The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts is a theater in Houston

Houston, Texas

Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, USA. Opened to the public in 2002, the theater is located downtown

Downtown Houston

Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...

 on the edge of the Houston Theater District

Houston Theater District

The Houston Theater District, a 17-block area in the heart of Downtown Houston, Texas, United States, is home to Houston's nine performing arts organizations, the Bayou Place entertainment complex, restaurants, movies, plazas and parks...

. Hobby Center features 60-foot-high glass walls with views of Houston's skyscrapers, Tranquility Park

Tranquility Park

Tranquility Park is a park in Downtown Houston, Texas, between Walker and Rusk Streets, and west of Smith Street, with the United States federal courts building for the Southern District of Texas on one side and Houston City Hall on the other...

 and Houston City Hall

Houston City Hall

The Houston City Hall building is the headquarters of the City of Houston government. It was constructed in 1938-1939, and is located in Downtown Houston. It is surrounded by skyscrapers and very similar to dozens of other city halls built in the southwest United States during the same time...

. The Hobby Center is named for former Texas lieutenant governor and Houston businessman, William P. Hobby, Jr.

William P. Hobby, Jr.

William Pettus “Bill” Hobby, Jr., is a Texas Democratic politician who served a record eighteen years as the 37th Lieutenant Governor...

, whose family foundation donated the naming gift for the center. The center replaced the former Houston Music Hall and Sam Houston Coliseum

Sam Houston Coliseum

Sam Houston Coliseum was an indoor arena, located in Houston, Texas. It was located at 801 Bagby Street near downtown. The arena was opened in November 1937 and had a capacity of 9,200. It was built in conjunction with the Houston Music Hall, which was adjacent to the Coliseum...

.

Built by the general contractor Lyda Swinerton, it was designed by architects Robert A. M. Stern

Robert A. M. Stern

Robert Arthur Morton Stern, usually credited as Robert A. M. Stern, is an American architect and Dean of the Yale University School of Architecture....

 and Morris Architects. Stern was inspired by legendary theatre designers Herts & Tallant, who practiced in Manhattan during the early twentieth century. The major building materials are limestone, brick, painted steel columns, glazed curtain wall and standing seam metal roof.
Two theaters in the center were constructed specifically for theater and musical performances.

• Sarofim Hall, a 2,650-seat theater acoustically designed for touring Broadway
  Broadway theatre
  Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
  
   productions, is home to "Theatre Under the Stars." Golden latticework surrounds the hall, while multi-storied, gold-leaf columns contrast with midnight blue walls. The Joe and Lee Jamail Celestial Dome Ceiling features twinkling fiber optic stars that replicate the Texas night sky. The theatre has three tiers: orchestra, mezzanine, and upper gallery.

• Zilkha Hall, jewel box 500-seat hall showcases the ensembles of the Uniquely Houston program, the only performing arts series of its kind in the country. The series fosters artistic and administrative growth for smaller and mid sized performing arts groups in the Houston metropolitan area. They include the Psophonia Dance Company, the Maggini String Orchestra, and Ars Lyrica Houston, to name but three. The program is led by managing director Mark Powell
  Mark Powell
  Mark Powell may refer to:* Mark Powell , British fashion designer* Mark Powell , American symphony and opera conductor* Mark Powell , American photographer* Mark Powell , Australian footballer...
  
  .

Two significant works of art were commissioned for the center. American painter Sol LeWitt

Sol LeWitt

Solomon "Sol" LeWitt was an American artist linked to various movements, including Conceptual art and Minimalism....

's mural "Wall Drawing 2002" serves as the focal point of the Grand Lobby. British-born sculptor Tony Cragg

Tony Cragg

Tony Cragg is a British visual artist specialized in sculpture. He is currently the director of the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf.-Early life:Cragg was born in Liverpool in 1949...

's two-part bronze "In Minds" mimics human profiles outside at Hines Plaza.