Blumenthal Arts is a not-for-profit, multi-venue

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

complex located in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. Opening in November 1992, Blumenthal owns and operates 4 theaters on 2 campuses in

Uptown Charlotte Uptown Charlotte, also called Center City, is the central business district of Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. The area is split into four wards by the intersection of Trade and Tryon Streets, and bordered by Interstate 277 and Int ...

History

In 2012, Blumenthal launched the Blumey Awards, the regional high school musical theatre award program in the

Charlotte metropolitan area The Charlotte metropolitan area is a metropolitan area of the U.S. states of North and South Carolina, containing the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. The metropolitan area also includes the cities of Gastonia, Concord, Huntersville, and ...

. Winners of the "Best Actor" and "Best Actress" award compete annually in the national

Jimmy Awards The National High School Musical Theatre Awards, more commonly known as the Jimmy Awards, are awards given annually to recognize musical theatre performances by high school students in the United States. Two main awards are given each year, Best ...

program on Broadway. Notable alumni of this program include

Reneé Rapp Reneé Mary Jane Rapp (born Reneé Jane Rapp; January 10, 2000) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. She gained recognition for starring as Regina George in the Broadway musical ''Mean Girls'' (2019–2020). She reprised the role in t ...

Eva Noblezada Eva Maria Noblezada (; born March 18, 1996) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her work in theatre, starring in musicals in the West End and on Broadway. Her accolades include a Grammy Award and two Tony Award nominations ...

, and Liam Pearce. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Blumenthal Arts debuted " Immersive Van Gogh" in Charlotte's Camp North End district. Running from June 2021 to January 2022, the exhibit ran for over 1,600 performances and had over 300,000 attendees. On January 23, 2024, Blumenthal Performing Arts announced their rebrand to Blumenthal Arts.

Venues

Blumenthal Arts Center

Belk Theater

The Belk Theater is the largest venue in the Blumenthal Arts Center, seating 2,118 at its full-capacity configuration. It Theater hosts a majority of the performances from Broadway tours and resident companies. Opening in 1992, it was designed by architect Cesar Pelli in a contemporary European horseshoe arrangement. The most distant seat is less than 135 feet from the stage. Features an LED fiber optic chandelier with 2,400 points of light in the audience chamber.

Booth Playhouse

The Booth Playhouse is a courtyard-style proscenium theater with

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

and

theater-in-the-round Theatre-in-the-round, also known as arena theatre or central staging, is a theatrical stage configuration in which the audience surrounds the performance area on all sides. Historically rooted in ancient Greece and Rome performance practices, ...

capabilities. It contains 434 seats with seating in orchestra and gallery levels. It hosts a variety of dance, choral and other musical ensembles, as well as meetings, seminars, and workshops.

Stage Door Theater

The Stage Door Theater is a black box-style theater which can seat up to 233 people with flexible layouts. Located at the stage door to the Blumenthal Arts Center, it is the organization's smallest venue.

Levine Center for the Arts

Knight Theater

The Knight Theater is a proscenium theater with a capacity of 1,192. Adjacent to the

Bechtler Museum of Modern Art The Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in Charlotte, North Carolina, is a museum space dedicated to the exhibition of mid-20th-century modern art. The modern art museum is part of the new Levine Center for the Arts in Uptown Charlotte. The museum b ...

. Portions of the 2012 film,

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' are a series of Young adult fiction, young adult Dystopian fiction, dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The series consists of a trilogy that follows teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and two ...

, were filmed at the theater.

Spirit Square (under renovation)

McGlohon Theatre

Opening in 1980 at the First Baptist Church, the McGlohon Theatre was later converted to a proscenium theater with a capacity of 716. It consists of an orchestra and balcony level.

Duke Energy Theater

The Duke Energy Theater is a black box theater with a capacity of 190.

Ovens Auditorium

Ovens Auditorium is Charlotte's largest performing arts theater with a capacity of over 2,400. Located at the Bojangles Entertainment Complex east of

, it features extended Broadway engagements and concerts. Owned by the City of Charlotte and operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority (CRVA).

Productions

Blumenthal Arts hosts various productions at their theaters, including Broadway national tours, concerts, comedians, dance performances, and shows from local resident companies. In 2022, Blumenthal Arts launched the annual Charlotte International Arts Festival, featuring art installations and performances in the Uptown and Ballantyne neighborhoods.

List of resident companies

Charlotte Symphony Orchestra The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Meckl ...

Charlotte Ballet Charlotte Ballet is the oldest professional ballet company in North Carolina. It was founded as North Carolina Dance Theatre in Winston-Salem by Robert Lindgren, who was then Dean of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, ...

Opera Carolina Opera Carolina is a professional opera company in Charlotte, North Carolina. Founded in 1948 by the Charlotte Music Club as the Charlotte Opera Association, the company was renamed Opera Carolina after its 1986 merger with North Carolina Opera whi ...

Tosco Music

References

External links

Official site
{{Authority control Dance in North Carolina Theatres in Charlotte, North Carolina Performing arts centers in North Carolina Tourist attractions in Charlotte, North Carolina César Pelli buildings Uptown Charlotte