The vision for the Overture Center was to stimulate a downtown Madison renaissance by the creation of a Cultural Arts District that induces the aesthetic, cultural, and commercial vitality of Madison’s downtown.

Potter Lawson teamed with Flad & Associates as Executive Architects, while Cesar Pelli served as the design architect. The Overture Center proudly features:

• A 2,251 seat, high tech multi-purpose performance hall. This space is an acoustically superior concert hall with the flexibility to accommodate a Broadway production.

• A new 347 seat proscenium theater “The Playhouse” serves the needs of a wide range of performances and is suitable for dance, theater, music, film, video and lectures.

• The Capitol Theater, formerly named the Oscar Mayer Theater, is a mid-size performance space, home to Madison Family Theater Company and the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra. The theater provides seating for 1,000, and boasts improved acoustics and sight lines, comfortable seating, a new lobby and support spaces for theater, music, dance, jazz, film, and community uses.