Tickets on sale July 26 for Smith Center season

First you pay. Then see plays.

Nothing new about the transaction of entertainment -- except when it marks a first, as it does when tickets go on sale for a quartet of Broadway musicals at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts.

Beginning July 26, patrons can purchase tickets for the set of four Broadway plays booked into Reynolds Hall at the center, which is scheduled to open in the spring: "The Color Purple" (April 3-8), "Mary Poppins" (May 22-27), "Million Dollar Quartet" (June 12-17) and "Memphis" (July 18-22, 2012).

Prices for the four-show package are $99, $139, $229 and $309 and will go on sale on the center's website (www.thesmithcenter.com) and over the phone (702-982-7805). Though not yet confirmed, tickets for individual shows are expected to range from $24-$89 and become available in the fall.

Ticket prices and an on-sale date have yet to be announced for the tour stop of "Wicked," the centerpiece of the Smith Center Broadway season, arriving for a six-week stay (Aug. 29-Oct. 7, 2012).

"The Color Purple," co-produced by Oprah Winfrey, is based on the novel by Alice Walker about the struggles of African-American women in the South during the 1930s. "Mary Poppins" tells the story of the magical nanny who takes flight via her umbrella, and those chimney sweeps dancing across the London rooftops. "Million Dollar Quartet" focuses on an iconic recording session that brought together music legends Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. "Memphis" is based on the life of Dewey Phillips, one of the first white disc jockeys to play black music in the 1950s.

Though an opening event has not been announced, the $502 million Smith Center is expected to open March 10, 2012, at Bonneville Avenue and Grand Central Parkway, anchored by the 2,050-seat Reynolds Hall, which also will become the permanent home of the Las Vegas Philharmonic and Nevada Ballet Theatre.

Also included will be cabaret space, a black box theater and educational facilities at Boman Pavilion, plus a new building for the Lied Discovery Children's Museum, which will relocate from the Las Vegas Library.

The center is named for former Review-Journal executive Fred W. Smith, chairman of the Reynolds Foundation -- the center's major donor, contributing $190 million -- and for his late wife, Mary B. Smith.

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.