Technical Information
About the Touhill Performing Arts Center - The Building
The University of Missouri-St. Louis’ Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center offers two theaters that allow for great intimacy between the artist and the audience. Designed by the acclaimed architectural firm of Pei Cobb Freed & Partners, the Center houses the 1,600-seat Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall and the 300-seat E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Theater.
The Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall, with its warm European opera house feel, seats up to 1,600 – the only performance space of its size in St. Louis.
The Lee Theater – a marvelously flexible black-box-like theater space – allows even closer interaction between audience and performer.
The flexibility of the two theaters allows the Touhill and its partners to bring a wide range of performing arts to this facility, and make it the ultimate teaching and learning experience for faculty, students, and the community.
• Architect: The Wischmeyer Architects/Pei-Cobb Freed & Partners
• Theater Consultant: Theatre Projects Consultants
• Acoustician: Kirkegaard & Associates
• Lighting Consultant: Ann Kale Associates, Inc.
• Structural: Heideman and Associates
• Civil: David Mason and Associates
• Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection: McClure Engineering
• Landscape Architect: Austin Tao and Associates
• Signage: Kiku Obata & Company
• Cost Control: Donnell Consultants, Inc.
Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall
• Seating: 1,625
• Proscenium: 30’H x 56’W
• Stage: 47’D x 56’W with 32’ x 47’ stage right wing space, 15’ x 47’ stage left wing space
• Fly system: 70 linesets
E. Desmond and Mary Ann Lee Theater
• Seating: Up to 360
• Stage area: 24’D x 66’W
Backstage
• Six star dressing rooms, capacity 12
• Three small group dressing rooms, capacity 16
• Six large group dressing rooms, capacity 60
• Two performer lounges
• Two musician changing rooms
• Wardrobe maintenance room
• Make-up, hair and wig room
• Rehearsal room with ballet bar and mirrored wall
• Patrons lounge, capacity 25
• Refreshment bar on Terrace Level
• Three catering kitchens
• Administrative offices
