McFarlin Memorial Auditorium is a proscenium style theatre located on the campus of Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

. The venue seats 2,386 on three levels. The building is the third oldest on SMU's campus and has hosted a number of notable acts.

History

By the early 1920s, the students, faculty and staff of SMU had severely outgrown the capacity of Dallas and Clements Halls. Arguments were put forth as to what the next campus building should be. In the end, President Selecman and the Methodist bishops made the decision to build a chapel/auditorium as SMU's third permanent building. Financing was secured by a generous donation from devout Methodist and San Antonio businessman Robert M. McFarlin.

The McFarlin Memorial Auditorium was opened in 1926 to fulfill the University's pressing need for a chapel that could accommodate the entire student body. The building has evolved over time and continues to serve the University in the manner envisioned by SMU President Charles Selecman as "a place where we can have our friends from the community and elsewhere gather together on great occasions."

Though historically attractive, technology and ambiance are priorities as the university continues to keep the facility current. Recent projects include restoration of the main lobby to its historic integrity, renovation of restrooms, installation of a sprung floor on stage, and a complete reupholster of the auditorium's seats.

Speakers

• Winston Churchill
  Winston Churchill
  Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
  
  
• George Clinton
  George Clinton (musician)
  George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...
  
  
• Charlton Heston
  Charlton Heston
  Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
  
  
• Bob Hope
  Bob Hope
  Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
  
  
• Martin Luther King Jr.
• Margaret Thatcher
  Margaret Thatcher
  Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
  
  

Performers

• Sheryl Crow
  Sheryl Crow
  Sheryl Suzanne Crow is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and actress. Her music incorporates elements of rock, folk, hip hop, country and pop...
  
  
• Dashboard Confessional
  Dashboard Confessional
  Dashboard Confessional is an American rock band from Boca Raton, Florida, led by singer-songwriter Chris Carrabba. The name of the band is derived from the song "The Sharp Hint of New Tears" from the debut album The Swiss Army Romance....
  
  
• Evanescence
  Evanescence
  Evanescence is an American rock band founded in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1995 by singer/pianist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody. After recording private albums, the band released their first full-length album, Fallen, on Wind-up Records in 2003. Fallen sold more than 17 million copies worldwide...
  
  
• The Grateful Dead
  Grateful Dead
  The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
  
  
• Imogen Heap
  Imogen Heap
  Imogen Jennifer Jane Heap is a Grammy Award-winning English singer, composer and songwriter from Havering, Essex. She is known for her work as part of the musical duo Frou Frou and her solo albums, which she writes, produces, and mixes...
  
  
• Elton John
  Elton John
  Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
  
  
• Barry Manilow
  Barry Manilow
  Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
  
  
• Conan O'Brien
  Conan O'Brien
  Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
  
  
• The Police
  The Police
  The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For the vast majority of their history, the band consisted of Sting , Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland...
  
  
• Prince
  Prince (musician)
  Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
  
  
• Queen
  Queen (band)
  Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
  
  
• Yo-Yo Ma
  Yo-Yo Ma
  Yo-Yo Ma is an American cellist, virtuoso, and orchestral composer. He has received multiple Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts in 2001 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011...
  
  

External links

• McFarlin Auditorium Lobby Renovation

32.84426°N 96.786096°W