Comcast Center for the Performing Arts
| Great Woods | |
Amphitheatre shown during Lilith Fair, circa 1998
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| Former names | Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts (1986-99) Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts (1999–2008) Comcast Center (2008-13) |
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| Address | 885 S Main St Mansfield, Massachusetts 02048-3148 |
| Coordinates | 41°59′33″N 71°13′12″W / 41.99250°N 71.22000°WCoordinates: 41°59′33″N 71°13′12″W / 41.99250°N 71.22000°W |
| Owner | Live Nation New England |
| Operator | Live Nation New England |
| Capacity | 19,900 |
| Construction | |
| Opened | June 13, 1986 |
| Renovated | 2002 |
| Expanded | 1994 |
| Construction cost | US$13 million ($28.9 million in 2016 dollars) |
| Website | |
| Venue Info | |
The Xfinity Center (originally the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts and commonly Great Woods) is an outdoor amphitheatre located in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The venue opened during the summer of 1986 with a capacity of 12,000. It was expanded in 1994 to 19,900; 7,000 reserved seats, 7,000 lawn seats and 5,900 general admission seats. The season for the venue is typically from mid May until late September. In 2010, it was named Top Grossing Amphitheater by Billboard.
The venue was proposed by Don Law, John E. Drew and Sherman Wolf in 1985. Originally, the suggested site was in Brookline, Massachusetts. At that time, the venue was planned to be a performing arts center, consisting of concert hall, auditorium and black box theater. After conducting research, Law concluded the New England region was in desperate need of an outdoors venue (at the time, the main outdoor venue was Tanglewood, Cape Cod Melody Tent and the South Shore Music Circus). The performing arts center was converted into an amphitheatre. The site was moved to Mansfield to create a regional venue, being within 40 miles of Providence, Boston, Worcester and Cape Cod.
The venue opened June 13, 1986 as the "Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts"; with a performance by Yo-Yo Ma and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. It was one of the busiest venues in New England, hosting nearly 80 concerts per season. Over the years, additional amphitheaters were added to the region. The Xfinity Theatre in Hartford and the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion in Boston brought competition to the area, bringing the venue to an average of 36 events per season.
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