Springsteen, Angelou, Broadway shows: Looking back at 50 years of PSU’s Eisenhower Auditorium

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Over the past five decades, Eisenhower Auditorium has watched patiently as State College’s arts scene grew around it. When the Penn State venue was first built in 1974, more than two decades before the Bryce Jordan Center opened down the road, it was one of the largest gathering spaces in town — so much so that even a local Catholic church held its services there.

Today, Penn State’s Center for the Performing Arts’ staff joke that there are still signs in the basement designating offices that used to belong to the priest or other clergy members. It’s one way of honoring the venue’s quirky, dynamic history.

“It’s an opportunity to think about how much has changed,” CPA Director Sita Frederick said, “but also what is cyclical or what is still strongly rooted in that origin story.”

The venue will commemorate its golden milestone at its anniversary concert Saturday, featuring sets from several Happy Valley bands. Members of the Penn State University Concert Choir, which performed at Eisenhower Auditorium’s opening 50 years ago, will also reunite for the concert. People can buy tickets online for $15.

The ability to share the stage with a wide variety of local and international acts is embedded in Eisenhower Auditorium’s DNA, Frederick said. Since the beginning — when it encouraged collaboration between its management team and Penn State’s Artists Series, now CPA — the auditorium has been a vessel for community and creativity.

Local arts groups have always been a cherished part of Eisenhower Auditorium’s history: regional productions of “The Nutcracker” grace the stage every year, and Roots of Life, a State College Area School District group, are frequent performers.

Last year, Eisenhower Auditorium hosted Brooklyn-based hip hop duo Soul Science Lab, a group co-led by Penn State graduate Chen Lo.

As a student, Lo was part of the Black Caucus, involved in advocacy for fair treatment of students and faculty of color at Penn State. When he crossed the stage during his graduation in 2001, he was in the midst of death threats targeted at his activism.

“To bring him back in 2023 just felt like such an important moment in the history of where we are,” Frederick said. “And what it could mean for him as an artist to flourish and to be able to come back to his alma mater on his terms.”

Although the venue’s two largest audiences are Penn State students and the retiree community, there’s a desire to target any and all members of the community, children and families included. The goal is for people to view art as an educational resource, as well as a way to spend time as a family, Frederick said.

But Eisenhower Auditorium’s greatest asset lies in its versatility. Over the past 50 years, the venue has put on an eclectic array of shows and speakers — hosting everything from Broadway musicals to ice shows and everyone from Billy Joel to former Sen. Joe Biden.

Take a look at some of Eisenhower Auditorium’s most notable acts:

Famous concerts

From seasoned Grammy winners to soon-to-be household names still starting out, Eisenhower Auditorium has housed its fair share of iconic singers and musicians.

There was Tracy Chapman, who played a sold-out show in November 1988, just two months after she was splashed on the cover of Rolling Stone. In 1996, Billy Joel led a Q&A with a side of music, answering questions about his life and career. Ray Charles, Tom Waits and Tori Amos all made stops in State College throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Johnny Cash, who died in 2003, most recently was honored on the Eisenhower Auditorium stage via footage of his most memorable performances and an accompanying live band — but he made his Penn State debut during two sold-out concerts in 1979.

Musicians, too, have drawn eager crowds to the auditorium. In 2009, world-renowned pianist Emanuel Ax, cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman performed together for a full house. It was the first stop on a two-concert tour that finished the next day at Carnegie Hall.

But Eisenhower Auditorium’s appeal isn’t just in booking big stars, Frederick said.

At only 2,500 seats, compared to the Bryce Jordan Center’s 15,000, the venue has the ability to showcase artists who might not have national recognition yet. When Bruce Springsteen performed in 1975, for instance, he had only been touring professionally for about a year.

“We can support artists in that exciting moment in their careers,” Frederick said. “We can take a chance on those folks.”

Transforming the stage: Broadway and ice

Since announcing its first Broadway show 30 years ago, Eisenhower Auditorium has also become a go-to stop for countless touring productions — transforming the stage into whatever setting the show demands.

The venue made its first metamorphosis in October 1994, when it hosted the national tour of “Les Misérables,” at the time the fifth spot in Pennsylvania to do so.

The two-part play “Angels in America” visited the Eisenhower Auditorium for the last two shows of its 1996 national tour. When “The Music Man” passed through in 2003, the cast arrived a week early and used the auditorium to rehearse for its upcoming tour.

CPA’s seasons almost always includes at least one Broadway show. It’s one way the venue works to make global arts more accessible in central Pennsylvania, Frederick said.

“I can’t tell you how often people say, ‘We love to go to New York, but we’d much rather drive 15 minutes, park, see the show and be home 15 minutes after,’” she said.

And Broadway sets aren’t the only look the Eisenhower Auditorium stage has tried on over the years. In the late 1990s, the theater transformed into an ice rink for two performances: “Sleeping Beauty on Ice” in 1998 and “Nutcracker on Ice” in 1999.

Notable speakers

The diversity of Eisenhower Auditorium isn’t limited to performers. Everyone from authors to actors to activists has had the chance to share their stories on stage.

Penn State’s Distinguished Speaker Series, a program organized by the Student Programming Association, has brought guests like writer and civil rights activist Maya Angelou to campus. After first visiting the auditorium in 2004, Angelou returned as a speaker in 2010.

Toni Morrison also spoke in 2010, receiving a medal for her work in the arts and humanities. Jerry Seinfeld brought stand-up to the auditorium stage in both 2007 and 2011, and comedian Adam Sandler did the same in 1997 — causing students to camp out for tickets, which sold out in three hours.

The year 1989 was especially guest-filled, including speeches by both President Joe Biden — then, a Delaware state senator — and Desmond Tutu, a South African bishop and anti-apartheid activist. Tutu, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, drew a crowd of almost 5,000 people, many of whom listened to his speech over the loudspeakers from outside the auditorium.

CPA will announce its 2024-25 season July 30 and plans to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Eisenhower Auditorium throughout the year.