Simms Center For The Performing Arts

Albuquerque Academy puts on amazing stage productions, and Simms is a great performance space for a high school. The stadium seating gives you a splendid view of the stage from any seat, even the wings, and some spots even give you a good view of the orchestra pit. It should come as no surprise that this school's resources are outstanding, and the attention they give their performance departments is enviable. The sound and stage lighting are awesome and the usable space is really top-notch for this type (highschool) of venue. AA kids are well instructed and spectacularly talented. We just went to a production of the Phantom of the Opera and I was moved to tears more than once. The stars of the show couldn't possibly have been highschoolers! They were very nearly as good as any act I've seen at Popejoy and their voices were simply stunning. I love Webber's Broadway score and was really pleased to find AA was putting on that same version of the legendary story. Although they didn't quite match up to the amazing vocalists' performances, the school's orchestra (+ certain wind instruments) did a not-too-shabby job for a highschool crew replicating one of the (IMHO) most powerfully moving scores ever written.