There must have been some skeptics when the performance venues that later became UNLV's Performing Arts Center were created 30 years ago.
The campus already had the 550-seat Judy Bayley Theatre. With only 7,810 students on campus and only about 350,000 people living in the Las Vegas Valley, was building a concert hall with more than 1,800 seats really a good idea?
After all, if locals wanted more entertainment, they could rub shoulders with the tourists on the Strip lining up to see Frank Sinatra and Liberace. Would they really come to UNLV for classical concerts, ballets, and other such arts events?
The PAC's leaders quelled the naysayers with a Field of Dreams philosophy: "If you build it, they will come."
Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall opened its doors in 1976 and became — along with the Bayley — the nucleus of what today is known as the UNLV Performing Arts Center.
Since that time, the two facilities have been host to a variety of performances — some traditionally classical, some not — ranging from student plays to performances by violinist Itzhak Perlman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the amazing National Acrobats of Taiwan, and the comedic Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo.
And, as the PAC celebrates its 30th season during the 2005-06 academic year with a season titled "Our Greatest Performances," things show no signs of slowing down.
Concerts by such diverse groups as the Russian National Orchestra and Rockapella will be complemented by performances by the Ailey II dance troupe and by Broadway musical (and Cheers) star Bebe Neuwirth.
On top of that, the College of Fine Arts will present plays ranging from the musical Carnival!; to the Scopes "monkey trial" play, Inherit the Wind; and Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Bayley.
And those lists don't include the hefty schedule of performances slated for the PAC's Black Box Theatre or the college's Doc Rando Recital Hall and intimate Paul Harris Theatre.
Audiences can expect such diversity and volume of programming to continue as the PAC enters its fourth decade, say those most closely associated with its operation.
"As both our campus and our city continue to grow, you will also see continuing growth in the arts at UNLV," says Larry Henley, the PAC's director of artistic programming and production. "Just think about the changes that are going on both on and off campus — the Las Vegas we see today is not the Las Vegas we will see in another 10 or 20 years. Our city is just starting to look like it will later this century."
Henley says he often travels to other cities and takes note of what kinds of the arts offerings are available. Las Vegas and UNLV hold up well in comparison, he says.
"The arts at UNLV are just on the brink of a potential that is vast," says Henley, whose first connection to the PAC came when he was a UNLV undergraduate and performed in a production of The Threepenny Opera. "We are going to be an incredible artistic resource for Southern Nevada in the years to come, just as we have been for the past 30 years."
The PAC's development will continue to be fueled by growth in the College of Fine Arts, says college Dean Jeff Koep, who also oversees the PAC.
"Our college has nearly tripled its enrollment in the last 10 years," he says. "I believe it will continue to grow, which automatically means an increase in the arts at UNLV. I'm particularly excited about one facet of the arts that is relatively new to UNLV — entertainment engineering."
Entertainment engineering is, just as it sounds, a melding of two distinctly different disciplines, Koep says. "We see entertainment engineering used all along the Strip, whether it's in a Cirque du Soleil performance or the dancing waters at the Bellagio."
UNLV, Koep says, is in a unique position to be a leader in this relatively new field. "Not too many universities have launched entertainment engineering programs," he says. "And the Strip will provide our students the best technical laboratory in the world."
UNLV, through both the College of Fine Arts and the Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering, now offers a minor in entertainment engineering. Koep predicts that a major in the field will be available by the end of this academic year.
Both Koep and Henley agree that plans for a new multimillion-dollar performing arts venue downtown will not hamper the PAC's continued development.
"I know that Southern Nevada is large enough to support more than one successful performing arts center," Koep says, adding that the other center's mission may be somewhat different from that of the PAC. "For instance, if it brings in Broadway road shows for somewhat lengthy runs, that's different from anything we're doing."
As more art — be it theater, dance, music, or visual art — is available, the appetite for such offerings will only grow, Henley predicts. "I think the patron is going to be the winner," he says, adding that with multiple performing arts centers, fans will be able to indulge their tastes more often.
"It will be important for the two centers to coordinate their schedules somewhat," Henley says, pointing out that for both centers to present a major symphony orchestra on the same night would be foolish.
Continuing a successful arts program at UNLV, however, requires updating and improving its venues, says Lori James, the PAC's director of finance and guest relations, who first worked at the PAC as an usher in 1980 while still a high school student. "We've had a couple of major renovations to Ham Concert Hall, beginning with the redecoration of the lobby in 1999. That changed the entire atmosphere in the lobby and made it a much more inviting place.
"We're expecting a similar positive reaction to our latest change in the concert hall; just last month we installed new, more comfortable seats in a lush Rebel red." Koep says he does not believe that UNLV's emphasis on expanding its research programs bodes ill for its arts programs.
"Some of the traditional research institutions such as UCLA and Michigan also have tremendous arts programs," he says. Henley agrees, asking, "What great research university doesn't have great performing arts? Look at the websites of the great research universities and you'll find the arts well-represented there.
"Besides, without the arts, you don't have well-rounded students — or a wellrounded community."
