OUTPERFORMING EXPECTATIONS: Greensboro's performing arts center is breaking records.

• Author: Blake, Kathy

The $93 million Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts, which opened in downtown Greensboro in September 2021, sold out 88 performances its first year. The shows included Bob Dylan, Josh Groban, Shen Yun, Sting and "Wicked," the first Broadway show to play the venue. The performance drew more than 66,000 patrons during its 24-show run, making it the highest-grossing, longest-running engagement of a Broadway show ever in the Triad, according to Matt Brown, managing director for the Greensboro Coliseum Complex and Tanger Center.

"What that's meant for the community is monumental," Christensen says. "[The Tanger Center] has everything from world-class concerts to Broadway shows, and it has really energized our downtown in the way we all had hoped. It was a week from opening when COVID shut us all down, and it has surpassed everyone's expectations."

"The economic impact has been enormous," Brown says of the center. "The venue has truly transformed downtown Greensboro and brought a new energy to downtown. Hotels and restaurants are routinely packed before events."

The multi-week Broadway shows have generated millions for the region. The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, estimated "Wicked" generated more than $11 million in economic impact for the region, Brown says.

Disney's "The Lion King," also enjoyed a successful two-week run in February and March 2022, grossing more than $3.6 million at the box office. An estimated 46,000 theatergoers saw 16 performances and generated an estimated economic impact of nearly $12 million.

"The response has been nothing short of phenomenal. People in the Triad and beyond no longer need to travel to Durham or Raleigh to enjoy an award-winning Broadway show in a state-of-the-art venue," Brown adds." [Our] first fiscal year--which was only 10 months since it opened in September--saw the venue host 203 events and performances that drew a total of 415,421 patrons. We also sold 17,414...