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The Rialto Center for the Arts is an 833-seat performing-arts venue owned and operated by Georgia State University and located in the heart of the Fairlie-Poplar district in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. An intimate, cultural centerpiece of the city, the venue is home to the Rialto Series, an annual subscription series featuring the best of national and international jazz, world music, and dance. The Rialto also routinely presents Georgia State University School of Music performances, the annual National Black Arts Festival, and many others. ==History== In the fall of 1916, a 925-seat theater, the Southeast's largest movie house, opened in the Central Business District (and the original theater district) of Atlanta. The theater was called the “Rialto,” which is defined as an exchange or a marketplace. The Rialto continued to operate throughout the Depression, and at one point even boasted the largest electric sign south of New York City above its marquee. In 1962, the original theater building was torn down, and a new 1,200-seat Rialto was erected on the same site. It was the first movie theater to be constructed in downtown Atlanta in 35 years and remained open until 1989 before falling victim to a declining downtown economy. In 1991, Dr. Richard Koehler, then-director of the School of Music at Georgia State University, was approached by a real estate consultant about relocating the School to several vacant buildings in the block bounded by Forsyth, Luckie, Fairlie, and Poplar streets. As an advocate for a downtown performing arts center, Dr. Koehler quickly recognized the opportunities offered by a move to this historic district: a chance for Georgia State to make a major cultural contribution to the city with a first-class performance hall and an avenue for the University to further weave itself into the fabric of downtown Atlanta. Following a successful $14-million fund-raising campaign, led by Georgia State University President Carl V. Patton and A.W. "Bill" Dahlberg, a GSU alumnus and then-president of the Southern Company, construction began in the fall of 1994 on the old Rialto Theater and the adjacent Haas-Howell and Standard Buildings. Extensive renovations were needed to make the Rialto a state-of-the-art concert and performance hall. In March 1996, the reopening of the 833-seat Rialto Center for the Performing Arts marked a turning point in the revitalization of an historic section of downtown Atlanta. Since this time, more than 600,000 patrons have experienced performances ranging from theater to dance to musical offerings including jazz, blues, rock, and classical. The 1960s-era Rialto Theater was successfully transformed into a first-class performance venue. The Rialto Center for the Arts now boasts superb acoustics after the theater's roof was raised 12 feet. Interior renovations included a larger lobby to handle patrons; box office facilities; ADA-accessible improvements; a new stage with a proscenium; an orchestra pit; and 833 new seats. The eight-floor Haas-Howell Building houses the backstage facilities, the Dahlberg Room (the theatre’s Green Room), and administrative offices for the Rialto Center on the second and third floors. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rialto Center for the Arts」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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