Founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27, 1703, Saint Petersburg was capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1712–1728, 1732–1918). St. Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917

This season, because of the enormous catastrophe in Japan, the Center for the Visual & Performing Arts (CVPA), will be donating part of their net proceeds to Japanese relief agencies such as The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) which has partnered with the United Church of Christ in Japan (UCCJ) and first-responder GlobalMedic to bring immediate relief to communities in Japan affected by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami.