A NEW ERA OF ENTERTAINMENT

The curtain rises on The Smith Center’s second decade in business

By Heather Turk

Postmodern Jukebox’s The Grand Reopening Tour stops by Reynolds Hall on June 17 at 7:30 p.m.

It’s hard to imagine Las Vegas having any type of entertainment void, but back in 1994, a group of Southern Nevada community leaders met to discuss a bold idea: they wanted to create a world-class performing arts center in the Entertainment Capital of the World.

While it took nearly 20 years of planning and fundraising, The Smith Center for the Performing Arts finally opened on March 10, 2012. The $470 million attraction in downtown Las Vegas instantly became a cultural hub where people could gather to enjoy highcaliber performances at one of its four performance spaces: the 2,050-seat Reynolds Hall, the 244-seat Myron’s at The Smith Center, the 250-seat Troesh Studio Theater and the 1.7-acre Donald W. Reynolds Symphony Park.

“Celebrating our 10th anniversary this spring wasn’t just a milestone for The Smith Center, but for all of Southern Nevada,” said Myron Martin, The Smith Center’s president and CEO. “It’s only because the entire community embraced our mission that we’ve been able to present hundreds of world-class music, theater and dance shows each year, completely changing the performing arts scene here as we know it.”

The Smith Center will continue to showcase a wide range of programming this June through August, from concerts by pop-jazz phenomenon Postmodern Jukebox on June 17 and pianist John Tesh on June 18 to a multimedia presentation with wildlife photographer Brian Skerry on July 16 as part of the

John Tesh will perform two intimate concerts inside Myron’s at The Smith Center on June 18 at 3 and 7 p.m.

National Geographic Live Speaker Series. Additionally, it will kick off its 2022-2023 Broadway Las Vegas Series with performances of the hit musical comedy “The Prom” Aug. 2 through 7 and the Tony and Grammy Award-winning musical “Hadestown” Aug. 23 through 28.

With so many can’t-miss shows on the horizon, there’s no doubt The Smith Center has plenty more milestone anniversaries to celebrate in its future. thesmithcenter.com

Since opening 10 years ago, The Smith Center has been heralded as Las Vegas’ Heart of the Arts

Photo Postmodern Jukebox’s The Grand Reopening Tour by Dana Lynn Pleasant; John Tesh and The Smith Center exterior courtesy of The Smith Center