Neil Patrick Harris to Host Smith Center Opening Celebration, 3/10

The Smith Center's Opening Celebration will take place  Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 7:00pm. Actor Neil Patrick Harris will host the celebration which will feature performances by Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson; country artists Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris and Martina McBride; singer songwriter Carol King; trumpeter Arturo Sandoval; violinist Joshua Bell; gospel great Mavis Staples; Train lead singer Pat Monahan; and American Ballet Theater dancers Marcello Gomes and Luciana Paris.

Only a stage built by an entire community could hold the star power that will officially open The Smith Center for the Performing Arts on March 10. An unprecedented line-up of 24 artists from the worlds of music, television, stage and screen will come together for a one-of-a-kind night of entertainment as The Smith Center officially ushers in a new era in Las Vegas.

Broadway will be represented by a who's who of current stage stars including Tony winner Brian Stokes Mitchell (Kiss Me Kate, Man of La Mancha, Ragtime) Laura Osnes (Grease, South Pacific, Anything Goes), Cheyenne Jackson (television's Glee, 30 Rock and Broadway's Finian's Rainbow, All Shook Up), Sherie Rene Scott (Aida, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Little Mermaid, Women on the Verge), Montego Glover (Memphis, Color Purple) and Benjamin Walker (Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson, Inherit the Wind).

The Smith Center opening is being produced and directed by George Stevens, Jr., and Michael Stevens, who produce the Kennedy Center Honors each year. The performance will be taped for a national television broadcast at a later date.

A newly released block of tickets for the black tie event, starting at $250, will go on sale today at 3 pm. Tickets can be purchased by calling The Smith Center Box Office at 702-749-2000.

The Smith Center opening is being produced and directed by George Stevens, Jr., and Michael Stevens, who produce the Kennedy Center Honors each year. The performance will be taped for a national television broadcast at a later date.

The artists will be backed by a world-class orchestra featuring Musical Director Rob Mathes, who is the producer/musical director for Sting and winner of four Emmy Awards for the same role in the Kennedy Center Honors.

The Smith Center for the Performing Arts is a public/private partnership that will become the centerpiece of cultural life in Las Vegas, offering a blend of performances by resident companies, as well as first-run touring attractions. The 5-acre cultural campus will feature three performance spaces, the 2,050-seat main performance area in Reynolds Hall and Boman Pavilion's 258-seat Cabaret Jazz and 250-seat Troesh Studio Theater, and will also be home to a 1.7 acre park, which can be used for outdoor concerts. Additionally, the campus will be the new location of the Discovery Children's Museum.  The Smith Center will be the cultural center for Las Vegas - a place that will educate, entertain and excite the citizens of our great community.  Located in downtown's 61-acre urban development, Symphony Park, The Smith Center broke ground in May of 2009 with a ceremonial carillon bell casting and ringing. In February 2010, it celebrated its "Topping Out" with the raising of 50 tons of steel. For more information about The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, please visit www.thesmithcenter.com. Keep up with news and events on Facebook.

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