Curtains up: against a backdrop of cultural history, a modern Meridian facility is poised to play to a full house.

A heady melange of authentic Victorian elegance and futuristic technology will pervade the gala opening of Meridian's MSU Riley Center for Education & Performing Arts on September 8. Following a black-tie champagne reception and dinner, singer Linda Ronstadt will give a concert in the restored 1890 theater, with hometown celebrity Sela Ward as mistress of ceremonies. A repeat performance will ensue the following evening.

Dwelling in buildings dating from the 1880s and designed around the historic 1,000-seat Grand Opera House, the Riley Center promises an innovative nexus of education, performing arts, and business through theatrical spaces, exhibit and banquet halls, and classroom and meeting venues designed to cover aspects of community life that were only imagined when these structures were built in the 19th century.

"The key to this center, this wonderful building, is the organization it contains, dedicated to education but an education different from Mississippi State as a university," explains Dennis Sankovich, executive director. "It relates to continuing education, outreach, development of the community; workplace, college, and K-12 education; teachers educating teachers; and industry and business leaders. It's also a place for social interaction, cultural enrichment, and activities that connect all these."

Consisting of 30,000 square feet on five floors, the university-run center features a 5,000-square-foot exhibit/banquet/reception hall; 10 meeting, class, and board room settings; and a new 200-seat studio theater. Also included is a fully functioning broadcast and television studio. Named in recognition of The Riley Foundation, which provided the $12.1-million anchor contribution, the versatile facility retains its historical roots by incorporating Victorian and Romanesque architecture. Encircling rows of soaring arched windows on each story display dramatic views of downtown.

"We have as of now a schedule of 50 performances with 36 artists," says Penny Kemp, center marketing director. "Then we're taking some of these and putting them in front of students and also doing workshops with teachers to demonstrate how to use the arts in their classrooms. Similar opportunities will be available to senior citizens and the general public. It all interacts in this phenomenal historic setting."

Flash back to the evening of December 17, 1890, for the original opening gala. "The opera house occupies one third of the Marks, Rothenberg, & Co. block," reported the Mobile Register. "The stage has a thirty-foot opening ... and is fifty feet deep ... The auditorium is illuminated by a sun light in the center of the building ... The interior is decorated throughout in cream, blue, gold, and red, but the prevailing tint is gold. The proscenium arch is a heavy frame of gilded work, pierced on either side by openings for private boxes ... The main walls are wainscoted in cherry wood ... The furniture is upholstered in wine-colored velvet ..."

"The opening night was an event in Meridian's history," the newspaper noted. "One of the largest and most fashionable audiences ever seen in that city was present, many of the ladies and gentlemen in full evening dress ... the Conried Opera Company took the stage ... and the performance of the opera 'The Gypsy Baron' by Johann Strauss began ..."

Israel Marks and his half-brother Levi Rothenberg set about to build this landmark in 1889 in conjunction with the Marks-Rothenberg department store. Construction was coordinated by local builder C.M. Rubush, and G.M. Torgenson, architect of the New Orleans Cotton Exposition, designed the exterior. The interior design was guided by J.B. McElfatrick of New York City, creator of several large theaters in the Northeast.

For nearly four decades, greats such as Enrico Caruso, Lon Chaney, John Gilbert, Sarah Bernhardt, and later Cornelia Otis Skinner, Norma Shearer, and Helen Hayes appeared on stage. The designation "Grand Opera House" is somewhat misleading, for it was applied to theaters that met certain structural criteria, not to the type of performances given. A variety of genres were presented, including drama, vaudeville, and minstrel, in addition to opera. Early silent movies were shown here, and stars often toured with their films. Cowboy celebrities performed with their horses on stage.

An impressive and similarly diverse array of stars will perform during the Riley Center's opening season, including singer-songwriters Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt, Mississippi blues legend Bo Diddley, and jazz trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis. Also featured will be acclaimed troupes such as the Soweto Gospel Choir from South Africa, the Trinity Irish Dance Company, and the African-American dance group Alley II. Character actors John Amos and Hal Holbrook will appear in one-man shows. From the Aquila Theatre Company's "Romeo and Juliet" to family-oriented presentations including the Kennedy Center's "Willy Wonka," the season's repertoire provides a breadth and depth of events appealing to a miscellany of ages and backgrounds.

The advent of movie theaters, together with legal complications, compelled the Opera House's closing in 1927. Litigation caused the interior to be virtually sealed for more than 60 years, thus preserving almost intact its fine woodcarving, wainscoting, and other ornamentation.

"I've traveled the country uncovering and restoring historic treasures," observes Jeff Greene, founder and president of New York-based EverGreene Painting Studios, which specializes in conserving and restoring architectural ornament in historic buildings. "Meridian's Grand Opera House is an exceptional case. A true gem, this theater is a time capsule of decorative experimentation that took place during the Victorian era. The variety of wall coverings, combined with the elaborate figurative papier-mache ornamentation, is breathtaking. Restoring this theater has been a career highlight and one of our most exciting challenges in recent years."

A nationally recognized expert in his field, Greene personally oversaw the meticulous revitalization process. His fine-arts and architectural consultants teamed with expert artisans and technicians who documented and proceeded to restore the original decor. Using digital printing techniques, the group reproduced and installed 30 antique wall coverings. Restoring the finish on the theater's private boxes involved gilding, a procedure including applications of gold, silver, and copper paints, then, after drying, "tipping" or highlighting the surface with a lighter metallic gold paint to create a shimmering patina.

More than a mecca for performing arts and an aesthetic recollection of a glamorous past, the facilities--sharply contrasting with frequently nondescript conference settings--are also designed for meetings of associations, corporations, and individual gatherings. The latest technology in audio and visual equipment is provided, together with wireless Internet access. Numerous meetings have already been scheduled, including the February 2007 Governor's Conference on Tourism.

"A group coming in for a conference can benefit from a performing arts opportunity, making that cultural experience part of their agenda," Sankovich says. "A corporate entity after its meeting can thank their clients by having them attend a performance and hosting a reception in one of the break-out atriums."

The center's programming will also focus on a much younger clientele. "Children retain knowledge they've learned through the arts better than sitting and memorizing," notes education director Charlotte Tabereaux. "We'll have what we call 'Insights' an hour before a performance when you can talk to a modern dancer before you see the dance. Afterward, you can have dessert in the conference area and talk about what you saw. Our students will learn to appreciate all kinds of arts and broaden their cultural perspective."

The multifaceted amalgam is conservatively estimated to draw about 60,000 people and $5 million to Meridian annually.

"Strong support for education and the arts plays a vital role in improving a community's quality of life, which in turn attracts new business and industry," Kemp says. "This philosophy exemplifies the principle that the arts enrich not only our lives but also our economy. Each component enhances others: conferences, special events, tourism, performing arts, and educational programs. Together, they create an enormous economic impact."

In the spirit of the traditional actors' idiom, "Break a leg, Riley Center!"