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The Top Eight American Theatrical Centers

This research will examine the eight top American theatrical centers in the U.S. The research will set forth the background for the establishment of performing-arts centers in certain major urban areas of the country and then discuss the focus of each such facility, with a view toward identifying the attributes of each center's operation and the scope of activity in which each center engages.

To adequately appreciate the standing that a performing arts center has in any major urban area, it may be useful to look at the social function that the concept of performing arts has served in the U.S. in general. From the acting company formed by William Hallam in 1752 in Williamsburg, Virginia (Hewitt 12-12), to the present day, theatrical performance appears to have held popular appeal with the public at large. On the other hand, there appears to have been a historic pattern of suspicion toward the social integrity of theatrical performers and impresarios, and more generally toward the very notion of theatre as extravagance. This does not mean that as individuals these public and officials were immune to the charms of the performing arts. It does mean that from the earliest period of American history the theatre in its many configurations was apart from the mainstream. The theatre more generally appears to have been considered an extravagance, particularly where other matters were more pressing. Hewitt cites a resolution of the first Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1774, which vowed to encourage "frugality, economy, and industry, and . . . arts . . . and will discountenance and discourage every species of extravagance an dissipation, especially . . . exhibitions of shews, plays, and other expensive diversions" (Hewitt 30). Part of this double vision can undoubtedly be attributed to the Revolutionary War, but the residue of influential and anti-theatre New England Puritanism on American social mores. What this came down to was that ...

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The Top Eight American Theatrical Centers. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 19:50, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1709557.html