From its mild-mannered patrons to the classical notes floating through its hallowed space, Symphony Hall at the Woodruff Arts Center oozes with sophistication. On most nights, that is.
But on January 16, the onstage seating will give way to massive cages, and the sounds of instruments will be swapped with the grunts and screams of man, the AJC has learned. No, this isn't a performance of "Eight Songs for a Mad King" by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies. Rather, Symphony Hall will be the scene for a different type of art: mixed martial arts (MMA), also known as ultimate fighting.
On the same night the Alliance Theatre is showing the musical "Avenue X" down the hall, competitors from the Sin City Fight Club and SportFight X will debut instead of Debussy. MMA fighters use any and all techniques to knock-out their opponents, brawls that take place in giant cages as scantily-clad women keep the crowd on its toes.
As Sin City itself touts, they're turning Symphony Hall from "violins to violence."
While having a fight club takeover a music hall may seem strange, the venue can be rented for an array of events, said ASO spokeswoman Melissa Sanders.
"We try to give ample and due consideration when trying to make this space available for anything we feel is viable. We've had flying trapeze artists on our stage (such as Cirque de la Symphonie), among many other non-traditional rentals including Chinese New Year celebrations, religious services ... various fundraisers, rock shows [and more]," she said via e-mail to the AJC.
"This is strictly a rental," Sanders said.
William McAlister, owner of the two fight clubs, said turning to sites such as Symphony Hall helps raise his organizations' profiles. McAlister, who founded the clubs earlier this year, said his organizations have performed in artsy venues before, including three shows at Center Stage. Symphony Hall has twice that seating at 2,200 seats, he said.
"Basically we're trying to do a lot of educating right now. Introducing it to a different venue means new people will learn about the sport," McAlister said. "MMA is the fastest growing sport in the world and so many shows exploit it and just use it to sell beer. We want to educate and show it as a sport."
McAlister said it took a little convincing to get approval from Woodruff officials. Luckily, the event requires minimal changes to the hall, other than installing the cage and adding flat-screen TVs so that the crowd can see close-ups, he said.
He was given only a couple of rules, he said: no forklift, and no pyrotechnics.
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