Venue: RiverCenter for the Performing Arts
Address: 900 Broadway, Columbus, GA 31901
Town: Columbus, US

The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts is a modern performance space in Downtown Columbus, Georgia, United States. The center first opened in 2002 with the completion of Studio Theatre, a flexible black-box style experimental theatre that seats a maximum of 250 people. Other halls in the 240,000 ft² (22,300 m²) facility include Legacy Hall, a 450-seat concert hall with flexible acoustics and a magnificent, $1,000,000 Jordan concert organ adorning the center of the second tier. The stage includes room for up to 60 orchestral musicians and 80 choral singers. The largest hall, Bill Heard Theatre, is a 2,000-seat three-level theatre. An orchestra pit and 60-foot (18 m)-wide stage are accented by enormous weaving ribbons of colored metal mesh that sweep across the theatre. Other spaces include an outdoor concert hall and rehearsal rooms in the Schwob School of Music. The Schwob School is a department of Columbus State University. The Bill Heard Theatre is a 2,000-seat theatre with three levels: Orchestra, Mezzanine, and Balcony. The theatre also includes six box-style booths on each level. Seats are accessed by side hallways on either side of the first two levels and from the back on all levels. The hall's namesake comes from primary donor and Columbus native, William Heard. RiverCenter has held host to famous musicians, dancers, actors, comedians, and entertainers from around the world. Notable performances include Bill Cosby, Stomp, Miss Saigon, A Streetcar Named Desire, Blast!, Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, The Moscow Boys Choir, David Copperfield, Jessye Norman, Chick Corea and Bela Fleck, and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa. Annually, the center hosts the Miss Georgia Pageant and the Ledger-Enquirer's Page One Awards. The Bill Heard Theatre regularly holds performances of the Columbus Symphony, the Youth Orchestra of Greater Columbus, and the Columbus Ballet. RiverCenter operates under contract with Tickets.com and runs performances year-round. In a June interview with CMT.com, Ga