On Stage with The Lincoln Theatre

Exploring the Creative Pulse of The Lincoln Theatre's Programming

• Bob Watkins • Episode 7

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How Do You Book Shows/Entertainment Talent At The Lincoln Theatre?

How do you turn a historic venue into a modern-day cultural hub? Discover the secrets behind The Lincoln Theatre's eclectic lineup with Bob Watkins, the theatre's executive director, who shares insights on curating a perfect mix of popular acts and fresh talent. Bob and Skip Mauney pull back the curtain to explore the theatre's strategic location benefits, the role of booking agents, and the creative methods employed to attract top-tier performances during tour breaks. Whether you're a fan of legendary acts or eager to discover the next big thing, this episode promises a fascinating look at how The Lincoln Theatre continues to captivate its audience.

Join us as we chat with Bob about the balancing act of meeting audience demand while keeping the lineup exciting and diverse. From patron feedback to the rising influence of platforms like YouTube, Bob reveals how he and his team navigate the challenges of introducing lesser-known artists to the audience. Learn how a combination of seasoned favorites and up-and-coming talent keeps the spirit of The Lincoln Theatre alive and thriving, and why innovation and community input are at the heart of its success. This episode offers a vibrant narrative on the art of performance booking, ensuring every show is an unforgettable experience.

To learn more about The Lincoln Theatre visit:
https://www.TheLincoln.org/
The Lincoln Theatre
117 E. Main Street
Marion, Virginia 24354
276-783-6092

Speaker 1:

Welcome to On Stage with the Lincoln Theater, where history and entertainment steal the show Dive into the rich legacy of this iconic Mayan revival theater, from its 1929 debut to its starring role in Marion, Virginia's entertainment scene. Guiding us through this journey is the man in the spotlight, our executive director, Bob Watkins.

Speaker 2:

Ever wonder how the magic gets on stage. Bob Watkins reveals the secrets behind curating the show-stopping acts at the Lincoln Theater. Welcome back everybody. Skip Monty here, co-host slash producer, back in the studio with Bob Watkins. Bob, how are you doing today? I'm doing great. It's good to be here, good to have you. Hopefully this will be a highlight for you and for our listeners. So the question on everybody's mind how do you guys have a lot of variety of shows at the Lincoln? And so a question I wanted to ask was how do you book shows and entertainment talent at the Lincoln Theater?

Speaker 3:

It's a good question. I mean, there's a lot of different opportunities out there to pursue different performances. One thing that we are fortunate with is our location, where we are, to the interstate makes it a very good option for people to go ahead and stop in when they're on their way to another large performance. So there's a lot of times I get emails and phone calls from different booking agents for the different performers that are asking to rent the theater. So we have a lot of the performances come through as rentals.

Speaker 3:

I don't have to really book those. We just go ahead and set it up, provide the back support for them and everything like that, and they go ahead and do their show, make some money while they're in a break between stops, and that's one thing that we use to book performances. Another thing is just me searching and trying to look for some of the performances that we would like to have here, listening to a lot of our patrons. They'll send emails and requests for different types of performances. So I'll reach out to some of those booking agents and buy those performances and then set up the programs and everything like that. I also have a buyer that helps me with some of the larger performances that we have Some of the bigger names and higher cost performances. I have a buying agent that'll reach out to those other agents and secure those purchases for me as well, to help me with some of the pricing and get possibly a discount on the purchase there.

Speaker 2:

So those are some of the things that we do Very good. You mentioned that sometimes you have patrons that say, hey, I'd like to see so-and-so perform, or this happen how do you balance popular demand with introducing new or lesser known up and coming talent?

Speaker 3:

Usually that's. I try to sprinkle in a little bit of all of that. So we have some performances that have been here multiple times that become patron favorites. So groups of people will say, oh, when are you going to get this group back? When are you going to get this group back? So those that have been positive performances for us in the past. I usually try to throw a couple of those in every calendar season so we can have the normal return for the patrons that really enjoy those.

Speaker 3:

And then I've also reached out to see some of the new up-and-comers, to try to get a new name here. That might spark a little bit of interest as well. So it is a little difficult at times to see okay, are you going to go ahead and bring back some of the original performers or are you going to bring back some of the new ones that people are asking about? And hopefully there's more people than just the five or ten that reach out to me and ask for it. It is a little bit tricky and that's always the scare when you make a purchase, because the purchases are not cheap. It's a big concern to see if you're going to get that draw that you want to have for them.

Speaker 2:

Well, you know, you never know, with lesser known talent you could have an unknown Taylor Swift show up.

Speaker 3:

you know, I will say that it's really been beneficial as things get a little bit more popular with YouTube so you can reach out and you can research them quite a bit, so you can share what they've done in the past with some of our patrons that are on our webpage, facebook, things like that. So those different avenues have helped a lot with securing some lesser known talent. That's really strong performances.

Speaker 2:

Gotcha lesser known talent. That's really strong performances, gotcha. Are there factors that you consider when you're selecting acts, particularly when you want them to align with the Lincoln Theater's vision for what the theater is all about? Are there some factors that you consider when you're choosing talent?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. I mean, first and foremost we want to have a clean, tasteful type of performance here, because we don't want to have something that's going to really cause any issues with offending any of our patrons or them coming in and seeing a performance that just wasn't tasteful to them and their family. So I do reach out and look at the different types of performances that they've done in the past to make sure that it fits with the focus that we want to have with our patrons experience here. Some other areas that I look at are additional costs, because once you make the performance purchase, there's a lot of behind the scenes costs that you have. Like if we don't have enough backline, that they need X number of microphones or anything like that, we would then have to rent. That's another expense that comes into play. And then a lot of the performers have large wish lists of the hospitality that they require. So we need to juggle all of those expenses and add it in to see what type of return we can have on that performance with the guesstimated ticket sales.

Speaker 2:

So does that mean that if performers ever insist on you know, green only M&Ms or brown only M&Ms?

Speaker 3:

Actually, yes, there was a performance in here that they asked for all the brown M&Ms to be removed from the package of M&Ms. So yeah, there's a lot of different types of requests and some off the wall requests as well.

Speaker 2:

Wow, I've heard that about Van Halen.

Speaker 3:

Actually, it was a tribute to Van Halen, that required the the Brown M&Ms to be removed, so I think they were carrying the hospitality demand from the original band over and just keeping it.

Speaker 2:

That is crazy, crazy. Well, bob, I think we'll. We'll end this episode on that good note Brown M&Ms, so we will catch you in the next episode, hope you have a great day.

Speaker 3:

Thanks, you too.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to On Stage with the Lincoln Theater. Want more of Mary and Virginia's entertainment scene? Visit us online at thelincolnorg yes, that's thelincolnorg or drop by our theater at 117 East Main Street. Let's keep the arts alive and kicking together.