Overture Center Collection: 20th Anniversary Celebration

As the Wisconsin State Journal jokingly notes in their 2004 cover story on the construction of Overture Center, the center started "as most things do in Madison, with a controversy." Similar to the history of both the Capitol Theater and the Madison Civic Center, Overture Center's development drew opinions and concerns from numerous sources, particularly the downtown business that would be affected by the new structure. After a Town Hall meeting in 2000 to address concerns and the eventual end to the legal issues concerning businesses such as Dotty Dumpling's Dowry, famous architecture César Pelli showcased his designs to the public before the site's deconstruction. Pelli was the "man with the plan" for Overture. He met the challenge of designing a multi-million dollar building with a desire to make "the best building in the city, but not in a showy, aggressive way." Instead, Pelli wanted a "civilized" building that would reflect the character of Madison. He designed the building with simplicity in mind and used primarily natural materials and lighter colors to compliment the French limestone from the original Capitol Theater. With so many features and various stages to juggle, the construction of Overture required a firm plan with a clear deadline.

While Pelli's designs involved a simple color palette and natural materials, he did not scale back in restoring the grandeur of the center's spaces. For instance, Pelli included what the Wisconsin State Journal dubbed "a glass crown" as part of the domed structure of the grand entrance to the four-level rotunda so that natural light could shine down through all layers of the building. Additionally, when planning the design of Overture Hall and other new stages, the community's opinion on their desire to see the Oscar Meyer Theater restored convinced the committee to fund a second phase of Overture's opening to include a new version of the historic Capitol Theater that would return the appearance to its former glory by 2006.

On September 19, 2004, Frautschi's dream of Overture Center for the Arts came true, and the doors to the center opened to the public. A week-long celebration of Overture's opening occurred, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. "The Phantom of the Opera" marked the first of many Broadway shows to perform at the center. Though the development of Overture Center was tumultuous, in 2004,  Madison received a new cornerstone for the arts in the city.