Winter Center For The Visual And Performing Arts

There is no question that this venue should have five stars.
Except it doesn’t deserve them.
And here’s why.
This place is a beautiful new building with amazing equipment and performance venues designed using state of the art technology. They really are wonderful.
The problem is, and this is a common problem at Millersville, much of the working staff who are in place to keep the place running, know how everything works, etcetera, don’t. Or don’t care. Or can’t be bothered. So millions of dollars of building and equipment are squandered. What’s worse, a lot of students who should be able to dig into this gear and building and use it get some top shelf experience, don’t. It’s not the instructional staff although a few of them are dismal. Most of the instructors try, very hard, but it’s like fighting against a Soviet era bureaucracy to get anything done, to get help.
I’ve seen innumerable productions, rehearsals, classes in the Winter Center and I was one of the big ticket donor’s I would be livid at how they squandered my money.
I want to be clear, there are a lot of great people in the music department at Millersville. These people try very hard, often with very little actual support from the university, it’s the school and a good portion of the staff that make this place a nightmare.
There’s no doubt if your kid is in a production you’re going to go there. If you’re an MU student you have no choice, you’ll be visiting or working in the Winter Center but if this were a stand alone venue, it would no future. And that is a damn shame.