Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie
Encyclopedia
The Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie is a concert hall located in Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie, Texas
Grand Prairie is a city in Dallas, Ellis, and Tarrant counties in the U.S. state of Texas and is a part of the Mid-Cities region in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. Grand Prairie is a suburb of both Dallas and Fort Worth and had a population of 175,396 at the 2010 census.- History :The city of...

, 16 miles west of Dallas, 24 miles east of Fort Worth. The hall is near the Lone Star Park
Lone Star Park
Lone Star Park is a horse racing track located in Grand Prairie, Texas.-History:Lone Star Park opened in 1997. The track offers separate meets for Thoroughbred racing and Quarter Horse racing. In October 2002, Magna Entertainment Corp. , based in Aurora, Ontario, leased the facility and acquired...

. The theatre is currently operated by AEG
Anschutz Entertainment Group
The Anschutz Entertainment Group is a sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports events, the owner of the world’s most profitable sports and entertainment venues, and under AEG Live the world's...

 and owned by the City of Grand Prairie.

History

The theatre was proposed in 1998 as an alternative to the Reunion Arena
Reunion Arena
Reunion Arena was an indoor arena, in the Reunion district of downtown Dallas, Texas . It held 18,293 for basketball and 17,001 for ice hockey.It was demolished in November 2009 and the site was cleared by the end of the year.-History:...

. Owned by NextStage Entertainment Corporation, the venue was built in Grand Prairie to boost the economy of the city and lead to possible tourism. Construction began in the summer of 1999, however, it was delated 14 months due to an increase in budget. The final construction cost was about $63 million dollars. Originally known as "Texas ShowPlace", the venue was meant to house concerts and theatrical performances for the Dallas–Fort Worth area
Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...

. The theatre opened in February 2002 as the "NextStage Performance Theater" with a capacity of 6,300.

In May 2002 the theatre hired Dallas artist Cabe Booth to paint oil portraits of the visiting acts and personalities. The portraits are signed by the performers and then hung on display in the backstage area and administrative office area. In 2007, the venue moved a small portion of the now over 300 (and growing) 4'×4' paintings into the main foyer along with the downstairs entry to the private suites. In 2004, Nokia Corporation
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

 purchased the naming rights to the theatre for six years, changing its title to "Nokia Live at Grand Prairie". In February 2010, Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....

 acquired naming rights for ten years, changing the title to the "Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie". Since the venue has opened, it has hosted several 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 and family shows including Sesame Street Live
Sesame Street Live
Sesame Street Live is the live touring show based on the children's television show Sesame Street.Produced by Minneapolis-based VEE Corporation, the show opened on September 17, 1980, with a production of Sesame Street Live "Missing Bird Mystery" playing at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota...

, Yo Gabba Gabba! Live!
Yo Gabba Gabba!
Yo Gabba Gabba! is an American children's television show currently airing on the Nick Jr. cable network in the United States and the Nick Jr. networks in the United Kingdom & Ireland, Italy, France and Australia as well as Treehouse TV network in Canada and RTE2 on RTEjr see Raidió Teilifís...

 and The Doodlebops Live!
The Doodlebops
The Doodlebops is a Canadian television children's television series. "Rock & Bop with The Doodlebops", , was released in 2004 and continues to top the children's charts in North America...

. Concert performers include Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...

, Michael Bublé
Michael Bublé
Michael Steven Bublé is a Canadian singer. He has won several awards, including three Grammy Awards and multiple Juno Awards. His first album reached the top ten in Canada and the UK. He found worldwide commercial success with his 2005 album It's Time, and his 2007 album Call Me Irresponsible was...

, Alicia Keys
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook , better known by her stage name Alicia Keys, is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and occasional actress. She was raised by a single mother in the Hell's Kitchen area of Manhattan in New York City. At age seven, Keys began playing the piano...

, Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

 and Fort Worth native Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Clarkson
Kelly Brianne Clarkson is an American pop rock singer-songwriter and actress. Clarkson came into prominence after becoming the winner of the inaugural season of the television series American Idol in 2002 and would later become the runner-up in the television special World Idol in 2003.In 2003,...

.
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