{"id":19998,"date":"2024-12-01T11:26:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T11:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19998"},"modified":"2024-12-01T11:26:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-01T11:26:33","slug":"wales-millennium-centre-celebrates-20th-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=19998","title":{"rendered":"Wales Millennium Centre celebrates 20th birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"
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It\u2019s been 20 years since the Wales Millennium Centre opened its doors for the first time.<\/p>\n

Since 26 November 2004, it has hosted world-class performances from entertainers including Van Morrison, Derren Brown, Rhod Gilbert, and even Welsh legend, Sir Tom Jones.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere we have this perfect place to tell stories on a large scale, big stories about who we are, where we\u2019ve come from and where we are going, and to tell them in here is just perfect,” said actor Michael Sheen about appearing at the Cardiff venue.<\/p>\n

It has become a home for arts and culture in Wales, but it took a lot of planning to get the iconic venue built.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI began working on the project in 1998,\u201d said architect Jonathan Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere had been an earlier project called the Cardiff Bay Opera House, that was in the early nineties, and that didn\u2019t go ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cardiff Bay Opera House was intended to be home to the Welsh National Opera, but the project fell through.<\/p>\n

However, following funding from the Millennium Commission and the Welsh government, the Wales Millennium Centre was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started with was photographs, pictures from books of Welsh landscapes, natural landscapes, coastline, cliffs and photographs of industrial relics,\u201d said Mr Adams.<\/p>\n

The design he settled upon is now affectionately referred to as The Armadillo \u2013 its distinctive shape becoming a familiar Cardiff Bay landmark.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not copper,\u201d said Mr Adams, despite its distinctive colour. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s actually a transparent skin on the top of the metal, and light interference gives the illusion of this kind of light bronzy colour to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from its metallic look, the Wales Millennium Centre is renowned for the enormous inscription that makes up much of its windows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe words have held their own,\u201d said poet Gwyneth Lewis, who wrote the inscription.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember when the building first opened, a child commented that it looks like the building is dreaming.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inscription reads “In These Stones, Horizons Sing”.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing like that had been done,\u201d said Mr Adams.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives it kind of almost like a kind of spiritual feeling when you look in this, the coloured light, the way the light filters through it. <\/p>\n

“It is architecture, but it does something more because it’s just not the kind of space that you, the people are used to experiencing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The centre opened on 26 November 2004 with a huge celebration that lasted an entire weekend.<\/p>\n

It saw the new arts centre come to life with performances from Michael Ball, Charlotte Church, and Only Men Aloud!<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the building actually was opened and people came in, the response was unbelievably positive,\u201d said Mr Adams.<\/p>\n

Over the years, the Wales Millennium Centre has seen plenty of world-class acts take to the boards within its several theatre spaces.<\/p>\n

Most recently, it was home to the hit musical, Wicked, and has also hosted theatre performances, hit comedians, and even rock stars at the stage doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo West End theatre boasts what we have here,” said famed composer Andrew Lloyd Webber about the venue. <\/p>\n

“There\u2019s nowhere in London that comes close to this facility.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been 20 years since the Wales Millennium Centre opened its doors for the first time. Since 26 November 2004, it has hosted world-class performances from entertainers including Van Morrison, Derren Brown, Rhod Gilbert, and even Welsh legend, Sir Tom Jones. \u201cHere we have this perfect place to tell stories on a large scale, big […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19998","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19998\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}