Virginia Performing Arts Foundation DBA CenterStage Foundation

As a child growing up in Richmond, we looked forward to going downtown to attend concerts, river activities and shopping. Having CenterStage open again to attend ballet, symphony and theatre performances with my teenage daughter has been so enjoyable. I know these memories will stay with her forever, as it has for me. I appreciate the volunteers and community leaders that made this happen for the Richmond community.

I love Richmond's newest venue. It is absolutely beautiful and a much needed addition to Richmond. There is plenty of parking within easy walking distance. There are different sized theaters for music, dance and theatre performances. I love the fact that the Richmond Symphony has its Lollipops series here. The tickets for those performances are so reasonably priced. I hope to see the venue develop its arts education programs in the future, it would be wonderful to see full-day summer camps for kids that utilize the venue.

The arrival of CenterStage in Richmond has been transformational to the cultural life of this region and to downtown Richmond. I have enjoyed performances by the symphony, ballet, and Alvin Ailey Dance in the beautiful and historic Carpenter Theatre. The employees and volunteers are both professional and welcoming. I know that we can expect even more diverse offerings in the future, as well as tremendous educational opportunities for young people throughout the region. Thank you to CenterStage for making such a difference in my life!

CenterStage encompases not only three beautiful venues for thee performing arts it has space for visual art exhibits. The educational part of CenterStage offers teachers and students K-12 performing arts experience through lesson plans developed to enhance the Virginia standards of learning through digital streaming to the classroom. It is a classroom experience that has been dropped from most curriculum through budget cuts.

My husband, Rick and I are both supporters of Center Stage. My husband works for Dominion Power downtown at the Tredegar location and owns a condo in the Miller and Rhoades building overlooking the Carpenter Center. We enjoy walking right across the street to attend some of the magnificent performances that Center Stage has provided to Richmond. Our two favorites of the 2010 season was the living legend, Tony Bennett and the incredible talents the multi Grammy Award winning jazz musician - Arturo Sandoval.
signed - Carolyn Anderson

As soon as CenterStage opened its doors, my life in Richmond changed for the best! I grew up in Paris and was constantly seeking more cultural experiences in this city. Since CenterStage opened, I have attended nearly all of the Richmond Symphony performances, many ballets, theatre productions, and just Monday night I saw the "Bale folklorico de Bahia."
CenterStage's programming is outstanding, bringing life to Richmond by providing us with opportunities to see world-class performances right here in our backyard.
As a student, it has been great to take friends to see some of these shows. The student ticket prices are so affordable and I truly appreciate the fact that they offer these for us - these cultural excursions are far more exciting than any house party!
I am an avid advocate for the arts and am thrilled to be a part of a community that appreciates and welcomes a variety of performing arts right here at CenterStage.

We in Richmond are so fortunate to have a facility like CenterStage. The variety of high-quality performance venues, the beautiful blending of new and old (thanks for leaving the Thalhimer brick walls outside the Gottwald!), the professionalism of the staff, and, thankfully, LADIES' RESTROOMS THAT ARE LARGE ENOUGH!!! Thank you for making such a great facility available to us.

...what a wonderful collection of venue offerings and amenities. ...a top quality operation here in Richmond!

The Gottwald Theater at Richmond Center Stage is an exciting venue for intimate theater productions. The staff is professional and the space is beautiful. "A Winter's Tale" by Shakespeare was most enjoyable in this space. I look forward to attending many more productions.

I was there for the grand opening of Center Stage on 9/12/2009 and many, many times since then. I have taken my elementary and middle school sons there for numerous performances, thankful that I can expose them to such top-rate cultural events. I am a regular patron of the ballet, symphony and opera, and the pre-symphony and pre-opera lectures in Rhythm Hall are great. Center Stage offers the opportunity for educational outreach, such as a business/cultural/educational event I attended there just yesterday about Brazil. Center Stage is vital to the cultural/educational outreach and enrichment of not only our city, but our Commonwealth.

Richmond Center Stage has brought the City into the 21st century, with grace, style, and great entertainment. Finally!!

The Richmond Center Stage is a wonderful venue. I have attended several special shows there with my family and have been very impressed with how professional it is run. The employees / staff are very polite and helpfull. However there is one area in particular where the Center Stage has fallen down. That is the lack of attention to the WurliTzer Theatre Organ and lack of response to me and others who have a great deal of intrest in hearing this wonderful instrument again. It has been restored and yet remains silent , nerver to be heard by the public. There are a number of both local and national theatre organists who are quite able to perform concerts on the instrument , yet it remains silent. This continues to be a real mistery to me and others who visit the Richmond Center Stage. What a shame such a wonderful venue has allowed this neglect to take place. I can only hope that someone will wake up and allow this beautiful instrument be heard once again as in the days of Eddie Weaver and the like. It would be a real shame to allow this neglect to contine any longer as there are only a handfull of these wonderful instruments still in existance anywhere. This could really put the Richmond Center Stage on the musical map for the east coast with those interested in Theatre Organ music.

Our son is a gifted high school age artist who has had the chance to play violin in one of the Richmond Symphony's youth orchestras and to dance with the Richmond Ballet at this incredible performance venue.

CenterStage offers a wide range of superb rehearsal and performance spaces for dance, music, and theater.

Our family feels as if we have a second home there at CenterStage with a supportive and positive staff in addition to world class facilities.

As an administrator with Goochland Public Schools, I know how important the arts curriculum can be for our students. CenterStage has been a tremendous partner in giving to our community the opportunity to see, feel, hear, touch and taste the arts through the outreach to our rural community. Thanks to the leadership and vision of CenterStage, Goochland students can be part of the events and the learning that takes place. They can also appreciate the artistic talent that comes to the stage.

One specific example is the high quality digital communication that is offered through the digital learning center. This is particularly important to our drama and tv production programs. We value CenterStage.

wonderful venue and great acoustics!! have been to several events there, and the experience has been exceptional. i wish other well know artists would come to Richmond and play at this extrodinary venue. look forward to many more trips there