A pre-opening concert set the stage for what will be the sights and sounds of the Long Center for the Performing Arts.
At its heart is the Michael and Susan Dell Hall.
The 2,000 plus seats and cherry wood trim are a sight to see, but first comes the sound.
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Long Center
What you hear comes custom depending on the show you see.
 
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What you hear, takes the spotlight here.
"We're not just raising the bar for our patrons we're raising the bar for the performers," Director of Design and Construction Donald Rutledge said.
First, by keeping unwanted sounds out.
"We have encased this entire room with concrete," Long Center Executive Director Cliff Redd said.
What you hear is also in the way things are made.
From the design of the theaters' seats -- their backs and cushions -- to side panels and side boxes, no matter where you are in the theater, the sound is the star of the show.
"Literally everything -- where there's carpet, where there's not…where there's beautiful Venetian plaster…where there's not -- all have acoustical reasons to begin with," Redd said.
You can have a conversation on stage and someone in the back would be able to not only hear it but understand it loud and clear.
What you hear even comes custom, depending on the show you see.
"In symphony mode, it’s got a sound like a symphony,” Rutledge said. “In opera mode, it has to sound like an opera. In Broadway mode, it has to sound like Broadway.
"It loves all those, and we can even change the acoustics to each of those occasions," Redd said.
Sounds so sensitive you could even hear a pin drop. Well, maybe not a pin, but the rustling of paper or a cough are magnified because of the way the Dell is made.
"All of our mechanical, air-moving equipment and all the lights in here are of a special type that make very little -- if any -- noise," Rutledge said.
And when the lights come on, the show goes on. For the audience inside the Dell, it's a treat for the eyes and ears.
