Feature From:

Tennessee Performing Arts Center Contact:

505 Deaderick St Spencer Pomeroy
Nashville, TN 37243 spencer.pomeroy@pop.belmont.edu
tpac.org 615-915-9959

The Tennessee Performing Arts Center: Where Dreams Begin

Dreams can take shape in many different ways. Many people dream to be famous. Others

dream to be as respected and loved as a parent. No matter what dream a person has there is a

correlation in dreams of all different varieties. They all are shaped by experiences. A person’s

dreams are molded and sometimes even distorted based on what their surroundings deem

possible and impossible. One place that has always strived to enhance its audience’s dreams is

the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. This organization continuously strives to offer audiences

new experiences and exposing them to what may have seemed unimaginable or impossible. The

Tennessee Performing Arts Center is where dreams begin.

The idea for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, also known as TPAC, was dreamed

up by a group of private citizens in 1972. The group, led by Martha Ingram, presented the

concept of a performing arts center to the Tennessee Legislature. After much private fundraising

by the group, the state approved funding for the center and the dream began to come into

fruition. In 1980, the first season began with 119 performances with a total season attendance of

84,000 people. These performances were given by the Nashville Symphony and the Circle

Players, the center’s first two resident companies. In the next five years, the performing arts
center would welcome the companies of the Nashville Ballet, the Nashville Opera and the

Nashville Repertory Theatre to hold performances on its stages. Since then TPAC has grown

substantially. Now, almost half a century since the initial conception of a performing arts center,

the Tennessee Performing Arts Center has welcomed 12 million attendees into its four

performance spaces. TPAC has not only remained home to performances from four of its

original five companies, but it has also become a major hub for Broadway national tours,

musicians, comedians, dance companies and many other performers. Though some aspects of

TPAC have changed, its mission has withstood the tests of time. Since its conception, the

Tennessee Performing Arts Center has had a mission to lead with excellence in the performing

arts and arts education, creating meaningful and relevant experiences to enrich lives. For many

people who have come in contact with this organization, TPAC has not only become a staple in

their lives but also has been the birthplace of their dreams.

“Everyone deserves a chance to fly!” sang the Wicked Witch of the West as she soared

over the TPAC stage, belting the well-renowned song “Defying Gravity.” It was the end of act

one of “Wicked” the musical. My mother had purchased two tickets for her and me to attend my

first show at TPAC. I had lived in Nashville all of my life and had been to numerous music

events, but nothing compared to the spectacle unfolding right before my eyes. It was a glorious

mix of lighting, sound, music and effects that captivated every sense I had. As the witch sang

those famous lyrics soaring above a completely mesmerized audience, I realized I wanted theater

to be a part of me for the rest of my life.

Throughout the duration of my life, I have often been ridiculed for having talents that

may not be deemed masculine by a large portion of society. “Wicked” the musical truly helped

me embrace my differences and begin to appreciate the talents I had. When I began high school,
I thought a lot about theater and if I should join or not. I remember finally deciding to audition

for the musical. Three years later, I had become the president of the theater department and was

the male lead for four consecutive shows. When high school ended, I felt completely lost. I had

no idea what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I had determined that while theater was such

a huge part of my life, performing was not something that I was passionate about. My dream

seemed to be over.

My first few months at Belmont I was completely lost. Not only had my life been

completely flipped upside down by going off to college, but I had no clue what to study. It was

not until I took my first-year seminar class that I made the discovery of a lifetime. My professor

for first-year seminar, Dr. Bonnie Riechert, told us that she was a public relations professor. I

had no idea what public relations was at the time and decided to conduct my own research.

During this research process, I found that marketing and public relations were quite similar. A

business degree was something that interested me in the past, but I did not know what specific

area to study. Marketing caught my interest very quickly, and during my research process I

found out that there were people who were paid to do marketing and public relations work for

theater companies. This was a pivotal moment for me. I began to realize that I could weave

theater into my career. Within the next week I had changed my major to marketing and added a

minor in public relations. From there, I began to take classes for these specific areas of studies.

One of the required courses I had to take was public relations principles. During my time in this

course, there was an assignment that required me to meet with a public relations professional

from an organization of my choosing. I decided that I would learn more about how public

relations looks in the theater world and met with Lisa Kennedy who is the director of public

relations at TPAC. This conversation was filled with an unimaginable amount of helpful
information for me as an aspiring public relations specialist. Kennedy was not only willing to

share information from her extensive career in public relations, but she even offered me an

internship working with the public relations department at TPAC that I look forward to starting

in the fall of 2020. After this meeting, I truly felt that I was on the right path for me in a field that

I would love for the rest of my life.

I feel truly honored to have seen firsthand how TPAC effects its community in such a

positive way. I went to one show and my life was changed forever. One moment I have no idea

what I want in my life, and the next I am taking lessons I learned from a show that I saw at

TPAC and applying them in way I could have never imagined.

While TPAC has encouraged me to follow my dreams, it has also led some of the people

closest to me on incredible journeys of self-discovery as well. My friend Casey Hanrahan grew

up in a family with three older brothers. “It is hard to remember a time when sports weren’t on

the television at my house,” said Hanrahan. “Throughout elementary and middle school I was

never encouraged to do anything but play sports.” During her final days in middle school, there

was a field trip to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. She and her classmates attended a

performance of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” that was only open to

students in the Nashville area. “That show truly changed my life,” said Hanrahan. “Before that

day, I barely knew that live theater existed. That show opened me up to a whole new world of

opportunity.”

When Hanrahan entered high school her whole world turned upside down. Instead of

trying out for a sports team, she entered a new territory auditioning for the school’s fall play. She

was cast as one of the leading roles as a freshman. Throughout high school should have many

other leading roles and was even asked to help student direct three of the shows. This would lead
her to student direct a play that would place first at the Middle Tennessee Speech and Debate

conference. “After that, I knew I had a gift and that I wanted to be a director,” said Hanrahan.

Now an honors student at Western Kentucky University, Hanrahan is pursuing her bachelor of

performing arts degree with an emphasis in design and technology. “I would not be the person I

am today if it was not for TPAC,” said Hanrahan. “I can’t even imagine my life without theater. I

do not know how I could have survived without having the gifts that TPAC gave me.”

At its core, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center has one main goal, life enrichment.

TPAC has made its main goal to enhance the lives of the people in its community using the fine

arts. The experiences that TPAC has provided for both Hanrahan and me go beyond the stage.

With one performance that TPAC offers lives can be changed. The power of the arts is

incredible. TPAC continues to strive to be the place where lives are enhanced, and dreams begin.

The nonprofit Tennessee Performing Arts Center, located in downtown Nashville, is

dedicated to providing and supporting the presentation of the performing and cultural arts.

TPAC’s mission is to lead with excellence in the performing arts and arts education, creating

meaningful and relevant experiences to enrich lives, strengthen communities, and support

economic vitality. For more information go to tpac.org.

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