George Foreman in the Norton Center for the Arts' Newlin Hall, which, under his watch, has hosted a who's who of classical music superstars. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

The third part of “Building Arts Communities,” the series the Herald-Leader has partnered with WEKU-FM 88.9 to present, aired this morning with me looking at Lexington and Central Kentucky’s arts venues. I visited Danville, Richmond and talked to several officials and artists in Lexington to see what we have and what we need.

Click here to hear my report. A transcript of the radio-version of the story is below.

The print version of this story turned out quite different. Click here to read it.

By Rich Copley | Lexington Herald-Leader/WEKU News

Over 26 years, George Foreman has built Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts into an unlikely arts destination.  Acts that have appeared in 1,450-seat Newlin Hall are a who’s who of classical music, including Yo-Yo Ma and Kathleen Battle. And there have been pop stars like Willie Nelson and Broadway productions such as Rent.

“We’ve worked very hard to brand this place as, No. 1, being a place of exceptional quality in terms of the artists that we bring in and, secondly, the patron services are really quite nice.”

One reason Foreman could do this is he had a theatre with enough space and flexibility.  It can accommodate a wide variety of shows and the large audiences who want to see them. While the Norton Center has built a loyal audience in Danville, Foreman says more than half of its audience comes from outside Boyle County.  In addition to having a big, flexible theater, the Norton Center had another advantage….

“One reason the Norton Center has been as successful as it has been is there really is not a serious level of competition in Lexington . . . If there was someone in Lexington with a proper large theater doing the same kinds of things we’ve done here, at the same level of quality, with the same patron amenities and so forth, do you think people would drive here instead of staying in Lexington?”

At this point, some people may ask, “What about Lexington’s Singletary Center for the Arts?” or “What about the Lexington Opera House?”

Lexington is a city with an interesting mix of venues. Observers say they suit some purposes very well and fall far short in others.

At nearly 15-hundred seats, the Singletary Center has a seating capacity equal to the Norton Center. But it is built as a concert hall.  There is little backstage space to accommodate dance or theatrical productions. The Lexington Opera House is the primary venue for those disciplines. But built in the late 19^th Century, its backstage space falls far short of 21^st Century industry standards. And at just under 900 seats, it is one of the smallest venues in the country to present touring Broadway productions.  One thing Lexington’s missing is a  theater that can seat 25-hundred people.

Currently, the audiences best served by Lexington’s performing venues are musicians, says Jim Clark, who’s President and CEO of LexArts. LexArts raises money and advocates for local arts.

“What’s really striking is the number seats that exist in legitimate venues in the downtown area.  I have said for a number of years that this is a festival town waiting to happen because you’ve got all of these small venues to large venues to medium-sized venues, especially if it were a festival related to music, poetry or other forms of spoken word, it could accommodate a wide variety of disciplines.”

That idea appeals to Lexington Mayor Jim Newberry.

“One of the things Jim Clark has talked about that I think makes a lot of sense is trying to capitalize on our existing facilities and our church facilities to begin to think about having a sacred music festival in Lexington  — one that would bring together people of multiple faiths and traditions.”

Clark points to Charleston, South Carolina, and the Spoleto Festival as an example of a community without a great theater infrastructure. But he says Charleston has capitalized on what it does have to put itself on the international arts map.

That said, Clark and Newberry acknowledge that in smaller venues, Lexington has a serious deficit in traditional theater spaces.

“It’s the largest city I know of that really doesn’t have a true theatrical space.”

Michael Grice directs the Singletary Center for the Arts. He’s also a director and producer of local plays.

(”Smoke on the Mountain” ambience)

In the summer of 2008, his Bluegrass Theater Company produced the gospel musical “Smoke on the Mountain” at Studio Players’ Carriage House Theatre. But since then, he has not put on another show.  He can’t find a stage.   In addition to that 25-hundred-seat theater for major acts, Grice and others say Lexington also needs a modern theater that seats a few hundred people.

“The Downtown Arts Center is too small. It doesn’t have the wing space, the backstage space, and it certainly does not have the audience space to do a theatrical production in which you hope you will make your investment back so you can do another one, as has been proven. It’s not working. The Opera House is a great place to do some kinds of plays, but it’s a very expensive proposition.”

Many of Lexington’s theater artists look longingly west to Woodford County’s Falling Springs Arts and Recreation Center where The Woodford Theatre performs in a 304-seat theater.  It has plenty of space on, behind and above the stage - not to mention state-of-the-art lighting and sound.  Director Ave Lawyer has put up two productions there, and has directed on most of Lexington’s stages.

“Woodford is a real theater. You walk in there and you say, ‘Yes, this is how it should be.’ Absolutely. And it would be lovely if we had that sort of space here. I just don’t see that happening anytime soon.”

In a tight economy, artists, administrators and even politicians have a hard time seeing where the political will would come from to fund that idyllic 300-to-500 seat theater actors and directors long for.  LexArt’s Jim Clark says the development of the Distillery District, a proposed arts and entertainment district northwest of downtown Lexington, may provide some opportunity for that sort of space.

There’s actually a clearer path to the 2,500 seat performing arts theater in Lexington that could accommodate first-run Broadway productions, concerts by artists such as James Taylor and become a regional attraction. Many people thought Lexington missed its chance in the 1990s, when the city spent state funds earmarked for a performing arts center on new courthouses. But Lexington Center President and CEO Bill Owen says,

” . . . it’s coming around again.”

There has recently been a lot of discussion about replacing Rupp Arena, the 23,000-seat home of the University of Kentucky basketball team and blockbuster concerts by acts such as U2 and Bruce Springsteen. Lost in those discussions, Owen says, are plans to convert Rupp into a 25-hundred-seat theater. It would be expensive, but Owen says redoing Rupp would be much cheaper than building a whole new facility.

“It’s a question of when. This is a concept, work plan, which the Lexington Center Board and the Downtown Development Authority feel has merit to pursue.”

Owen says a new arena and theater are probably at least five years down the road. Long before that, though, central Kentucky should already have such a theater.

“The new center for the performing arts, its primary facility will be a 2,000-seat, Broadway-capable theater.”

Doug Whitlock is the president of Eastern Kentucky University.  EKU is building that new venue, slated to open in 2011. The facility is a cooperative project between the University and the cities of Richmond and Berea.

“It will certainly be a venue for Eastern groups, be a great asset to our instructional and performing programs in music and theater. But we also envision bringing in a variety of first-rate performers all the way from Broadway roadshows to small dance troupes, not unlike the program at the Norton Center.”

Whitlock says Eastern doesn’t aim to compete with the Norton Center. But bringing in a new facility, particularly on the I-75 corridor will alter the dynamic of performing arts offerings in central Kentucky. And if Lexington introduces yet another big venue . . . well, George Foreman won’t need to worry about it.  He’s leaving the Norton Center for a job at the University of Georgia. But Foreman says,

“I think the next four-to-five years here are going to be very interesting for the performing arts.”