In the early 1920s and in preparation for building the UNCG Auditorium, University President Julius Foust and College Drama Director Thomas Taylor traveled to New York City to study theaters and concert halls as possible models. The corner site here in Greensboro presented a design opportunity for a hall with two façades—one facing Tate Street, the other Spring Garden Street—akin to the corner sites and twin façades of Carnegie Hall and the Old Metropolitan Opera House. Upon returning to Greensboro, Taylor quipped, “We liked the Metropolitan Opera House but thought it was a bit beyond us!”

Foust and Taylor made preliminary drawings for Greensboro architect Harry Barton who had recently designed the Guilford County Courthouse on W. Market Street. Barton sketched out twin façades for the Auditorium with Corinthian columns in a classical revival style to match the other buildings that he had previously designed on campus, including the Rosenthal Gym, Brown Building, and Bailey Residence Hall. Foust and Taylor intended the Auditorium for both musical and dramatic performances and for public assemblies. 

Barton designed a sloping balcony supported on a 160,000-pound girder, which completely spans the Auditorium without pillar support. A special railroad spur had to be temporarily constructed down Spring Garden Street to move the beam, which at the time was the largest built by the Richmond Iron and Steel Co. No crane in Greensboro was large enough to hoist the beam, so the crew from J.W. Markham Steel Erectors raised the beam foot by foot with hand jacks and stacked railroad ties underneath the beam as they moved it into place. Barton’s sober neo-classical façade proved a foil for the Auditorium’s vibrant Art Deco interior.

The University dedicated the Auditorium over Homecoming and Commencement weekend from June 3 to 6, 1927, and President Foust presciently wrote to alumni, “In my opinion nothing has been done within recent years which will mean so much to student life on the campus.” In its 95 years, the UNCG Auditorium has been a hub of artistic and cultural life in Greensboro and continues to serve two primary functions: as a performance space for the performing arts and as a place for students and community members to see the finest artists perform.

Since the 1927 dedicatory weekend, luminaires from all disciplines have graced the UNCG Auditorium stage, from composers John Philip Sousa and Sergei Rachmaninoff to Leonard Bernstein and Philip Glass, from actors Jessica Tandy and Charles Laughton to Audra McDonald and Winston Duke, from jazz greats Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie to Wynton Marsalis and Herbie Hancock, from dancers Margaret Graham and Alvin Ailey to Mark Morris and Camille A. Brown, from virtuosos Van Cliburn and Yo-Yo Ma to Renée Fleming and Joshua Bell, from popular artists Mel Tormé and Stevie Wonder to Dionne Warwick and Emmylou Harris, and from authors Thomas Mann and Carl Sandburg to Maya Angelou and Margaret Atwood, to name but a few.

The UNCG Concert and Lectures Series and its major benefactor Joseph M. Bryan, Jr. enable the world’s top performing artists to present public performances in the Auditorium and to hold masterclasses and talk backs, which enrich our students’ education. A grant from The Cemala Foundation now makes it possible for many of these artists to hold special performances for Guilford County School children. Both the Auditorium and Concert and Lecture Series bring the University and our community together. Please join us on January 13, 2023, when the Indigo Girls take center stage in the venerable UNCG Auditorium!

Sincerely,

bruce d. mcclung, Dean

College of Visual and Performing Arts

I wish to acknowledge the helpful assistance of the staff of UNCG Libraries Special Collections and University Archives for my research on the Auditorium.

Jackson Cooper (’16 BA Theatre) was profiled in Southern Theatre magazine’s Fall 2022 issue as one of six rising leaders in the article “The Future of Arts Fundraising.”

Ashlei Chestnut (’15 BFA Acting) will portray the eldest daughter of Geordi LaForge (LeVar Burton) as Ensign Sidney La Forge, Helmsman of the U.S.S. Titan, in the upcoming third and final season of Star Trek: Picard beginning February 16, 2023 on Paramount+. Chestnut will also guest star this month as FBI Special Agent Summer Morehurst on NCIS: Los Angeles. 

Erin B. Dougherty (’07 MFA Theatre Production and Design) was recently promoted to Chair of the Department of Theatre at Catawba College. She is also Associate Professor of Costume Design and Costume Director.

Louisa Muller (’05 MM Vocal Performance and 2019 Recipient of the CVPA Distinguished Alumni Award in Music) recently conducted Ernani by Giuseppe Verdi at the Lyric Opera of Chicago with choristers Ken Donovan (’90 MM Vocal Performance) and Yvette Smith (’83 BM Vocal Performance).

Nancy Ellis Riggs (’85 BFA Acting) was recently spotlighted by the UNIMA-USA, the US branch of the international puppetry organization Union Internationale de la Marionnette, for her work with Piccadilly Puppets, which is based in Atlanta and provides puppetry experiences of highly artistic quality to young audiences of ethnically/culturally diverse populations.

David Wells (’80 MFA Theatre) is currently a regular on a new series Sprung, which premiered last month on the Freevee platform. Wells plays the father of the central character (played by Garrett Dillahunt) and plays opposite Emmy-Award-winning actress Susan Ruttan (for LA Law) who plays his wife. The show has received excellent reviews, including one from the New York Times, which calls it “warm and funny.”

David Grapes (’77 MFA Acting and Directing) will direct the world premiere of his latest musical revue, A Swinging Christmas—The Holiday Music of Tony Bennett, this month at Farmers Alley Theatre in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was created with fellow alumnus Todd Olson (’87 MFA Acting and Directing) as the latest edition to their Summerwind Productions theatrical licensing catalog.