Michael Granberry and Avi Selk report in Sunday’s (8/7) Dallas Morning News that Dallas billionaire Charles Wyly, for whom the Wyly Theatre in the new Dallas Performing Arts Center is named, died in a car crash Sunday in Colorado. “The news stunned the Dallas arts community, where Mr. Wyly’s philanthropy had helped solidify the dreams of the Arts District. The AT&T Performing Arts Center named the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre in honor of the couple’s $20 million gift. ‘Charles was a critically important force,’ said Bill Lively, who in 2000 launched the campaign to build the $354 million Performing Arts Center, whose centerpieces include the Winspear Opera House and Wyly Theatre. The resident company at the Wyly Theatre is the Dallas Theater Center, which also benefited from Mr. Wyly’s largesse. … Soon after the campaign launched, Mr. Wyly spoke of ‘wanting to build a theater that would be world-class,’ said Mr. Lively, the performing arts center’s former president and CEO. His contribution ‘was a gift that set the standard for all of those that would follow,’ Mr. Lively said…. The Wyly philanthropy extended to numerous arts organizations, including the Dallas Children’s Theater, which has the Dee & Charles Wyly Family Garden, a symbol of the couple’s long-standing support for the theater.”
Posted August 9, 2011
