The Roanoker - September / October 2018 - 36

Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis
plays at the Jefferson Center.

music lessons. Serving as a stage for premier
performances from nationally renowned jazz,
blues, soul, rock and country performers and
theater productions, the Jefferson Center
has grown into an arts and culture hub
attracting audiences from Roanoke and
around the region. Their 25th anniversary
calendar includes a variety of diverse events
and performances including Mavis Staples,
Brian McKnight, Marty Stuart, Alfredo
Rodriguez and Pedro Martinez Duo, Banff
Mountain Film Festival, The Laramie
Project, the Roanoke Children's Theater,
Opera Roanoke, Moscow Ballet and the
RSO. To view the full calendar and purchase
tickets, visit jeffcenter.org/events/all.
A n o t h e r R o a n o k e e nt e r t a i n m e nt

JEFFERSON CENTER: COURTESY OF JEFFERSON CENTER / "KINKY B OOTS": COURTESY OF THE BERGLUND CENTER

High School has been an anchor in downtown
Roanoke since it was built in 1922. Nearly
a decade after the school closed down, the
Jefferson Center Foundation was established
to direct the future of the historic building.
Out of the foundation, a public-private
partnership was formed to raise five million
dollars to renovate the building into a nonprofit to house organizations involved in
the performing arts, education, and social
services. And in 1993, the doors to what we
now know as the Jefferson Center opened
with 21 nonprofits taking up residence in the
Fralin Atrium. A few years later, Fitzpatrick
Hall opened for events, weddings, receptions,
meetings and conferences. And perhaps the
most visible piece of the Jefferson Center, the
Shaftman Performance Center, opened its
doors in 2001.
Over the last two and half decades, the
Jefferson Center has helped to stabilize
the communit y and bring world-class
performances to the Roanoke Va l ley.
Supporting their mission to provide broad
access to transformational arts education
opportunities, the center is an educational
hub with programs including Music Lab
at Jefferson Center, the Jazz Institute and
the Song Project, as well as offering private

mainstay, Broadway in Roanoke, is also
celebrating a big milestone. With over 135
titles, many with more than one performance
and over 200,000 tickets sold since its
creation, Berglund Center kicks off the
Silver Anniversary season of Broadway in
Roanoke with "Menopause the Musical" in
October.
For over t wo decades, Broadway in
Roanoke has provided Southwest Virginians
with the opportunity to see some of the
greatest Broadway musicals and dramas
to ever tour outside of New York City.
Since launching the first Broadway series
at Berglund Center (then Roanoke Civic
Center) in 1993, producers have brought
the best of Broadway to Roanoke.
"We are pleased to present Broadwaycaliber productions at Berglund Performing
Arts Theatre each year," says General
Manager Robyn Schon. "Seeing a show on
Broadway in NYC is a great experience,
but not everyone has the luxuries of time
and money to travel there. So, we bring
those shows to them so that they can enjoy
multiple performances of the greatest talent
and titles to ever hit the stage."
Broadway in Roanoke is presented by
Berglund Center and JAM Theatricals and

"Kinky Boots" performs on
Broadway at the Berglund Center.
36

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018

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