How the City Made it to the Big Stage: Phoenix Civic Plaza

In the early 1960s, Phoenix residents complained about living in a desert—a cultural desert, that is. While Tucson, Albuquerque, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Los Angeles had impressive performance halls for touring artists and companies, Phoenix could only offer high school auditoriums, opined an article in The Arizona Republic in 1961. The story noted that the National Orchestra of Holland played outdoors for the first time since 1929 on a warm May night at the Encanto Bandshell. “It was disastrous! Of their entire tour of 60 American cities, Phoenix was their only unpleasant experience.” In r