Company Profile
Overture Center for the Arts
Company Overview
Overture Center exists to engage the community with innovative programming and performing arts. In addition to housing ten resident companies, seven performance spaces play host to national and international touring artists and Broadway performers. More than a dozen community engagement and educational programs provide over 200,000 extraordinary artistic experiences every year.
Company History
In 1928, the Capitol Theater opened its doors to the public. Designed by Rapp & Rapp, the Capitol was a marvelous example of the opulent movie houses built for the silent age. Uniformed ushers escorted guests to seats to watch vaudeville acts and feature-length shows with international stars. The theater boasted the latest modern conveniences, including a Grand Barton theater organ, custom built by the Barton Musical Instrument Company of Oshkosh.
When sound ushered in a new era of entertainment, the theater found itself amid a rebirth as one of the city’s most popular concert halls. Between 1940 and 1970, the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, Perry Como, and the Beach Boys graced its stage.
In 1974, Mayor Paul Soglin announced groundbreaking for the Madison Civic Center. The Capitol Theater was reborn as the Oscar Mayer Theater. The Civic Center would also encompass a smaller theater named the Isthmus Playhouse, and the Madison Art Center.
In the 1980s and 1990s, the Oscar Mayer hosted Broadway shows and touring acts from all over the country. The theater became the home of local groups like the Madison Symphony Orchestra, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Madison Opera, and Madison Ballet. But by the mid-1990s, it was showing its age. A group of local arts leaders put their heads together and set their sights on a new, modern, larger performing arts center.
In 1997, Jerry Frautschi delighted the community by pledging $50 million to build Overture Center for the Arts. Two years later, he pledged another $50 million. When all was said and done, he had donated $205 million — the largest single gift to the arts in American history to date.
Overture Hall opened in September 2004. Celebrations included 10 days of performances. The national tour of Phantom of the Opera was the first Broadway show to open on an Overture stage. The Oscar Mayer Theater, Isthmus Playhouse, and Madison Art Center were completely renovated and reopened as the Capitol Theater, restored to its original designation and look; The Playhouse; and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.