Gallo Center for the Arts raises the bar

by Marsha Fickas

My mission is to find the best of the regional cultural offerings. I have a background in the arts, radio, and journalism. I am very happy to see cultural venues sprouting up in and round the Central Valley, Tracy, and East Contra Costa County. For more about me visit www.blisswing.net.

The most exciting and prominent addition is Modesto's Gallo Center for the Arts. It opened last September and has quickly raised the bar with cultural entertainment and education programs drawing world-class regional, national, and international performers to downtown Modesto, the Central Valley and adjoining regions. Audiences are flocking by the thousands. Some 90,000 people have come to the Gallo Center for the Arts since it opened.

The busy 84,000 square foot facility stages performances in two theaters fully equipped with state-of-the art sound and lighting equipment as well as ideal seating design to ensure a pleasant viewing experience from every seat. The beautiful Mary Stuart Rogers Theater accommodates 1,250, ideal for larger attractions and the more intimate Foster Family Theater seats 444. Both theaters are designed with acoustic noise control and soundproofing curtains offering simultaneous operation capabilities.

The Gallo Center for the Arts is home to four resident companies, the Central West Ballet, Modesto Community Concerts Association, Modesto Symphony Orchestra, and Townsend Opera Players. For regional thespians and performers, the facility offers the opportunity to stage their craft in a state-of-the-art world-class facility. Dreams are made of this.

With a spectacular schedule of quality performers and touring shows, the Gallo Center for the Arts has something for everyone. The 2008 programming schedule is pumped with appeal offering George Gershwin’s classic “Porgy and Bess” opening on February 24 where you can hear the famous “Summertime,” presented by Modesto’s own Townsend Opera Players. The angelic voices of the soprano and alto Vienna Boys Choir are listed on March 8, and a must see the Blind Boys of Alabama with their fervent blend of traditional and contemporary Gospel music on March 16. If you are looking for spectacular acrobatics check out the Zunyi Acrobats of China: Le Cirque D’amour on March 30.

Also appearing in the months ahead will be the Tchaikovsky Ballet and Orchestra, The Pink Floyd Experience that echoes everything that made Pink Floyd one of rock and rolls greatest icons, Bravo Beethoven, Cameron Mackintosh’s “Miss Saigon,” the longest running show in Broadway history “Cats,” the George Burns play “Say Goodnight Gracie,” “Cinderella,” Corazon de Mexico, and “Love, Janis,” a musical on the life and music of rock-n-roll icon Janis Joplin. And the beat goes on in a breathless array.

For detailed programming information or facility rental please contact the Gallo Center for the Arts at (209) 338-5000 or visit their website at www.galloarts.org where tickets can be purchased online. Facilities are accessible for all patrons including special needs.