Etherredge Center Theater

The Etherredge Center at the University of South Carolina Aiken opened in 1986 with a concert by Dizzy Gillespie. Named after benefactors Cecil and Virginia Etherredge, it contains a 687-seat main theatre, the 110-seat O'Connell thrust theatre and gallery spaces. The Cultural Series has brought artists and companies including Jessye Norman, the Russian National Ballet, Aquila Theatre and Japan's Yamato drummers to Aiken. University productions and educational workshops share the facilities with visiting performers. The gallery presents regional and guest artists, student capstone work and the Carolina Series, which features an established South Carolina artist. Performing and visual arts thus remain linked within the same campus centre. Opened in 1986 on the campus of the University of South Carolina Aiken and named for Cecil and Virginia Etherredge, whose gift helped pay for it, the centre holds a 687-seat main theatre, the 110-seat O'Connell thrust theatre and a gallery. The gallery mounts up to ten exhibitions a year, among them the annual Carolina Series devoted to established South Carolina artists. Touring theatre and music, campus productions and teaching workshops share the building through the season.