The David A. Straz Jr. Center for the Performing Arts opened its doors as the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa, Florida in July 1987.
The venue was renamed in November 2009 to recognize the generous donation, the largest individual philanthropic gift ever made to a cultural institution in the Tampa Bay area, of financier David A. Straz, Jr.
The Straz Center is located downtown on a 9-acre site along the east bank of the Hillsborough River. As the largest performing arts complex south of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the 335,000 square-foot venue provides an environment for a variety of events.
It has a leading Broadway series and produces grand opera, as well as presenting a variety of concerts, performances and events.
The performing arts complex consists of 5 distinct theaters, a rehearsal hall, retail shops, on-site restaurants and banquet facilities.
The 5 individual theaters are Carol Morsani Hall (2,600+ seats), Ferguson Hall (1,042 seats), the Jaeb Theater (292 seats), the TECO Energy Foundation Theater (250 seats and the Shimberg Playhouse (130 seats).
With the Patel Conservatory, the Straz Center has added 45,000 square feet for its extensive education programs. The Conservatory features 20 studios, including two dance studios with sprung floors, a sound/lighting laboratory, technical theater workshop, rehearsal hall, costume shop, isolation/sound booth, state-of-the-art black box theater and media arts/TV studio.