Catherine Herrick Cobb Great Hall

Michigan State University opened its Wharton Center for Performing Arts in 1982, naming it for a former president of the university and his wife; the larger of its two auditoriums carries the name of Catherine Herrick Cobb. The Great Hall takes the work that travels — opera and Broadway companies, orchestras, recitalists — while the smaller Pasant Theatre houses drama and chamber programmes at closer quarters. A refurbishment around 2010 reworked the public rooms. Students from across the university work in the building, on stage and behind it, alongside the professional companies passing through, and touring opera has brought 'Cavalleria rusticana', 'Pagliacci' and 'Carmen' to the Great Hall.