--> As one of the finest performing arts facilities in North Carolina since 1932, Raleigh's Memorial Auditorium experienced a dramatic rejuvenation in 1989-90 with completed renovations totaling over ten million dollars. Rich with history, this elaborately appointed landmark continues to nourish an outstanding repertoire of performing arts events in grand tradition, providing sophisticated beauty, comfort, and convenience for patrons and performers alike. Home to the North Carolina Symphony and the North Carolina Theatre, Memorial Auditorium has gratified audiences with outstanding performances in opera, ballet, orchestral music, theater, comedy, and popular music concerts, featuring some of the world's most celebrated artist such as Mikhail Baryshnikov, Itzhak Perlman, Roberta Peters, Sarah Vaughn, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dizzy Gillespie, Pat Metheny, Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick, Natalie Cole, The Moody Blues, Amy Grant, Toto, and Prince, as well as outstanding Broadway musical presentations of Cats, Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, and Rent, just to name a few. From the exquisite entrance atrium lobby with the grandeur of a central twin floating staircase and 14 Doric columns, to the main auditorium with its state-of-the-art stage, high coffered beam ceiling, sound reflective mahogany walls, intricate sound and lighting systems and 2,277 luxurious wide-berth seats, Memorial Auditorium is designed to lend a highly professional yet introspective atmosphere to any performance no matter what the scale. Eighty-thousand square feet of stage, house, rehearsal hall, lobbies and public areas make Memorial Auditorium one of the most decisively versatile facilities in the Southeast, affording extensive flexibility for a wide variety of functions. Stage level dressing rooms complete with mirrors, dressing tables, showers and restroom facilities, an elegant rehearsal hall for small theater productions, dinners, and meetings, plus a state-of-the-art box office are just a few of the additional outstanding features and amenities offered, insuring that each event or special performance will be a highly professional and inspiring occasion.