991-92 events at the Denver Performing Arts Center may write for a program guide to DPAC, 950 13th St., Denver CO 80204, or call 303-640-2862. For touring shows, write Robert Garner Productions, 1245 Champa St., Denver CO 80204, or call 303-893-4100.