Named for a college president
The King Center opened on April 10, 1988, as the Brevard Performing Arts Center, with two performances of Singin' in the Rain that both sold out. The building cost $12.3 million. In the summer of 1989 the trustees of Brevard Community College voted to rename it for Maxwell C. King, who served as the college's president for 30 years, from 1968 to 1998. The college became Eastern Florida State College in 2013 and owns the center, which runs as a nonprofit support organization of the college.
Most people just call it the King Center, so do not let the full name on a ticket throw you.
Inside the hall
The main theater seats 2,016, and the Studio Theatre, also called the Black Box, seats about 250. Headliners from Aretha Franklin to Billy Joel have played the main stage, along with Broadway tours and symphonies, and the college holds its graduations here. The center stages scores of shows and draws more than 100,000 visitors each year, and a later renovation worth $4 million updated the building.
Getting to Post Road
The center sits on the college's Melbourne campus at the corner of Wickham Road and Post Road. Heading south on I-95, take exit 191 to Wickham Road and follow it to Post Road. Heading north, take exit 188 east onto the Pineda Causeway extension, then go south on Wickham to Post Road. The entrance is on the south side of Post Road.
Parking is free in the campus lots, first come, first served, and a limited number of reserved spaces can be bought with your tickets. Overflow goes to the neighboring college lots, so on a full night give yourself a few extra minutes to walk.
Tips
The Space Coast stretches a long way along I-95, so a weeknight show can mean a slow drive down from Titusville at rush hour. Curtain times are on your ticket. Browse classical dates around Florida, head down the coast to the Sunrise Theatre in Fort Pierce for a restored 1923 hall, and see the Space Coast calendar for every show in Brevard.
