The Hilberry Gateway is a

performing arts center Performing arts center/centre (see spelling differences), often abbreviated as PAC, is usually a complex housing performance spaces for various performing arts, including dance, music, and theatre. In some cases it refers to a single multi-use s ...

on the campus of

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public university, public research university in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 375 programs. It is Michigan's third-l ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. The complex is the home of theatre and jazz performances presented by the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance, succeeding the Bonstelle Theatre and incorporating the renovated Hilberry Theatre. The project was in planning as early in 2010, and received funding in 2018. The theater opened with the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance production of ''

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, ...

'' in April 2023.

History

The Hilberry Gateway succeeds two earlier performance venues in

Midtown Detroit Midtown Detroit is a List of neighborhoods in Detroit, commercial and residential district located along the east and west side of M-1 (Michigan highway), Woodward Avenue, north of Downtown Detroit, and south of the New Center, Detroit, New Cent ...

, the Bonstelle Theatre and the Hilberry Theatre. Both venues were built as houses of worship in the early 20th century, and converted to theaters decades later. Scenic and costume shops were located in a separate facility, complicating the logistics of productions in both theaters. The university also highlighted the Hilberry Theatre's uncomfortable seating and climate controls in its planning for the new performance venues. Design work on the complex began in 2016. The university's Board of Governors approved $65 million in funding for the project in 2018 after over eight years of planning. The facility was initially expected to open in fall 2022.

Performance spaces

Proscenium theater

The 550-seat

proscenium A proscenium (, ) is the virtual vertical plane of space in a theatre, usually surrounded on the top and sides by a physical proscenium arch (whether or not truly "arched") and on the bottom by the stage floor itself, which serves as the frame ...

theater features a stage, with a

sprung floor A sprung floor is a floor that absorbs shocks, giving it a softer feel. Such floors are considered the best kind for dance and indoor sports and physical education, and can enhance performance and greatly reduce injuries. Modern sprung floors are ...

for dance performances, and an orchestra lift for musicals. The theater opened in April 2023 with a production of ''

.''

Studio Theater

The 250-seat,

black box theater A black box theater is a performance space, typically a square or rectangular room, with black walls and a black, flat floor. The simplicity of the space allows it to be used to create a variety of configurations of stage and audience interact ...

is the most flexible performance space in the complex. The space features a

tension grid A tension grid is a type of non-standard largely-transparent Catwalk (theater), catwalk. Tension grids are composed of tightly woven wire rope steel cables that create a taut floor strong enough for technicians to walk on. Benefits Lighting inst ...

for flexibility in configuring overhead equipment. The Studio Theater opened in May 2023 with the

Sarah Ruhl Sarah Ruhl (born January 24, 1974) is an American playwright, poet, professor, and essayist. Among her most popular plays are ''Eurydice'' (2003), '' The Clean House'' (2004), and '' In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play)'' (2009). She has been ...

adaptation of ''Orlando''.

Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center

The Gretchen C. Valade Jazz Center is the oldest portion of the complex, as a major renovation of the existing Hilberry Theatre. The Valade Jazz Center will be a 350-seat performance hall, featuring revised acoustics, seating, and support spaces. The Valade Jazz Center is named after the late Gretchen C. Valade, longtime patron of the Detroit Jazz Festival, and major supporter of the Hilberry Gateway construction. The building was constructed as the First Church of Christ, Scientist in 1917 in the Roman Ionic style, and is a

contributing property In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic dist ...

to the

Wayne State University Buildings The Wayne State University historic district consists of three buildings on 4735-4841 Cass Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Midtown Detroit, Michigan: the Mackenzie House (4735 Cass), Hilberry Theatre (Wayne State University), Hilberry Theatre (4743 ...

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...

. The building's life as a theatre began when the university purchased the building in 1961, reopening it in 1964 with a repertory season of four plays by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. The Hilberry closed in 2022, after 58 years, with a production of

The Merry Wives of Windsor ''The Merry Wives of Windsor'' or ''Sir John Falstaff and the Merry Wives of Windsor'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare first published in 1602, though believed to have been written in or before 1597. The Windsor of the play's title is a ref ...

Production Wing

The Production Wing houses fully-equipped costume, scenic, lighting, and properties shops, a design studio, dressing rooms, and offices. The Production Wing is located behind the proscenium theater's stage, with direct connections to the black box theater. The Production Wing replaces an offsite scenic and costume shop at 95 West Hancock St.

Construction

An integral part of the project was the relocation of the historic David Mackenzie House, the residence of the university's first president. The relocation was accomplished in 2019 over the course of three days, moving the house to another location on the same block. The newly constructed portions of the complex were built using

precast concrete Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable molding (process), mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples i ...

to accommodate the logistical challenges of building on the site.

References

External links

* {{Performing arts in Detroit Theatres in Detroit Theatres in Michigan Wayne State University