Celebrating the Opening of McVay Center for the Performing Arts
The grand opening of McVay Center for the Performing Arts provided a stunning centerpiece for the College’s mid-October Homecoming/Parents’ Weekend. The outcome of a nearly two-year renovation of Morey Field House (built in 1936), the McVay Center retains the dignity of the original Maybeck structure while providing the advantages of up-to-date performance spaces featuring state-of-the-art equipment.
McVay Center for the Performing Arts includes a much-needed, 325-seat theatre—named after Academy Award-winner and Principia alum Robert Duvall (US’49, C’53), who credits Principia with introducing him to acting. Filling the gap between the 150-seat Davis Black Box and the 1,100-seat Cox Auditorium, this theatre frees faculty from the constraints of staging only those plays suited to very intimate or very large spaces.
Structurally elegant and technically well appointed, the McVay Center includes these key features:
- Modified proscenium/thrust stage
- Orchestra pit and pit lift system
- Shared dance studio/lobby
- Initial components of an orchestral shell
- LED theatrical lighting system—the first fully LED system on the campus
- New dressing rooms and green room
For the grand opening show (performed twice during the weekend), the Music Department and Theatre and Dance Department collaborated in the creation of “Celebrating Morey and McVay: Retrospective and Renaissance.” In addition to a ribbon cutting, the show featured musical, theatrical, and dance performances as well as video presentations. The performance pieces included classical orchestral, choral, and theatrical selections as well as original compositions in dance, theatre, and music, all representing a wide array of styles ranging from Bach to Broadway and reaching from Shakespeare to the digital age. Fifty students performed, and 14 faculty members participated, as well as two guest artists.
Gratitude permeated the grand opening performances—and the atmosphere. Deep appreciation for this fully donor-funded renovation abounded among performers and audience members alike. Mary (Myers, JC’51) McVay, the lead donor after whom the building is named, took part in the ribbon cutting at the initial performance. “Principia was a wonderful experience for me, and I enjoyed it so very much,” she commented in advance of opening night.
Along with gratitude, excitement was palpable among the faculty, in particular, as they imagined the performances now possible, thanks to this beautiful, new space.
Enjoy this short slideshow from the grand opening performance, and watch a video about the McVay Center. You can also read coverage of the opening in The Telegraph, the local Alton newspaper.