A few of us just returned from a cool field trip to the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts construction site, where a guy named Doug Curtis took us on a hard-hat tour. Curtis is the vice president of design and construction for the DCPA, meaning he knows a thing or two about a thing or two. They’re going like crazy down there, about 600 guys working on both the Winspear and Wyly. Yes, North Texas needs some rain. But these guys would be happy to have things stay dry a bit longer. The whole joint is scheduled to open in October.
Here you see pictured, from left, Eric Celeste, Doug Curtis, and friend of the show Willard Spiegelman. Want more photos? Of course you do. For now, you can jump. And before too long, the greatness that is Kyle Kearbey will have a video for your eyes.
(from top) 1. The exterior of the Winspear Opera House. That area where you see the white pickup will be a plaza. The louvers in the roof are angled precisely for the site, to provide shade efficiently. 2. The stage of the Winspear, looking out to where the audience of 2,200 will sit. I was struck by how enormous the stage itself was but how intimate the house felt, even in its unfinished state. 3. The Wyly Theater. Doug said they’re using as many local subcontractors as possible (shout out to Alamo Glass), but with so many unique and highly technical features, it’s tough. 4. Looking back on the Winspear from inside the Wyly. 5. The interior of the 600-seat Wyly. Doug thinks of the place as being like a Transformer. Kevin Moriarty is going to have a blast with all the different ways he can configure that place.
