Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (Orlando, USA)
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts
![Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts](https://gocomgo.com/gallery/1200x600/theatres_1180_1703444446.jpg)
Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts (commonly known as Dr. Phillips Center) is a performing arts center in Downtown Orlando, Florida, United States. It joined the Bob Carr Theater, which originally opened as the Orlando Municipal Auditorium in 1927, to become Orlando's main performance venue. The center's grand opening was held on November 6, 2014.
The venue was approved along with a new Amway Center (which replaced the Amway Arena) and improvements to the Camping World Stadium after a series of hearings and votes, culminating in final votes in the Orange County Board of County Commissioners on July 26, 2007, and the Orlando City Council on August 6, 2007.
The design for the new venue was revealed on August 21, 2008. The venue features a 2,700-seat amplified hall, Walt Disney Theater, for Broadway musicals and multi-genre concerts as well as a 300-seat venue, Alexis & Pugh Theater, for smaller shows and events. The third theater, Steinmetz Hall, a 1,700-seat multiform theater achieves an N1 sound rating–the highest possible acoustical rating. The acoustically remarkable Steinmetz Hall can transform into three different theater styles (symphony concert hall, proscenium hall, and banquet hall) to accommodate multiple events and performances. Construction for Steinmetz Hall began on March 6, 2017 and officially opened on January 14, 2022. The final performance space to complete the arts center is Judson's, a dynamic music room with cabaret-style seating to host intimate events and live entertainment. Judson's is slated to open in 2023.
The center occupies two city blocks. Some of the existing structures demolished to clear room for the center include Orlando Fire Department Station #1 (which moved to Central Blvd.); an annex building of First United Methodist Church of Orlando; and the round American Federal Building, constructed in the 1960s. The center is bordered by Orange Ave. to the west, South St. to the north, Rosalind Ave. to the east, and Anderson St. to the south. Magnolia Ave. bisects the property.
The first Broadway production to play the Walt Disney Theater was Cameron Mackintosh's new, non-replica production of The Phantom of the Opera.