Kalamazoo’s Miller Auditorium Gets New Look Ahead of 2024-25 Season

The next time you catch a show at Miller Auditorium it's going to look quite different!

During the quiet summer season the facility located on the Western Michigan University campus shared an update on recent renovations.

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We're so fortunate to have some fantastic stage productions come through our own backyard here in Kalamazoo, Michigan. At the building's 1968 grand opening ceremony namesake John W. Miller proclaimed the facility would,

present the performing arts 'not as culture for culture's sake, but for the enrichment of the lives of our students, our faculty and our friends in the community.'

Indeed it has! Over my lifetime living in southwest Michigan I've caught countless stage productions such as Cats, performances with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, and even a special Christmas concert with local rising stars The War & Treaty and the Kalamazoo Concert Band.

Let's talk about the elephant in the auditorium: the seating.

I've got no complaints about the 3,497 seating capacity but what makes those seats difficult to navigate is the layout and its complete lack of a center aisle! Well, guess what?

That issue will soon become something of the past. Take a look at the brand spanking new center aisle being installed at Miller Auditorium:

Speaking from personal experience sitting in the middle of the row--any row in the auditorium-- is a double edged sword:

While sitting in the center gives you a great vantage point of the stage you'd better hope you never have to use the restroom because there is no easy way to exit without stepping on the toes of every person along the way.

I'm not sure how many seats we will lose with this conversion but in my personal opinion-- it's worth it! What do you think? Check out the lineup for the 2024-25 season at Miller here.