Sunrise Theater Proves Arts Can Run Like A Business

A live show looks effortless from the audience, but the real story starts long before the curtain goes up. We’re joined by Numa Saisselin, the new executive director of the Sunrise Theater, a 1,200 seat historic theater built in 1923 in downtown Fort Pierce. He shares what makes this venue special, from the iconic marquee to a year round schedule that can swing from classic rock to comedy to school performances.

We also dig into the part most people never see: the business model behind arts and entertainment. Numa explains why “arts and culture” is not automatically a money pit, how a city owned building still has to earn its way, and what it means to be the local promoter. That includes researching talent, negotiating with agents, guaranteeing performer fees, and paying for stagehands, security, box office staff, and advertising before a single ticket is scanned. If you’ve ever wondered why ticket sales matter, this conversation makes the economics of live performances refreshingly clear.

Finally, we talk community. Sunrise Theater serves “everybody” by design, and the smaller black box venue creates a flexible home for local talent, intimate comedy nights, jazz jams, and events that feel up close and personal. You’ll leave with practical ways to find your next night out in Fort Pierce, how to preview artists online, and how to save a few dollars by buying tickets at the box office.

Subscribe for more conversations with local business leaders, share this with a friend who loves live music or comedy, and leave a review to help more neighbors find the show.

Transcript

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Welcome To Good Neighbor Podcast

SPEAKER_01 0:03

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Garfield Bowen.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Good afternoon. How y'all doing? Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast Live.

What Sunrise Theater Offers

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Are you looking for a local theater? Well, one may be closer than you think. Today we have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Newmer Sey Salem with Sunrise Theater. Newman, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_02 0:39

I'm great. How are you today, Garfield?

SPEAKER_00 0:41

Doing well, doing well. We're excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us about your company.

SPEAKER_02 0:47

So, Sunrise Theater is a 1200-seat historic theater built in 1923. We are on 2nd Avenue or 2nd Street right here in downtown Fort Pierce. We have a full schedule of live performances throughout the year, classic rock, comedy, country music, jazz blues, rhythm and blues, RB, dance theater, performances for schools, you name it, if there's a performer involved, it's on our stage.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

How did you get connected with the Sunrise Theater? Tell us a little bit about Jebacker.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Yeah, uh, I have been here, uh, I've been here personally a whopping six weeks. Uh, Sunrise Theater was built in 1923. Uh, it was renovated uh by a very vibrant group of concerned citizens in 2006. So the venue itself has been open for 20 years uh in its latest incarnation as a performing arts venue. Uh I arrived uh five weeks ago as the brand new executive director of the theater. And uh, you know, I run the business. So, among other things, uh I work with the professional staff, I book the shows, uh, I work with the community, and I spend a lot of time doing this, which is going out in public and uh

The Business Behind Booking Acts

SPEAKER_02 2:22

advancing the cause of the Sunrise Theater in downtown Fort Pierce.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

What are some of the myths and misconceptions about the theater you want to dispel?

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Um, oh, that's a really, really good question. Um, so I think when people hear arts and culture, they immediately think of uh, you know, a money-losing proposition. And uh we are in the business of arts and entertainment, and uh we have to uh find our own way in the world uh just like any other business. Uh we receive a little bit of support from the city. Uh the Sunrise Theater is a city-owned building. Uh, but for the most part, out of our $5 million budget, we have to go and sell tickets and sell drinks and sell t-shirts and uh you know and pay for things just like any other business. Uh I think another thing people don't really understand is when there's a performer on our stage, uh, you know, they think that uh, you know, we collect 10 bucks at the door, and that's how the performer gets paid. And that's not at all how it works. Uh all the performers on our stage get paid, some of them very well for their talent. Uh, but we as the local promoter are the folks who research those performers, go and find their agents, uh, negotiate with them to make a deal, and then we guarantee them a fee when they come here to Fort Pierce to perform for Treasure Coast audiences. So we're paying the performers' fee, but we also pay all the local expenses. Uh so we're paying the stage hands, we're paying the box office workers, we're paying the security workers, we pay for all the advertising, and we front that money no matter what happens. So uh, you know, every night we're shelling out tens of thousands of dollars to make that show happen and hoping we sell enough tickets to make our money back plus a profit, uh, which we can put into our overhead. And for the most part, it works. You know, we we make money more than we lose money. Uh, and on a, you know, in any given year, uh there's a small surplus left over to reinvest in the new year. But we're uh we're the investor for the most part. Sometimes folks rent the theater from us to put on their own events, but you know, when you see a headliner, uh a recognizable name of a comedian or a musical artist, uh, more than likely we were the investor in the show to take the chance and get it to hear to Fort Pierce on the Treasure Coast to make it happen.

Serving Every Taste In Town

SPEAKER_00 5:03

So uh tell me, who's your target customers and how do you attract them?

