Preview
Hylton Performing Arts Center
Manassas, Virginia
May 12, 2010
by George Jackson
copyright 2010 by George Jackson
Amazing that buildings planned before the big crash of 2008 are still being constructed! The city of Washington is full of them, especially in Near Northeast near the bus terminal and in Near Southeast near the baseball stadium. Mostly they remain vacant on completion but a few adventurous owners are letting theirs be used for the arts as free gallery space or as performance venues. It seems to pay off insofar as prospective tenants prefer a lively place to the haunted feel of empty rooms and corridors. Now, out of town in the middle of wherever, a new facility intended for the arts is opening its doors. The Hylton Performing Arts Center is located amidst stretches of forest and grassy slopes on a small campus of George Mason University in Virginia's Prince William County. In the distance towards the north and west are the Blue Ridge Mountains.
The Hylton's exterior curves and planes are mostly of copper panels and red brick. The building has two distinct heights - two stories for the broader, longer portion on the right as one approaches and nine stories, set back on the left, for what looks like the smokestack of a big steamship. Tan concrete is used for a layered arcade and its supporting columns that lead to the glass fronted lobby's windows and entrance doors. Another window, large and like a pyramid with its top lopped off, is set into the big smokestack's copper casing.
The smokestack is essentially an opera house - Merchant Hall - with 1100+ seats on 4 tiers. Sitting in the seats, the house has a horseshoe feel. Although the proscenium is high and wide, the stage seems only moderately deep. The floor, wood on cushioning, should lend itself to dancing. An acoustic shield can be closed around the wings and backstage. This big hall's ambiance is darkish but comfortably warm.
The two storied portion of the building is for assorted functions: a malleable 270-seat performance space - the Gregory Family Theater; the foyer with box office and, on its balcony level, an art gallery; offices; dressing rooms; space for set construction and for costumes; and lots of restrooms.
Hylton looks inviting. Dance announced so far has Manassas Ballet Theatre participating in the opening showcase on May 23, 2010 and, beginning in fall for the 2010-2011 season, the Philippines' Bayanihan, Tango Buenos Aires and Russian National Ballet Theatre's The Sleeping Beauty. Manassas Ballet Theatre will have its own series.