The Performing Arts Project

The Denver Center for the Performing Arts goes back to the vision of Donald Seawell. In the early seventies he looked at the general area around 14th and Curtis in downtown Denver and got an idea for a first-class arts complex. He knew the time was right for Denver and was able to connect with all the right people. Construction started in 1975 and by 1978 Boettcher Concert Hall, the nation's first in-the-round concert hall, was completed, along with an eight-story, 1,700-space parking garage. The facility is now a preferred stop on the Broadway touring circuit and is well known for acting classes and its rental facilities.

April Alsup at DCPA (center looking northeast)

Current Venues:
Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre — 2,880 seats
Ellie Caulkins Opera House — 2,225 seats
Seawell Ballroom — 1,095 capacity
Wolf Theatre — 610 seats
Kilstrom Theatre — 380 seats
Singleton Theatre — 200 seats
Garner Galleria Theatre — 210 seats
Jones Theatre — 200 seats
Weeks Conservatory Theatre — 185 seats

April Alsup at DCPA (center looking east)

By 1979 the Auditorium Theatre had been renovated, creating the state-of-the-art Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The Helen G. Bonfils Theatre Complex opened with four theatres now known as The Wolf, The Singleton, The Kilstrom, and The Jones theatres. The Temple Hoyne Buell Theatre was completed in 1991 and the Seawell Grand Ballroom was added in 1998. The Weeks Conservatory Theatre opened in 2002 while the Ellie Caulkins Opera House was completely renovated in 2005. Today, the DCPA is the thriving performing arts faciltity that Donald imagined way back when.

April Alsup at DCPA (rear looking southwest)

DCPA Education was added in 1991 as a community school for children and adults in a professional setting. The department now engages with more than 142,000 students through on-site classes, in-school programs and its annual Theatre for Young Audiences Production. The Performing Arts Project is not directly affiliated with the organization, but our theatre resources are often involved with the various aspects of theatre making at the center.