SPEAKER_02 5:10

So uh we are in the business of serving everybody, which sounds very crunchy granola, you know, it sounds very high-minded, like we want to serve everybody, uh, but we really do. Um, you know, we are not any one thing. Uh and one of the things I love about my job is, you know, if you come to the theater on a Monday night, we might have a comedian. If you come back on Tuesday night, we might have a classic rock artist. If you come back on Wednesday night, we might have uh a country music artist. If you come back on Thursday morning, we might be doing a performance for schools. Uh, and come on Friday night, and it might be something completely different. Uh, we are trying to serve all corners of the community and all tastes. Uh and you know, in the course of a year, our hope is that everybody will look at our website, sunrise theater.com, uh, or get a postcard in the mail, uh, or they'll look at our famous historic marquee on the street. And at least once a year, they'll see something that interests them enough that they want to buy tickets and come and have the sunrise theater experience.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

Yeah, and and you know, that bring a point is the local talent. I mean, there's so much talent here. Um, is there any mechanism in place, maybe

The Black Box And Local Talent

SPEAKER_00 6:38

with the schools to harvest some of that talent?

SPEAKER_02 6:41

Yeah, there's a uh there's a bunch of stuff in place. Uh so Sunrise Theater is actually two venues under the same roof. There's the Sunrise Theater, which is a 1200-seat historic theater with a balcony, looks just like you would expect a historic theater to look like. Uh, but we also have a smaller space we call the black box because it is an empty black room that we can reconfigure to do anything with. Uh, you can set it up as a comedy club, you can set it up as a jazz club, you can set it up to have a sit-down dinner for a couple hundred people. Uh, it's a blank slate that we can do whatever we want with it. And that's the space which we have the most local talent in. Uh so here's a couple examples. Uh, every other Saturday night, uh, we have a comedy club. Uh, it's run by two local comedians that we work with, Casey and Spaz, uh, who are pretty well known in the Southern Florida comedy community. Uh, and they help source uh comedians both from the local community and folks with names who are just passing through. Uh and it's 120-ish seats for the night. And it's a great way to see comedy up close and personal, and it's a great way for local talent to uh get a little exposure to Fort Pierce and St. Lucie and Indi River counties. Uh, we have a similar relationship with the Local Jazz Society who run a jazz jam here on a frequent basis. Uh, and again, it's a great little room that local talent can perform in and have a really intimate experience with an audience up close and personal.

SPEAKER_00 8:34

I wrote that down in the black box. That's that's cute. That's that's cute. Now, um, Numa, have you ever thought about doing your your own podcast?

SPEAKER_02 8:45

No. I have enough to do. I have enough to do uh as it is, and I think one of the important things I've learned in my job is uh, you know, uh this is my job, is promoting the theater and you know, promoting the talent that's in the theater because I have no real talent of my own. You know, my my job

Personal Notes Plus How To Visit

SPEAKER_02 9:08

uh is to make the connection between artists and audiences so they can experience each other. You know, folks in my business, it's really easy to make the mistake that you are the, you know, you're the star attraction yourself. And I know that that's not true. You know, I'm here to connect real stars with real audiences.

SPEAKER_00 9:27

Now, when you're not so busy running your business, what what do you like to do for fun?

SPEAKER_02 9:32

You know, uh mostly I like to stay home. Uh I put on events for a living, and it's really true. I put on events for a living, and when I get a night off, I like to go home and enjoy the company of my wife and our dogs. You know, sometimes it's just nice to be at home.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

We're about to wrap, but what is the one thing that you want our listeners to take away about the sunrise theater?

SPEAKER_02 10:01

Uh, there is something here for you. Uh, you should go to our website, sunrise theater.com. Uh, it's spelled theater with an R E. Uh, sunrise theater.com, and you should go there and explore a little bit. Uh look for an artist who you think you might want to experience. Go and see if you can find a YouTube video or a Spotify file that you can watch or listen to. Uh, and if you feel so inclined, uh, right there on sunrise theater.com, you can buy tickets and set up your own date night and come down and see us. It's a great experience.

SPEAKER_00 10:39

And for some of our old school people that decide to push the buttons on the phone, is there a number you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_02 10:46

Yeah. Um uh I do, but I don't remember it because I've been here for five weeks.

SPEAKER_00 10:53

Okay, we'll look it up.

SPEAKER_02 10:54

But your website again is sunrisetheater.com. Uh, we're at one seventeen seventh street. There's a big marquee out front. You can't miss it. I just said seven, I meant second, 117 2nd Street, downtown Fort Pierce. Uh, and our box office is open every day. Uh, 10 to 2, I think, are the box office hours. You can walk up and buy tickets the old-fashioned way. Uh, I think we're all conditioned now to buy tickets on our phone or buy tickets on our computer. Uh, but if you're old school, you can walk right up to our box office and buy tickets the old-fashioned way, and you save a couple bucks on the handling charges, too.

SPEAKER_00 11:35

Listen, Emma, it's been a pleasure having the show with you and the Sunrise Data, the very best.

SPEAKER_02 11:40

And the same to you for the Good Neighbor Podcast. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 11:48

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNP TreasureCoast.com. That's GNP TreasureCoast.com.