Gammage Auditorium - Venue Tickets, Schedules, Seating Charts, and Information

The Gammage Auditorium is located on the main campus of Arizona State University in Tempe at the crossroads of Mill Avenue and Apache Boulevard. It is so named in the honor of Dr. Grady Gammage, President of Arizona State University (ASU) from the year 1933 to 1959. The construction work began on 23rd May 1962. It took almost two years to complete the construction. So the auditorium was inaugurated in the year 1964. In the opening ceremony, the Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Eugene Ormandy gave a fabulous performance. A very well known architect, Frank Lloyd designed the building. It is regarded as his last public commission. People believe that its design is based on Wright's drawing for an opera house in Baghdad, Iraq whose blueprint he lost in a gambling wager with Gammage. In the year 1985 the Auditorium was added in the National Register of Historic Places.

The building is 300 feet (91m) in length, 250 feet (76m) in width and stands at a height of 80 feet (24m). 50 concrete columns with their pattern of interlocking circles support the round roof of the auditorium. The structure has been connected to the parking space by the two twin “flying buttress” pedestrian ramps which extend 200 feet (61m) from the north and east sides of the building. The auditorium can accommodate a total of 3,017 people on its main floor, grand tier and balcony. Out of these 88 seats are removable. Several dramatic productions, solo productions, Broadway musicals, grand operas, organ recitals and lectures are conducted in the auditorium. The backstage consists of 9 dressing rooms and can accommodate a maximum of 54 people.